Damp!

[Disaster]

In my house. In my lodgers bedroom to be precise.

 

There's mold starting to show along the whole of the outward facing interior wall.

I know this could be down to many issue such as: guttering, roofing, ventilation etc, but what I'm after is who's best to call? A generic builder or a damp specialist?

 

Cheers in anticipation

[elsiegee40]

A cheap starter is to go up in the roof and look for obvious causes yourself.

 

And from the outside, maybe with the aid of binoculars, look for missing or broken tiles.

 

And then check the gutters. Mr gee40 has to do ours around 4 times a year (He has a head for heights, I don’t, so I’m the one holding onto the bottom of the ladder!)

[Disaster]

Binoculars! Great shout. It's a 3 story house, so I'm in no rush to get on the roof!

[elsiegee40]

If you have nice neighbours they may be willing for you to peer at your roof from an upper window.

 

We spotted a missing tile on the house behind us before our neighbour knew he had a problem. He came round an inspected from our spare room and then called a roofer!

[TechMonkey]

Do you have access to the attic/roof space? That may help.

 

Also what does the weather do round yours? We had issue with damp in a single skin porch because the wind generally came straight down a road opposite on to our house and drove the rain into the wall. We painted inside with damp proof paint and that has worked wonders. The alternative is to paint the outside with special coating (I think this was the one I had heard was used Stormdry Masonry Protection Cream For Walls) that helps waterproof the bricks. SOmething else to look at, is the room damp, would it be worth getting a dehumidifier running for a bit, or even those little tubs that suck the water out?

[Disaster]

Do you have access to the attic/roof space? That may help.

 

Also what does the weather do round yours? We had issue with damp in a single skin porch because the wind generally came straight down a road opposite on to our house and drove the rain into the wall. We painted inside with damp proof paint and that has worked wonders. The alternative is to paint the outside with special coating (I think this was the one I had heard was used Stormdry Masonry Protection Cream For Walls) that helps waterproof the bricks. SOmething else to look at, is the room damp, would it be worth getting a dehumidifier running for a bit, or even those little tubs that suck the water out?

 

Yes I've thought about that, and interesting you mention the attic space; there;s not alot of it being a 3 story house, but I did have some insulation fitted last year (free government scheme). I think that, coupled with the radiator possibly being a bit under sized for the room (and possible me being a bit tight with the heating) and lack of ventilation, all this might be causing the problem.

 

Of course I won;t know for sure until I can rule out the roof/guttering etc. It is strange how it's spread equally along the wall....

[elsiegee40]

Yes I've thought about that, and interesting you mention the attic space; there;s not alot of it being a 3 story house, but I did have some insulation fitted last year (free government scheme). I think that, coupled with the radiator possibly being a bit under sized for the room (and possible me being a bit tight with the heating) and lack of ventilation, all this might be causing the problem.

 

Of course I won;t know for sure until I can rule out the roof/guttering etc. It is strange how it's spread equally along the wall....

 

When you added extra loft insulation, did you get the roof ventilation checked?

 

If the roof space is inadequately ventilated, the extra insulation means the roof space is cooler ... and damper. This may well be the problem; it’s quite common.

 

A quick google pulls up this explanation

 

It’s fixed by getting roof vents added.

Edited February 5, 2018 by elsiegee40

[dhicks]

SOmething else to look at, is the room damp, would it be worth getting a dehumidifier running for a bit, or even those little tubs that suck the water out?

 

We run a dehumidifier at home - we've tried assorted re-usable drying widgets in the past (generally a bag containing silica gel), and none work nearly as well as a proper dehumidifier. They do tend to be a bit noisy, so you might not want one on all day when someone's in the room, but you can stick a timer on the plug easily enough and run it when people are out.

[3s-gtech]

When you added extra loft insulation, did you get the roof ventilation checked?

 

It’s fixed by getting roof vents added.

 

Totally agreed here. It's even more of an issue if you had a 'warm roof' and they insulated it as a 'cold roof' - there won't be any roof vents and it'll be damp up there. Just insulated my roof from warm to cold, and will have to add soffit vents when they're changed. An extractor fan may be necessary if there's a bathroom on that floor.

 

Otherwise, check that it hasn't had cavity wall insulation, that any window vents are clear, and that gutters and downpipes are running clear.

[mole]

Whatever you do, do not call a damp specialist. A general builder/roofer should be able to determine the cause.

[Disaster]

It was a government scheme so I assume it must be warm roof insulation. No one mentioned anything about vents but it's something that I'll read up on.

Cheers for the information everyone. I think I'll also invest in a dehumidifier.

[woodham]

is it black mold, if it is its very likley condensation usually solved by a bit of extra ventalation and not drying stuff on the radiators maybe a window vent? opening the windows on a morning etc... the problem is usualy that we spend so much time trying to stop heat excaping and bock drafts that the moist air inside the house has no where to go to it finds the coldest surface it can and condensates on that

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

a bit of bleach in a spray bottle will kill it off but it needs to dry out fully as well