Awful condensation problems in shower room (pics)

[Brownbootscoldheart]

The paint blows off the plastering immediately and after a few weeks end up looking like this.
Can we take everything back to the substrate and use an insulated plasterboard or plastic respatex type panelling? Tiling could be an option but would be expensive I guess.
Really fed up with this now, we open windows regularly but it doesn’t help, it seems the walls are damp.
Outside is fine with no leaks so I don’t think it’s coming in, it’s the 4+ showers a day I suppose.
Any advice as we’d like to renovate soon and get it right first time.

Yes insulated plasterboard would work well, or we are putting insulation between studs. You have to make sure to put a good plastic sheet between the insulation and plasterboard to avoid damp air getting through anyway and getting trapped and rotting things.

You need a good extractor fan or at the very least to leave the window open constantly.

What kind of ventilation do you have in there? Do you have a fan that comes on with the ceiling light over the shower for example?

We had similar damp issues and we’ve had to do lots of things to solve it - heating on full blast nearly all the time, airbricks opened up around the house (the previous owners had papered over them!), vents fitted in the roof and breatheable felt put underneath the roof tiles. It’s taken us the best part of £20k to completely solve it but then our situation was really awful- water dripping down from lights etc.

To start with I would get more ventilation in the bathroom and put the heating on a lot higher and a lot more!

do you have an extractor fan?
you need to open the window as far as possible for 20 min or so after a shower to get the damp air out.
is the room heated? that + airing after showers would probably help.

is that as far as the window opens? needs to be open a lot wider when showering and ajar the rest of the time.

Thanks all, no extractor fan at all and to be honest that’s the extent the window gets opened in the winter - the house gets cold quickly even though we have decent loft insulation over the main part of the house. The smaller loft over the extension where the shower room is mostly uninsulated as it’s used for storage.
I need to think about how to tackle all these issues really.

I should add there’s a tiny radiator in the room which is on about 7 hours over 24. Because that room has two external walls as it’s a corner it’s always freezing in there (little insulation overhead either)

We have just renovated our bathroom and like you it was a very cold and wet room! We have invested in a massive BTU radiator and a very powerful e tractor fan and the difference is remarkable. Definitely worth the money. No changes needed to stud walling needed. We never need to open the window now unless we want to.

You can have insulation in the loft and still use it for storage.

There are products such as Loft Zone which allow you to raise the floor to store things on whilst still insulating the space.

A decent extractor fan and insulation would make a world of difference.

More heating, and much, much more ventilation.

If you shower and don't ventilate, what do you think happens to the water? :-)

You could try running a dehumidifier in there as a short term fix (whenever you aren't actually using the bathroom as I guess it will be on an extension lead so dangerous with the water!)

Insulating the loft above and boarding on legs above the insulation (so as not to compress the insulating material) will make a big difference in terms of not having such a cold surface as moist air will show as condensation on the coldest surface. Fit a ceiling extractor vented up through the loft space and out through a vent tile. Use the extractor at every shower and for a period afterwards. Let everything dry out then redecorate.

If that's all you're opening the window then no wonder you've got a damp problem.

The window needs to be WIDE open when you're showering. Like at least 45 degrees open. Not a crack like in the picture. And leave the bathroom door open if possible so the steam isn't all contained. Leave window WIDE open after you've had your shower, go off and get dressed, brush your teeth whatever and then 10 minutes later pull it closed a bit.

Yes, look at insulation, heating and so on but really, opening the window is such an easy win.

A little bit cold, or a damp bathroom constantly needing redecorated. Your choice.

Get an in-line centrifugal extractor fan fitted venting through loft. Those extractors are very powerful and make sure you have some space under your bathroom door or vents on door to allow loss of air from extractor to be replaced. Otherwise itll just cause a vacuum and efficiency of extractor will be reduced. Use mould proof bathroom paint. And make sure all your loft surface above bathroom is fully insulated double layer so the ceiling isn't too cold.

If the window is only open that much and there is no extractor fan / ventilation in there then that’s why it is the way it is....