Condensation

[Cassimin]

We are renting out a little 2 up 2 down house. We bought it in the summer last year and renovated it. Tenants moved in in July. In November they told us there was damp. We had roof repaired (twice) chimney repointed, gutters renewed.
Different tradesmen telling us different things! A few said it was condensation.
All summer the house has been fine, now the damp is back.
The tenants are moving out soon so I wanted to know what I could do to stop condensation building up.
I know that they are drying clothes on radiators and am aware that I can’t stop them doing this or force them to open windows so what are the other options?

You can buy a heated clothes dryer with a built in humidifier. You can buy dehumidifiers and ask them to leave a window slightly.open especially if they are drying clothes on the radiators.

Dehumidifier. Helped our condensation issue massively.
Obviously, there could be an issue if they choose not to use it.

Tell them it's lifestyle related, buy a dehumidifier.

You can't help people that won't help themselves - anyone who is drying clothes inside needs to air out the house. Older houses are designed to be draughty and to have air turnover and if you don't do it you will get condensation.

Trickle vents on the windows will help too.

Install extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom, the kind that come on with the light, and set them to stay on for a few minutes after the light is switched off. Also I agree trickle vents are a good idea.

If you’re going to buy a heated dry rail, buy a spin dryer. Spins faster than a washing machine, so takes most of the water out. Less water to add to condensation, clothes dry in no time.

You should also open your windows for a bit during the day.

Interesting that as the landlord you are saying you can't make them open windows and stop them drying clothes on radiators.
I have condensation so have done a lot of reading of those threads on here. I'm sure many of the tenants say they are not allowed to use the radiators for drying clothes and it's in their contract along with opening windows daily.
Maybe you should have a read up and provide them with trickle vents and dehumidifier.
I own my property but it has cavity wall insulation and cannot breath! We get loads of condensation and I'm forever trying to 'cure' it!

If it's only a problem in the cold weather it sounds like it's lifestyle- so drying washing indoors, not airing the house out sufficiently, not heating enough.

Options are- state no washing dried indoors and open windows to air for ten minutes a day (most tenants will just ignore this though), but them a dehumidifier and ask them to use it (lots won't due to cost of electricity), fit extractor fans with timer and run on in kitchen and bathrooms (might not be enough though if they are drying washing indoors and in other rooms). Other options are to fit continuous extraction fans, or a positive input ventilation unit.

Thanks everyone!
I’ve bought them a dehumidifier, not sure if they use it though.
Cuddling, I ask them not to dry on radiators, they say they don’t but when we went round to do a repair there were towels on the radiators and an full clothes horse in the bedroom. Not sure how we could ensure they don’t do it.
I’ve got extractor fans in bathroom and kitchen.
Do you think Airbricks would help.
Thinking of doing any work before we put new tenants in.

Air bricks are often blocked by tenants!
I think Positive Input Ventilation could be your option, probably not much more expensive than adding air bricks. Have a look at https://www.i-sells.co.uk/mob/proddetail.php?cPath=170&productss_id=45546&gclid=Cj0KCQjwoqDtBRD-ARIsAL4pviD6DrYkPAcp1d9RI9kQuYRc9C9DTmRuHgkSENZMFKKej54zzwBk3jIaAko4EALw_wcB

People I know with them say it makes a big difference to damp.

Like most normal people, most of your tenants will wish to dry their clothes, and have a dry towel to dry themselves with.
Like most normal people, they won't want to spunk loads of money on heating a house that they don't own in order to prevent damage to the house that they don't own.
Only ways round this are:

• putting in so much ventilation that you get no long term tenants because the house is freezing and costs a bomb to heat
• arranging regular visits to monitor their towel drying habits - if you're a fan of short term tenancies this is BEST PLAN
• buying a good quality washer dryer - anyone who's not on the bones of their arse and works full time will automatically use it to wash and dry their clothes, because you put it on in the morning and you come back and empty out dry clothes

Other, quite possible possibility, is that you still have a damp issue. We rented somewhere that had awful damp problems - we spunked loads of money on heating the house while drying clothes (I like dry clothes - odd, I know) - didn't stop me developing a terrible cough, as the damp was in the walls (from the roof) and there was absolutely nothing we could do about it, as tenants.

Sympathies if the various professionals have charged you money and not sorted the problem - very frustrating when you've tried to be a responsible landlord.

Sorry if that was a bit snippy (and it was - past experience as a renter makes me very snippy about clothes-drying threads). My point is - you are trying to generate regular income from an asset and protect that asset. It's got to be worth providing your tenants with an easy route away from dampness. And you can get a decent washer dryer for less than 300 quid.

