Why is my house so damp when it never used to be this bad?

[CormorantStrikesBack]

I5s an old Victorian house. I know that damp is generally down a lack of heating and ventilation.

so I have the heating at 19degrees. I admit I’m not great at this time of year about having windows open but I manage ten minutes in the morning in our bedroom before going to work, longer if I’m wfh. But I’ve never been great with the windows so no different to normal.

The house is noticeably damper this year than previously. There are damp patches on all external walls, condensation on the walls. We are getting mould.

i am wiping the walls every day. We use a window vac on the windows every morning. I have a 12ltr Meaco dehumidifier running constantly. So it’s been going in my bedroom with the door shut most of the day, I started it at 8am, went up at 6pm and it was full so had stopped. Started it again and the reading is still 80%. Room feels damp. It never used to be this bad.

i move the dehumidifier downstairs overnight. I probably could do with one in every room but can’t afford the electricity! I’ve ordered some of those non plug in ones, not sure how useful they are.

do I need to get anything structural checked with the house? I asked dh and he just said well it’s cold outside so we’ll have more condensation. But I swear a few years ago it wasn’t like this even when cold.

Do I turn the heating up to 20?

It looks like you might have had a problem for a while but the wall paper/paint has been hiding it, especially on the chimney breast. I'm not sure better ventilation and dehumidifiers will work but you will need them to manage the damp in the mean time.

Turn investigator and try getting to the bottom of what is causing it rather than just treating the current issues. Four things I'd look into would be:

1. Walls, do they need repointing
2. Roof is it leaking (not just missing tiles but along the ridges too, are there gaps)
3. Is your chimney cracked
4. The fact it is mostly on upper parts of walls makes me think it is coming from above rather than rising damp, so would rule out first three first before looking at this

Remember where the damp appears might not be the same place it is coming in at as water ingress can travel along walls. I'd get a decent builder and a roofer in to just take a look.

Other thing is, even if you fix the entry point issue, water might have saturated the internal plaster (volume on chimney breast looks like this could have happened) you may need to take wall back to brick and replaster. Suggest stripping back a bit of wall paper to see what is going on behind and also buying a damp meter to identify where is most affected (might not be where it looks worst). With the damp meter record the results and monitor to see if scores are getting worse or if it is impacted badly after heavy rain.

Google leadwork flashing on roof as this could be the sort fix you are needing. You also need to go into the attic and properly check to see if there are issues there too as that might give some more clues to the cause.

Don't panic though! Fixing it might not be as expensive as you think, but don't put off looking into it, because longer you leave it, the more you'll need to repair inside.

You can get a humidistat fan which activates when detects moisture or a continuous extract. Positive input fans are similar but in reverse. Some buildings do benefit from a coat of lime render. As others have said do not use cement. If you are going to render you could consider an insulated render like wood fibre. You really need a surveyor in to look at the situation as a whole

OP sorry if this has been asked, but are you keeping your bathroom window open while showering?

if we don’t, our upstairs rooms get full condensation on all windows, which develops into mould.

If I leave my bathroom window open all day (wide initially then on vent when it starts to feel draughty) I don’t tend to get any condensation or mould problems.

Same with cooking, gotta open kitchen window wide despite draught! Then keep on vent for a little while. Otherwise my back door, windows etc get covered in mould

changeychang that sounds like it will get damp. Try opening windows or drying outside if at all possible.

please read the link posted above before you get a surveyor as ours was crap - he assure us no damp - it was all hidden behind chipboard on the walls.

as a pp said, make sure any pointing or basically anything, is lime plaster or ‘natural’ paints that breathe. Don’t use the plastic based one ( in yellow tub I think) that says microporous, as one layer will have tiny pores, but they get clogged by the second layer so it’s pointless.
the advantage of ,’natural’ linseed oil based ( they do water based too) breathable paints is that though they are pricey, the water escapes through them. With plastic paints, the water can’t escape and form s a blister that needs sanding and repainting more frequently and meanwhile the stuff underneath has water trapped in it and is being compromised.

ive done sooo much research! Can you tell?!
the proof is our shed that was bare pine, I painted it in
https://www.traditionalpaint.co.uk/product/pure-linseed-oil-paint/
which was expensive, but x (10?) number of years later, it hasn’t weathered at all and looks new still.
not like our windows that bubbled almost the next summer due to the sun, and the water couldn’t get out.

please don’t cover anything in waterproofing until you are REALLY sure and have read all about damp, historic buildings has some good leaflets.

i was persueded to have the cavity wall in our garage filled with foam for insulation and to help the planet 🙄, and obviously since then it’s become a nightmare of mould, damp, and now the harling on the outside is cracking. Great!

@CormorantStrikesBack does your bathroom not have a proper window in it or is it just a fan? Might need a stronger bathroom fan if that is possible or use a dehumidifier in bathroom all the time. looks like winter is going to be very damp for you. you need to turn up heating quite high. hot steam hitting cold walls is not good.

