Condensation

[Chuckles]

In my spare room of my flat, I get a lot of condensation round the window even though it's double glazed. If I don't clean round it regularly, it can lead to spots of mildew on the all above that are a bitch to scrub off.

Is there any kind of treatment that you can use to stop this coming back?

[lostkat]

We get it on most of our windows despite them being double glazed. Our house doesn't have a cavity though as it's well old, so there's always going to be a bit of damp in the air. The only way we can get rid is to leave the windows open slightly on the latch. It clears it all then, but obviously gets FREEEEEZING in the winter. People also use dehumidifiers.

[TinkerBell]

Open the window :p

[SidewinderINC]

Dehumidifier mate, I run one in my house, set it to "normal" and it'll run constantly for a hell of a long time to cut the humidity to that level, then it'll turn off and on automatically to keep the damp/condensation/humidity to that level.

And it makes it cheaper to heat the house as it's harder to heat a damp house

[phykell]

As has been said, opening a window will usually help as it's often just a lack of adequate ventilation. However, if you live in an older property with solid walls or a more modern structure with a fault in the damp course, or even wall ties, the chances are that damp will be a problem.

A dehumidifier is a brute force solution to the problem, though expensive, and can work really. Prevention is better than a cure as ever so make sure there are no faults with the structure first. Try opening the windows first thing in the morning and all ese fails, resort to a dehumidifier. I run two, one runs constantly to maintain a suitable environment for my piano, and the other is a huge, 60 litre per day unit which does the rest of the house.

SINC - paradoxically, it makes the dehumidification process more effective if you raise the heat :D

[Chuckles]

It's a purpose built flat round about 1970. All double glazed. I don't get any at all in the kitchen, bedroom or living room. Just in the spare room and some in the bathroom.

I wonder if the double glazing in the spare room isn't fitted very well.

I'll try a dehumidifier. Is one of those £50 jobs ok, or does it need something better?

[SidewinderINC]

SINC - paradoxically, it makes the dehumidification process more effective if you raise the heat :D

Very true :D

Although I find raising the heat just makes all the moisture travel towards the windows and form condensation/damp so without the dehumidifier I'd be screwed anyways :p

*shakes fist at shoddily built building* it's like it in ALL of them.

[Jonny69]

It's a pain in the ass, condensation. This year it seems to have got cold very suddenly which has caused a lot of condensation here. Usually it gets cold over a longer period of time and the heating has a chance to dry the flat out first. I'm just drying the windows as I spot the condensation, it goes after a while even if drying clothes inside.

[phykell]

It's a purpose built flat round about 1970. All double glazed. I don't get any at all in the kitchen, bedroom or living room. Just in the spare room and some in the bathroom.

I wonder if the double glazing in the spare room isn't fitted very well.

I'll try a dehumidifier. Is one of those £50 jobs ok, or does it need something better?
Don't buy a cheap dehumidifier based on a dessicant material - they're a waste of money :)

Is your flat a ground floor one? Is there a roof above your flat? Damp patches might not be immediately visible but may still be bad enough to cause condensation and can be due to a break in the guttering or dampcourse.

[Von Smallhausen]

You can get molocular sieve powders that attract water from B&Q and the like.

When i was an industrial chemist, a paint ingredient was a powder called Sylosiv, made by Bayer which did a great job when placed in a plastic pot with pepper holes in.

[lostkat]

I was convinced I'd read somewhere that you shouldn't use dehumidifiers in old, solid wall houses. However, I can't find anything saying that now so I must have dreamt it :p

What are good makes and how much should you look to spend? We could do with one in our lounge really.

[Mark]

I wonder if the double glazing in the spare room isn't fitted very well.
Can you tell how old the double glazing is? If it's old, you could have a blown seal or saturated desiccant inside the unit. You can often tell when this happens because condensation will form between the glass layers.

[Pheebs]

With regards to the mould and mildew - we used to get a lot in our previous place and we used a spray on it. I canny remember what it's called but it's in a lime green bottle - might be made by flash? Not sure, although you should be able to find it at your local supermarket in the cleaning section :) Anyway, that kept it at bay for longer than a wipe.

Dehumidifier sounds the way forward though for the condensation! :) Good luck :)

[Chuckles]

How about a tag team combo of these bad boys....

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/nav.jsp?isSearch=true&fh_search=mildew&selected=products&x=0&y=0

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4150664/Trail/searchtext%3EDEHUMIDIFIER.htm

[Mark]

I don't know much about dehumidifier specs, but the '1.5 litre tank' bothers me. How often would you have to empty that (unless of course it's a misprint, which is probably the more sensible option).

[SidewinderINC]

I don't know much about dehumidifier specs, but the '1.5 litre tank' bothers me. How often would you have to empty that (unless of course it's a misprint, which is probably the more sensible option).

mines about 2.5L and after getting the humidity to an adequate level, which took a couple of empties, I now empty it once a week, maybe less.

[Garp]

Condensation doesn't necessarily indicate a fault with your double glazing, it's entirely natural, after all you're letting moist air in and out of your house regularly all the time. It's always been a daily task for me to go around the house with an old towel and dry the windows, along with regularly opening them to get fresh air in the house, that usually keeps the mold away. If you do have mold, sugar soap works wonders.

[AboveTheSalt]

I don't get any at all in the kitchen, bedroom or living room. Just in the spare room and some in the bathroom.That's strange. In my old flat, I used to get the problem in the kitchen, bathroom and my bedroom. To some extent, I resolved it in the kitchen and bathroom by fitting powerful extractor fans. I never really entirely eliminated it in the bedroom.

As someone has suggested - the answer does seem to be - open the window.


I wonder if the double glazing in the spare room isn't fitted very well.I wouldn't have thought that the double-glazing would be a problem. I take it that nobody uses the spare bedroom?

I'll try a dehumidifier. Is one of those £50 jobs ok, or does it need something better?I suspect that you would need to spend more than £50 and whatever you do, don't forget to empty the water reservoir - I once did in a computer room and it made a right mess of the floor :o

Have a look HERE (http://www.dry-it-out.com/dehumidifiers?gclid=CIjNjPSgoJcCFQU_MAodKRBn-w).

[lostkat]

I've just won a 2nd hand dehumidifier on Ebay. It has a fairly big tank, so should be suitable for our place. Really hoping it will help keep the mould at bay in the lounge until we can sort it out properly (needs re-plastering).

[Chuckles]

ATS - Got a mate lodging in my spare room at the mo. It always used to have problems though when it was a studio, although maybe not as bad.

[SidewinderINC]

I suspect that you would need to spend more than £50 and whatever you do, don't forget to empty the water reservoir - I once did in a computer room and it made a right mess of the floor :o

most have auto-shutoff valves when the reservoir becomes full. unless they're really cheap.


http://www.ebac.com/


Take a look at those babies :D

[Chuckles]

Cheers dude

http://www.ebacdirect.com/product.php?productid=30

That looks pretty good and is on sale.

[AboveTheSalt]

most have auto-shutoff valves when the reservoir becomes full. unless they're really cheap.True.

Two other issues that may be important are running cost and noise. Still, I guess that they are all cheaper to run than leaving the windows open and turning up the thermostat ;)

[AboveTheSalt]

ATS - Got a mate lodging in my spare room at the mo. It always used to have problems though when it was a studio, although maybe not as bad.Pvt Pyle?

[phykell]

Just go to B&Q - they have a great selection and if the unit fails there's no problem in returning it.