excessive condensation on end walls

[Themasterandmargaritas]

It is a terrible nuisance for our tenants in this cold weather. It appears on the kitchen wall that is an end wall and the bedroom wall above it, as well as most of the (double glazed) windows.

What can we do to help ease it?

I have explained the importance of ventilation and am looking at anti condensation paint. Can I use cavity wall insulation on that wall and will it make a difference?

Yes, you can insulate that wall but it probably won't make a difference...well, not much. The paint won't be a big help either.

The humidity in the rooms will be the cause and that'll be especially bad in the kitchen. If they are slack with the cooker fan that won't help. Do you have trickle vents in the windows? They go some way to helping.

If your tennants are the sort of people who like to hermetically seal themselves in (thus causing damp!) then you could try getting a dehumidifier and see if that helps.

love your name...a mix of my fave book and drink!

We get this in our bedroom if we dont open windows. Dehumidifier works well. The paint doesnt.

if they also dry their clothes on radiators this doesnt help either. what about buying a dehumidifier (doesnt have to be too big) and getting them to use it say for an hour a day during the winter)

have you checked all the gas appliances for carbon monoxide levels as that increases condensation.

Faulty gas boiler was my immediate thought too, tbh. May be worth checking it out to eliminate that possibility.

I was hoping the wall insulation might do the trick, damn. Dh seems to remember the surveyor saying it wouldn't help much either. But that wall is always really really cold.

Apparently our double glazed windows are crap too, old style with little ventilation built in.

the only gas appliance in the kitchen is a 4 burner stove. I can get it checked out but would it make that much difference?

Perhaps I buy them two dehumidifiers.

I think it's well worth having the stove checked tmmm - it's the carbon monoxide that causes the condensation, and that's a killer. (Had a faulty boiler once with excessive condensation)

well if you don't check out the gas and it is carbon monoxide then you may be prosecuted if they die from it???

Is it worth investigated have the end wall dry lined with special insulated plaster board stuff, also any chance of replacing the windows even if it's half at a time?

2 dehumidifiers would help though.

It's been going on for some years Cargirl, so I (hopefully) don't think it is as bad as all that... Even so I will mention it to the agent.

The boiler is in the bathroom and is fine, it's only 18mths old. And there is a CO2 spotting thingy in there.

I could partially replace the windows, but it would mean doing 3 double and one tiny one, probably out of our price range.

Well that's good that you're not posioning your tenants

Could you do 2 of the windows or something just to show willing as well as buying them some dehumidifiers? If you shop around you may get a decent quote with a window company???

I'll def buy a couple of dehumidifiers and explore the cavity wall insulation a bit more.

How much do you reckon roughly it would cost to replace say 2 windows of 1.5ms length each (wild guess at actual metrage btw )

What makes a big difference to the cost is how many openers you have on each one.

My FIL does windows and his private work for one or two windows is really cheap compared to large companies as the large companies give discounts for big jobs and don't want small jobs IYSWIM.

Ah okay, assuming they had two openings then. I presume all windows nowadays are 'well ventilated' and have to be up to a certain standard? I'm not going to be ripped off if I use a small local independent...

Also can they get them to look exactly the same as the others from the outside?

I think there are various standards about thw gap width between the panes - that is what reduces the condensation.

I'd get a few quotes and ask if they can make them look the same as existing. You can also have dummy openers where they look like openers but they aren't.

If you go to an independent ask them which firm makes the windows as they will be supplied from somewhere IYSWIM

Thanks, I'll investigate further tomorrow.