ventilating victorian houses

[fluffybunnies246]

Hello- I was wondering if anyone has experience of this. I live in a small terraced house built in 1860's- thick solid walls etc. The previous resident installed rather rubbish double glazing (no trickle vents). There is no fan in the kitchen, not enough space for a cooker hood and the bathroom fan which we installed (badly) has given up. Winter is hell. We've now got the house warm but condensation is a real issue, I'm constantly attacking the walls and ceiling with bleach. We have a dehumidifier...but it's noisy, takes up valuable floor space, have to turn it off at night (I worry about fires!). It helps if I keep the windows open but that's not really practical/economical in the depths of winter. I was wondering if anyone has installed a heat recovery system at all, as I've done some research and they seem like an ideal solution? As both I and sort of ex bloke are terrible at DIY we would really need to get someone to install either a heat recovery system or a couple of fans. We were wondering what sort of contractor installs such things? An electrician? Or someone else? It's getting colder, and I'm getting stressed already about what's to come. NB 'damp' issues have been sorted out as much as possible- new roof, gutters, DPC, ground floor basically tanked. Any advice, at all, would be useful as I feel like I'm floundering around in the dark due to lack of info online!

oh yes, we have concrete ground floor which also adds to the lack of ventilation!

This sounds like waaaay more moisture than just day to day living. You can throw money through a heat recovery system but if you don't find the source then it's pretty pointless.

Have you any pipes under the house that could be leaking? Do you dry washing indoors? You need to ventilate- fix the bathroom extractor and get one installed in the kitchen.

I'm afraid things such as tanking can make the problems worse- old buildings need to breath so problems are caused by modern day interventions (lime plaster is there to do a job).

You could get a damp surveyor to have a look (nb an independent one and not one associated with a company wanting to sell you a quick fix).

Hi Olivia

I think having 5 people in a 2 bed house doesn't help with the moisture! Tanking was only done on necessary bits- party wall between us and next door...the hallway is draughty as hell very well ventilated as we have a nice gappy wooden front door. We have a (condenser) tumble drier (currently bust) for the winter, and summer we dry outdoors. The bedrooms bathroom and kitchen are the worst. Only the cold water pipe runs under the house, there are no indications that it is leaking.

We've had an independent surveyor and 2 different damp people around from companies...and all potential damp sources have been rectified many years ago. It was the plasterer who put some tanking in the hall (the damp people said that the patches were 'cosmetic'). My problems are normal for the area I live in- we all have mouldy houses and dehumidifiers! In winter, the talk at the school gates is generally about damp/mould. Our area is low lying/humid and was subject to flooding in the past...don't know if that has anything to do with it. The black bits tend to be on external walls in 'moist' rooms and the upstairs bedrooms and down the length of the rainwater gully that runs through the middle of our house (we have a butterfly roof....so the gully is not insulated but the 2 lofts are, hence condensation forms along the line of the gully). Gully was replaced a couple of years ago as the old one leaked- this one is fine.

Do you have ventilation bricks anywhere in your property?

Hi LBOCS no, no ventilation bricks whatsoever (except where kaput bathroom fan is attached and ventilation things in the roof). Seen other houses with them and wondered if we should have them or whether they create a howling gale in your house?

do you drape wet washing around your home?

Start by fitting or improving extractor fans/hoods in your bathroom and kitchen, and utility room if you have one.

Look up the extract rate of the fan. 80 m per hour from a cheap fan isn't enough. If you can put a ducted fan above the ceiling you can get three times as much.

A recirculating cooker hood is 100% useless, except as an ornament. You need an extractor hood. If you have a kitchen extractor fan it has to be more powerful than a hood as it is distant from the steaming pans. A duct can be run from the cooker hood to an external wall, often above or inside wall cabinets.

An electrician can do it, he will be familiar with the electrical regulations which are quite stringent in bathrooms. You need someone who is willing to use a core drill to cut neat round holes in the walls. Possibly also have ducts cut through the high corners of your bedrooms and put vents over them.

You could also consult a local double-glazing repairman and ask if you can have trickle vents fitted in your window frames. It is usually quite easy.

You have a Victorian house, so it used to have fireplaces in most rooms. Put an air-brick sized vent top and bottom of each chimney to allow ventilation, or they will get condensation inside, leading to yellow or brown stains in the plaster from wet soot.

Hi john

think electrician is the next step. Can't do cooker hood due to space (not enough) but could do extractor fan. No, no damp washing, and have already had double glazing person around- no space on frames to retrofit trickle vents unfortunately. We're lucky enough to still have the fireplaces- have a wood burner in one chimney and the other is ventilated so we're all sorted on that. Electrician and good extractor fans it is- thanks peeps!!!

start with plenty of ventilation, that's most often the cure. In summer you can leave the loft hatch open. Water vapour is lighter than air and will rise up through the house and escape.

there is a chance of water leaks, especially around the sink or under radiators. If you lift floor covering you may see damp.