Mould in my sons room…dehumidifier or silica packs?

Plenty of condensation on his windows and now some black mouldy on the window reveal.

Is it just a case of reducing moisture in there? Heating on most of the day.

Do silica packs work at all or should we bite the bullet and buy a dehumidifier?

Thanks all

Ps any recommendations for cleaning products that won’t destroy the paint?

What’s the ventilation like?

Silica packs are designed to remove the moisture from a sealed container like a shoe box, they’ll fill up really quickly in a room with people in it just from moisture from breathing.

It’s a ventilation issue rather than something that can be solved with heating. Condensation on the windows suggests your glazing isn’t as effective as it could be.

Ok, sounds ventilation problem then. Should we keep window open during the day? Any suggestions that don’t involve new double glazing?

Thanks all

Dehumidifier. They really help with drying washing as well.
I’d say they are essential in this country.

Do you have trickle vents at the top of the window?
Do you have an air brick in the room?
Do you leave the curtains closed a lot of the time?
Does the door get left open during the day?
Do you dry washing in there?

Condensation on the windows suggests your glazing isn’t as effective as it could be.

^ This.

We have old D&G windows, and the glass is just cold, hence condensation.

On the reveal suggests cold wall/uninsulated cavity/cold bridge there as well. What wall type do you have?

Can he use the bong a bit less? Vape?

http://www.gov.scot/resource/doc/1125/0011805.pdf

Yep, leave the window open, even slightly at night if possible. Leave the bedroom door open as much as possible, with a window on the other side of the upstairs open to promote airflow.

Even more low tech – get a couple of old towels, wipe the windows and surrounds dry every morning and dry them outside for the next day…(I know).

Plus fungicide + mould spray to inhibit growth.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/help-with-dealing-with-damp-in-a-bedroom

We’re suffering with similar. Duff double glazing and bedroom doors that have to stay shut to avoid feline visitors in the night. Roll on warmer weather…

These do a great job of condensation on windows

Bit the bullet a little before Christmas and got a dehumidifier for our old house, used to have loads of condensation throughout – from family usage really – indoors washing drying, baths – and that with windows often open a bit (like the fresh air..) But only single, old glazing (built 1880s..)

What a difference – windows in better state immediately. Have no regrets – other than having to resort to technology..

1) open all your window for 10 mins, to change the air in your house, without getting too cold.

cold air is dry air.

after 10 mins, close the windows.

As the new air warms up, it’ll absorb water.

2) you’re getting condensation, use it. Wipe it off with a flannel/sponge, and wring it down the sink.

Our rented house came with a dehumidifier, because its an old stone house. Its brilliant. Makes a massive difference. When we first moved in we just had it on occasionally when drying washing and the windows started misting up.
It has an auto setting on it, so will turn on if the humidity rises. Just leave it running all the time now. if we are drying washing will fill up in a day. but otherwise empties every 2/3 days and keeps everything nice and dry. no more condensation on the windows.

Its an ebac.

some black mouldy on the window reveal

This may suggest a cold bridge. Also having the heating on might be contributing to the issue. Hot air holds more moisture.

We used to live in a 60s concrete built flat that was once lived in by my wife’s Grandparents. When they lived there, mould was not an issue, mainly because it didn’t have central heating or double glazing and was generally well ventilated.

Before we moved in, a shower, central heating and double glazing were installed (an overhaul in anticipation of her Gran’s return from a home which sadly never happened). We then moved in and we had to leave the windows open everyday, all day while we were at work. The mould growth was quite bad. We didn’t even dry washing in the flat, the moisture sources were just from cooking, showering and us.

The root cause was a clash between modern lifestyles/technology and a 60s building. The council employed a specialist to look at the block as it also contained council flats. The specialist recommended external insulation and cladding…..but the council instead offered cavity wall insulation, which solved nothing as the cold bridges at window reveals and floors still remained.

We might have got a dehumidifier if we were staying there longer, but it’s only a fix that can go so far. If you’re staying there long term I’d look at better glazing and ventilation, and appropriate insulation

Move your son out, worked for us 😀

Thanks all.

Langylad – the boy is only 3 weeks old so can’t kick him out just yet!!

Think it’s a case of opening the windows more often plus looking at a dehumidifier.

Always appreciate the combined knowledge of STW

You’ll have to open the windows for long enough to dry all the stored clothes etc. that have absorbed humidity.

Junior lives door closed, when the temperature inside is only a little higher than outside the house ventilates only very slowly. His room gets damp. I open the window to air, close up again and leave the dehumidifier running. It takes a couple of hours to get down from mid seventies to 65% and produces 2-300ml.

I’m staggered that people actually sleep with their bedrooom windows closed!

Bit the bullet a little before Christmas and got a dehumidifier for our old house, used to have loads of condensation throughout – from family usage really – indoors washing drying, baths – and that with windows often open a bit (like the fresh air..) But only single, old glazing (built 1880s..)

