Is this caused by lack of heating or something more sinister?

[ibbydibby]

Am an infrequent poster panicking about my house....long story.....

We moved here in April, and soon realised we had a damp area in living room wall. Called in builder who said unlikely to be building problem and likely to be leaking radiator pipe. Called in plumber who confirmed this, looked round house, said that pipes should not be embedded in concrete under floor...boiler looking dodgy etc etc. So we decided to completely replace CH, boiler etc. As there is no mains gas, we decide to go for calor tank in garden (currently on oil fired). So all this takes time to arrange, and in OCtober we realise that old heating is not working v well at all, and house mostly cold. Fast forward to Nov, when boiler stops working and we are totally reliant on electric heaters.

Today I was looking around in loft space to side of bedroom (loft extension) and discover a piece of part wet / part dry newspaper. Also discover in box of Christmas Decorations a dough decoration that appears to have started dissolving - there are bits of wettish dough dripping on the other decorations. Can not see any obvious wet areas, have had a good feel around. The outside of the box is dry, suggesting that the wetness started inside the box.

So am panicking. Could this wetness be due to condensation caused by v low temps in roof, due to lack of heating? Bedrooms upstairs are around 11/12 degrees at nighttime. If so would this ressolve itself once heating installed (due to start next week). Or is this likely to be start of more major problem? Or the urine of a small mammal....? Can't see any nibbling signs though.

Would be grateful for any ideas, thoughts or suggestions about this - thanks.

I don't know what to make of wetness of Christmas decorations as, presumably, they are in a cardboard box so that would be wet as well if there was a damp problem in loft. Could something (snow-storm type bauble?) have leaked?

The easiest way to resolve very low temperatures in the roof space and make your new heating more efficioent would be to put in tons of insulation (if your loft conversion is quite old, may not have been part of building regs when it was done).

Incidentally, my parents-in-law had a huge damp problem in their home caused by extractor fan accidentally venting in there...

Thanks for your reply. Yes we are planning to insulate as feel sure this is inadequate. Could lack of it, plus lack of heating cause condensation that might make a few things damp? (clutching at straws here!)

Re the Christmas decoration - was in a box fall of others, all of which seem unscathed and dry. No leaking snowstorms. All I can thing is that as this is a dough one (made by DS2 when he was in reception) it was not sufficently baked at the time it was made and is now seeping moisture...again clutching at straws possibly! It is now just a gooey mass, though star shape still apparent (just).

Coldness in house is already causing much condensation in bathroom and kitchen causing outbreaks of mould.

Your comment about extractor fan v useful as we do have one downstairs and I will check this.

If its salt dough then it could well be just sucking up any moisture from the air - salt does that.

Our salt dough decorations have done the same. Stored in a dry box, with other decorations. Box still dry, other decorations fine, salt dough ones broken, moist and mouldy.
I put it down to it absorbing moisure from the air.