Condensation

by Tim Hollingsworth

Tim Hollingsworth, managing directorof leading surveying and estate agency firm Rumball Sedgwick, offers simple tips on how to prevent condensation in your home.

How many readers remember the 1970s TV series ‘Rising Damp?’ You know, the one about a group of ill-assorted tenants having to put up with their tight-fisted landlord, played by Leonard Rossiter.

You may not live in that sort of squalor, but there are still several reasons why you could get damp in your property. During the winter, it is often caused by condensation.

So, why do you get it and what can you do to stop it?

I recently took a call from a landlord of a flat where the tenant was complaining of chronic damp coming into the property. When I arrived for my inspection and saw that the flat was within a late Victorian conversion, with four outside walls and situated on the top floor, my immediate reaction was that it must be condensation.

Inside, I noticed that the bedroom was full of clothes hanging in the recesses on rails and the windows were firmly closed. Water was trickling down the walls and the windows, even though the weather outside was dry, if rather cold.

I asked the couple living there if they ever opened the windows at night and before I even mentioned the word, I got a lecture about how there was ‘no condensation’ and ‘why would they open the windows in cold weather.’

Using my moisture meter, I inserted two long probes into the bedroom walls and found the walls to be completely dry. The damp was on the surface only, proof positive that problem was not water coming in from outside, but condensation created inside by the occupiers.

Further questions revealed that the occupiers would hang their washing in the spare room to dry and that they rarely used the extraction fans because they were noisy. It was clear that this couple were filling the flat up with damp air and with no ventilation, the moist air was condensing on the external cold surfaces and hence water was running down the inner walls and glass.

I explained to the occupiers that if they wanted to stop the damp, they should open a window a little at night time to allow adequate ventilation and use extractor fans at all times when using the bathroom or cooking. I also suggested they get a tumble dryer with an outside exhaust.

If you want to prevent condensation and the horrible black mould it generates, you need to get the balance right between heating and ventilation.So before you go to bed, make sure your smallwindow is open, the extractor fan is turned on andyour heating is set to create a good balance of warmer air in the property.

Rumball Sedgwick has offices in Watford and St Albans. If you have a problem with damp in your property and need a professional inspection, please contact Tim Hollingsworth on01923 200096 or tim@rumballsedgwick.co.uk