Can one dehumidifier do the whole house? Or do you move it around as needed?
What sort did you get?

I’m staggered that people actually sleep with their bedrooom windows closed!

Same here.

quieter innit.

after… 11ish the roads where i live get taken over by loud, speeding, chavs, dealers, and pizza mopeds.

quieter innit.

And significantly warmer!

I had the same issues of condensation on windows, mould in bedroom corners.

Tried Silica packs, and they remove some moisture, but not enough to stop mould.

Dehumidifiers work in 1 room but are expensive to buy and run, noisy. Crucially they do nothing to circulate air.

So after all that I bought a Positive Pressure Ventilation System.

Best thing we ever did for our house. Mould disappeared within days, no more condensation, and the house feels fresher.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/positive-pressure-ventilation-loft-units-which

And significantly warmer!

Are you new to STW? 😆 STWers all sleep with the windows wide open with only a sheet for warmth and are NEVER cold! Someone will be along to point out how they are better than you soon 😉

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/Can-damp-and-mould-affect-my-health.aspx?CategoryID=87&

Macavity – Funny you should post that. My son was repeatedly admitted to hospital with very serious (life threatening) chest infections over 2-3 years.

As soon as the PPV was installed and the mould went, this coincided with an improvement in my sons health. Now Im not saying its cause and effect, but I do believe it helped.

We’ve closed the windows now. Night time temps are approaching -15 outside……… (we closed them when it hit -5)

They get opened in the evening for some fresh air.

Dehumidifier lives in the kit/wash/junk room. Pulls a litre of water out every 24 hours. (When it’s on)

We don’t have a damp problem any more.

I’m staggered that people actually sleep with their bedrooom windows closed!

And with the heating on…

tenacious_doug — well it took the bulk of the moisture out of the main culprit – kitchen. Was an EBAC one, medium sized, has a laundry setting.. The kitchen has a hatch to the dining room (where a lot of condensation would form) and doors usually well open.

We did after that get a smaller – mini – Ecoair – model to run in the upper landing – bedrooms, bathroom – and that works away during the day. It does provide some air flow – as does the EBAC one to be honest.

Bedroom windows closed here, but one of them has a noticeable draught round the edge which I have chosen to leave as is…threads like this convince me it’s the right choice! (there’s a touch of condensation, but nothing serious).

In fact all windows here are permanently closed, bet I’ve still got more air throughput than most of you, but builders foam in the biggest holes has helped 🙂 Leaks are still the bigger source of moisture…

another way is to fit a length od drain or soil pipe through the floors and out of the roof, to act as a a passive stack ventilation system, eg a chimney to extract moisture.

what about self adhesive window film to create a double glazing effect.
Assuming you have an offset between the window pane and the interior wall.
Having this dead air space prevents air circulation across the window and allows the condensation to form. creating an ‘artificial’ second pane may keep the glass pane cooler – less temperature differential and may reduce the condensation.

Window film

Done, Project. The air only moves fast enough to prevent humidity rising when there’s a significant temperature difference between the house and outside. The dehumidifier takes the bathroom from 86% to 66% in an hour. I’ve left the bathroom closed up with the window open to see what happens and it’s still nearly 80% after an hour.

As a follow up on the boat we used to run a heater (low power pipe heater) in the winter too to prevent freezing. The fact is most of don’t keep our cars in the garage (if we have them) which is what its actually for, makes a huge difference in the winter.

I have the same problem as op. I stay in a basement apartment and have no ventilation. Old style single glazing as it’s a listed building.. thinking about trickle vents or similar. Run a dehumidifier for a lot of the time and wipe down the condensation as best I can..

In addition to the above post, I’m having to repaint the window frames due to the condensation making a mess of them.. what’s the best way to strip , prep and repaint to stop them looking a mess?

we too have suffered with condensation. it got so bad once, we thought we had a waterpipe leak under the house. carpet was soaking, pools of water when we lifted carpets up and clothes in the drawers under the bed were going green with mould. that was a shock! builder insisted it was condensation and put 2 airbricks in our bedroom but all it did was create mould around the airbricks which amazed me 😯 didnt cure the problem.

whats the best advice then?

1. ok, sleep with windows open whatever the weather
2. heating on or off? does a warmer room make more condensation than no heating? so the best option is windows open, no heating at all? or windows open and heating on? (will waste money)
3. all internal doors open to promote airflow? (goes against fire safety advice which is to keep doors closed)
4. wipe all windows (and front/back doors in our case) with a window vac as soon as you wake up?
5. we have a dehumidifier which is on a lot, but i switch it off for periods of the day because i think ‘its daytime, the windows are open, its not doing anything’. should it be on 24/7?

just wondering how i can improve our situation.

thanks