This picture below looks similar to the ones you have posted, maybe?

That looks like water ingress.

How is your roof?

Your chimney flashing?

You need to get vents in any blocked up chimney stack.

Re-pointing. Can you take a photo of the outside walls? Do not repoint using any cement based mortar, it needs to be in lime.

Have you got a water meter? If you make sure no water is running and check the meter- if it's moving you might have a leak somewhere.

Blast airing anx heating. No need to have windows open all day unless it's dry and sunny. It's not like it's not wet outside...
All windows open for 15min in a morning ans evening to get draught through, heat.

I had to onceoverheat the house for 2 days to get the humidity out, then went back to 19

Same! Our old house is usually somewhere between 16-19, don't do half of what you're doing and we have no issues with damp. I think you have something more serious going on here.

All the paint fell off our bathroom last year after I had literally just painted it. The reason was heavy rain and blocked gutters so the rain was pouring down the walls and through the house. I had the gutters cleaned earlier this year and it hasn’t happened again. But rain in the wrong place can cause a lot of damage. Check your gutters and drains, check your roof and chimneys

Roof should be fine. It was completely redone about ten years ago.

here are some photos of the back wall. I have no idea what I’m looking for

Trickle vents are a joke. Mine are open 24/7 and I've still got damp issues!

Trying to do photos but they’re too big 🤷🏻‍♀️

Here hopefully

You need to open the windows for air circulation in the mornings. I know it's not ideal as it's cold but you need to air the house and shut the windows later on. This will stop the issue. By keeping the windows shut like this it's making the issue worse. You can get a device called an octopus (it's an air circulation device approx £2k) that deals with the issue.) This is very common in properties of this age.

The other thing I would check is to make sure none of your window seals are blown. You could always ask a window fitter to come out and check the seals. Also check your gutters and make sure they aren't blocked. Hope that helps.

We do have a proper bathroom window which we open after showering.

what would be best to do today in damp bedroom. Window has been open for an hour. Do I leave the window open? Or close it and do the dehumidifier?

This.

We've been in our 250 year old house for 7 years. This autumn, for the first time ever, we've had problems with damp. Mould growing on walls and wooden beams. Bags of sugar in cupboards solidifying. Even printer paper felt damp. It just seemed to be in everything. We opened the windows a lot but it seemed a bit pointless when it was so damp outside. We had the heating on when we didn't want it on (but even on cold days can't bear anything above 20).

Never had this problem before but thankfully it's settled down now.

Personally I leave the bathroom window open a couple of inches for the morning and shut later. I open all my windows in the am and after a few hours the condensation is gone. It's amazing in bathrooms how much condensation is created.

All the windows are the same where I live (Victorian houses.) I used to have a new build house and it was never an issue but I did have an octopus ventilation system. I'm looking to get one again in the future.

My friend no longer dries clothes inside as she was told when she had someone come out not to. It adds to the issue considerably.

This.
It was also an incredibly wet autumn. I live near a river and the flood plains have been two or three feet under at times, across a huge acreage.

I’ve lived here 20 years and it’s never been like this. Dh is convinced it’s just the wet weather. I hope he’s right and not sticking his head in the sand. Personally I feel houses should be waterproof as far as bricks are concerned.

The damp patches in the green bedroom appeared overnight during a prolonged storm so maybe he’s right. The damp in the dining room and mould in the living room and dds bedroom however is ongoing.

That last photo of your bathroom looks like a chimney breast. I'd be getting someone in to check it out - if rain is coming down the flue, that could be the source of many of your problems.

Also check your gutters - if they are full of crap they'll be overflowing the rain off the roof which can cause all sorts of mayhem.

Yes, the brickwork probably does need resealing but your DH is right that you need to wait for the brick to be dry to apply it. Have a good look at the alternative products out there - some claim a 25yr lifetime, others it's more like 5. A good housepainter will have the prep and application done in no time.

Im in a damp old house but last year was really bad in one room. I bought a moisture reader from amazon only about £10. When I put it on the wall and floorboards in the damp room it was off the scale. We had a huge leak under the floor.
Might be worth checking although we do still get mould and I have to keep on top of it. Dettol mould spray is very good 👍

What were you like with heating last year OP?

I'm in a 1930s house and last year we were so terrified of putting the heating on that we got mould patches (our temp went down to 15 degrees. Never again!). This year the rooms that got damp have now got it back even though our heating is at 19. I do wonder if it's got into the brickwork etc.

We don't have condensation all over the walls though - I would be getting someone out to check.

OP I strongly recommend you join a Facebook group called Traditional and listed building advice. It has over 30k people and you will get excellent advice if you post in there. There will be a cause, you just need to find it. Start in the group, post something and read the replies carefully. There is also a great book often recommended in there called The Warm Dry Home by Peter Ward which is very good. My partner and I each live in very old houses and the group has been a huge source of support and advice.

Just seen the pictures- def not normal damp patches!!