besest by mildew on wallpaper (and condensation on doors and windows). anything we can do?

[MamaChris]

Have moved to new house, and have lots of condensation on the windows, even the front door drips in the mornings and pools of water run off window sills in the kitchen

got home today to notice black mildew (I think) on the (white) wallpaper by front door. is there anything we can do to
a. clean the mildew off (will it stain forever?)
b. prevent its return?
c. do anything about the condensation?

house has solid walls, mostly double glazed, but no vents on the double glazing.

thanks for any advice. all we've heard so far is to increase ventilation, so we've been leaving windows open a crack, which seems to have achieved nothing but making us shiver.

You should look into getting a de-humidifer. We have the same problem with our house and we just bought one. I've been running it today and it's already making such a difference. No water on the window sills.

There are a few threads about this going around. Not sure what is best to use for mildew, I just scrub with bleach-y style spray. Not sure how environmentally good that is though.

wipe down the windows every morning and the door with a really absorbent cloth. Yes, a dehumidifier would be really helpful - you would be shocked at how much will come out of the air.

thanks. if we get a dehumidifier, do we need one for each room, or just place one somewhere central?

I've seen the threads on condensation (at least we're not alone!) but nothing on mildew. will try bleachy type spray

You're not in hertfordshire are you ? cos I've a proper humififier hanging out in my shed - we had to use it to dry out our house when the pipes burst

oooooh please we would be interested in the humidfier and we live near herts/middx/nw london borders

if OP not wanting it

sounds nasty Laurie. no, we're in Cambridgeshire. we're getting a tumble dryer next week, and I'm hoping that will help remove some of the humidity from the air (as we're currently drying stuff on radiators, which I know really doesn't help at all!)

we have tried with open windows but we still have wet windows and so have to go round the house wiping all the windows etc each morning

Open windows also mean we are cold too cos I thought it would stop the condensation

To get rid of the mildew, you need the Dettox Mould and Mildew remover spray - its amazing at getting rid of the mildew and marks.

To get rid of the condensation, you def need a dehum - just get a good one (check the running costs too) and put it centrally. We bought one for our old house and it made an amazing difference. Now we use it to dry the washing in record time. We have the Mitsubishi EJ16 from here. Pricey, but very effective and cheap to run

You also need to keep the moisture levels down by doing things like not drying washing indoors (apart from if over the dehum), keeping the bathroom door shut with the extractor fan on (if there is one, otherwise shut door afterwards and open window) during baths/showers, and making sure that there aren't sinks left with water in/ lids on pans when cooking etc

we share your pain RTKM!

clear advice cmot, thanks. are dehums noisy or quiet or silent? and do they completely remove condensation, or just make it a bit more bearable? think we'll see what difference (if any) the tumble dryer makes, and get a dehum in Jan if necessary.

can't think where we'd put one, except in the hall. but I guess that wouldn't be optimal (although it is where the wet front door and mildewed wallpaper are)

Ours is quiet, and certainly not noisy in an intrusive way.

As long as you keep moisture generation down, it can completely remove condensation. Is there room on the landing for one ? Apparently in the centre of the house is best, so hall or landing, but hall gets fresh damp air in more often

We solved this completely in our house back in Liverpool (Victorian, double glazing - no vents)

We put a positive flow ventilation system in the attic - it took (not quite as cold as outside) air from the attic and pushed it gently into the hall/landing through a vent in the landing ceiling

We paid too much for it as it was effectively an extractor fan fitted backwards (iyswim) - a fairly competent DIYer could do it

It costs about the same as a 60w bulb and it was left on all year

It also reduced drafts because as the air pressure in the house was slightly higher than outside - no air could come in

No more black mold, wet walls & windows it was fab

no room on landing, but maybe deep into hall (so central in the house).

haven't heard of positive flow ventilation KM. will definitely research it if it completely resolves the problem. but does it make the house cold? popped my head up into the loft the other day and it was freezing.

The landing or hall would be good

cos it would clear DS room too

Lauriefairycake please could you tell me more about the one in your shed

Thanks

Not at all

I am a heat worshipper

It really helped DH's asthma too (but that coud just have been the black mould going)

How Clean Is Your House woman says tea tree oil in water sprayed onto mildew does the job as well as bleachy things.
We have a dehumidifier too...it sucks up to 10 litres a day out at this time of year. (am on seafront in Italy)

10 litres a day?!? Wow.

positive flow ventilation system sounds like a good out of the way permanent solution. but I can only find stuff on patents or medical uses when I google. can you give me any details of how you go about sourcing such a thing KM?

I'm not suggesting this company but it was the first one I found on google

I'll see if there are any more

this?

this seems good

Ooh, very useful KM. Thanks. I've got a lot of reading to do! What phrase did you google to find them?

damp solutions positive flow ventilation

The third one is good

Ah. It's positive flow ventilation alone that gets me all the medical hits then

Thanks for the tips. Will let you know how we get on.