Didn’t sound snipey, I understand that people need to dry clothes, I admit I put stuff on radiators in my own home.
When I met a workman in the property he was lecturing us both about drying in the house.
There is a laundrette just down the road so they may use this sometimes.
As it is a really small house and very open I think cooking and showering will also contribute to the condensation so I’m not expecting them not to eat or clean.
Just asking for ideas on how I can help with it.
Thanks earslaps for that idea, I’ll have a good read tomorrow.

I dry my washing on a clothes horse and over radiators. I’ve done that in every flat/house I’ve lived in - 11 different properties - and I’ve never had problems with damp/condensation.

Another thing I’ve always done is open windows to let air circulate.

Encourage tenants to open windows for a short time every day. It’s in their own interests to do so!

As pp suggested, a spinner might also help. Washer dryers are not meant to be used when house is empty due to fire risk, though, so wouldn’t buy one of those.

And fans that come on with light in bathroom and kitchen.

And keep telling tenants to let air in!

To be fair, we own our place and just sleeping in the bedroom causes condensation on our windows - we don't dry any clothes upstairs at all. I open the windows while I'm getting ready for work, but that's not enough. So I've 1) invested in a window vac and 2) painted around the windows with Wickes own brand white anti mould paint. So far, this has stopped the mould growing on our walls and curtains.

We rent a 2 bed terrace and have had condensation/mold problems

Ended up buying a dehumidifier when it got really bad last winter

Our landlord reimbursed us for it- I bought it as they were away on holiday and couldn't bear any more of it

So I put it on the second I hang washing up inside on the clothes airer

Also some autumn/winter mornings the windows are totally full of condensation so I put it on before going out to work and let it run all day

When I'm home I tend to try and open all windows- it can be difficult as DH tends to go round closing them all saying how cold he is in a t shirt & shorts

Then he cranks the heating up high ie 22 degrees or more!

I digress

We had the same issue in a rental property, the problem is when clothes are being dried on a radiator or airer and condensation is always an issue in the winter months.

We were told by a damp specialist that the windows need to be open for ventilation otherwise its like throwing a bucket of water at the walls.

We have vents on our windows which are open but we suggested that they put the airer in the bathroom which seems to help.

IME airbricks don't help. They just create a new cold place for condensation to collect on.

Our 1930s house gets terrible condensation on very cold nights, despite airing as much as possible during the day. We use a dehumidifier in the worst downstairs room and clear it up using a window vac, so it's not causing mould or going straight back into the air.

Bathroom tip, yes.

If the bathroom has a modern extractor fan (it should) and it actually works, you can hang wet washing over the bath or on racks and leave the fan running permanently. The fan will suck out the water vapour and prevent it drifting into the rest of the house and making it damp. The bathroom door and window should both be closed when the fan is running.

Many people will not open windows or use a tumble drier because of the cost of heating.

Some people will not use a fan because they think it is expensive.

A modern bathroom extractor fan is typically around 10Watts and will run for 100 hours on 15p worth of electricity.

Yes, draping wet washing on radiators is an awful source of condensation and damp.

It’s so hard because as it’s a rental property you can give advice but there’s no way of making sure it’s taken.
The bathroom is downstairs and pretty bright and the extractor dan only runs when the light is on.
The kitchen has no windows but also is bright and has the same type of fan.
I was looking at the fans that come on when they detect humidity. Are they any good?

Turquoise Dress - I'd recommend a Karcher window vac - one house we rented (also 1930s) had terrible window condensation, but was otherwise fine. A quick vac of all the windows in the morning (not that quick, because had to empty the bucket thing at least once) kept it that way.

Definitely get a dehumidifier - they are amazing! Was shocked at how much water you empty out in the morning!

What would people recommend for a windowless bathroom (upstairs)? We have an extractor fan which we put on whenever we shower, but are slowly growing mould 😩
Thanks

a powerful inline ducted extractor, wired so it comes on every time the bathroom light is switched on (not just when it occurs to you to turn the fan on) with a 30-minute timer delay.

Modern inline fans are very quiet and economical so there is no need to grumble about noise or cost.

Gahhhhh this brings back memories from when we rented out our lovely basement Victorian flat. Lived there for 6 years ourselves and it was immaculate. We ran a dehumidifier in the bedroom and one in the living room/dining area and put the heating on at regular intervals. No issues.

Tenant moved in and all hell broke loose. She wouldn't put the heating on, wouldn't use the dehumidifier and then claimed she was but it was too expensive to run, claimed she wasn't putting stuff on the radiators but when the agents went round there were things hung everywhere... we got tradesmen in to have a look who said it was condensation and all proposed ridiculous and expensive things that we had managed for years without and couldn't do to a listed building.

Eventually the tenant moved out and didn't pay her last month's rent. I vowed never to be a landlord ever again. Don't rent a flat that's basement level in a 100 year old listed building and then expect to just treat it like a Persimmons new build