Had a water leak in the upstairs bathroom. Soaked the floor and the cavity between the floorboards and the downstairs ceiling.

One of the floorboards is up (only one I can get up at the moment) to allow some air to get between the joists but its not drying out that quickly even with a dehumidifer on.

Tried it with the window’s open too when its been hot and no joy.

Anyone got any suggestions?

I read that as “Tips for drying out a horse” 😯

Actively blow air (even better if it’s warm) at it to keep the water evaporating and keep the dehumidier on – pretty much any fan should do the job.

You need an industrial size dehumidifier and space heater. Sadly these are power hungry and still takes ages…insurance claim maybe?

Find a slave and give them a hair dryer? A massive bag of silica crystal things?

If you have the dehumidifier on the you must close the windows and doors to the room its in for it to work, ideally the whole house.

If you have the dehumidifier on the you must close the windows and doors to the room its in for it to work, ideally the whole house.

Don’t think that’s right actually. The more air movement you can get the better (assuming it’s drier air you’re bringing in from outside) as what you’re trying to do is get as much and as dry as possible air to the wet area. Though obviously if you had a very good dehumidier it may be able to dry the air in the house to a point where it’s drier than the air outside in which case that’d help (though you’d still want a fan blowing on the wet area).

I’d try windows open in the daytime, shut at night, dehumidifier on at night in the bathroom* with a fan heater on low, in the room underneath.

*This is prolly illegal and you will die horribly.

This happened to us back in November, sadly the only way for it to dry properly is slowly. We had big industrial dehumidifiers running 24/7 for two weeks and the loss adjuster chap thought that that wasn’t long enough but the decorators were OK with it.

Electricity bill for the drying out period was £600 or thereabouts.

Insurance paid up though.

Should say that the damp is in the bedroom next to the bathroom so can’t leave the dehumidifier on overnight unless I want to be freeze dried.

Under the floor its 80% humidity whereas above the floor is about 45% at the moment. 🙁

We had a washing machine leak which soaked in to all the brick work, we left a big gyrating fan directed at the area for a couple of days which did the trick. I think airflow is the main thing a dehumidifyer will also help if you can’t keep the windows open.

This happened to us back in November, sadly the only way for it to dry properly is slowly.

I’m afraid to say that this is the most correct answer. Just be thankful that it’s Summer…letting it dry naturally is the best solution albeit requiring the most patient. Drying it using a dehumidifier may cause cracks in plasterwork that wouldn’t otherwise appear if left to dry slowly.