How to Fight Damp
and Condensation
Useful tips and information
This leaflet was published November 2013. Any older versions
are now out of date including those with no date stamp.
Better homes friendlier communities...
- together
This leaflet explains what damp and
condensation is, how to prevent it and gives you
tips on how to reduce it.
Damp in the home is usually caused by a leak from a roof or plumbing
and often leaves a ‘tidemark’.
Condensation is usually caused by the way we live in everyday activities
such as cooking, washing and bathing.
2
What do we mean by condensation?
Condensation can cause black mould on walls, furniture, clothes and
curtains. The damp left by condensation will also damage plasterwork
and timber windows. The mould looks bad and can even damage your
health so it’s important to try and tackle condensation.
Every home gets condensation at some time - usually when lots of
moisture and steam are being produced. Cooking, washing, and even
breathing are just a few examples that can cause moisture, which is
released into the air.
The air can only hold a certain amount of water vapour - the warmer it
is, the more it can hold. If this is cooled by contact with a cold surface
such as mirror, a window or even a wall, the water vapour will turn into
droplets of water - condensation. This is what happens when the mirrors
mists up in the bathroom.
It is quite normal to find your bedroom windows misted up in the
morning after a cold night, which is to be expected and is not indicative
of a serious condensation problem.
3
Too much moisture being produced in your home:
Did you know that one person asleep adds half a pint of water to the air
overnight – and twice that when active in the day!
The following table shows how much extra water we produce.
2 people at home
3 pints
A bath or shower
2 pints
Drying clothes indoors
9 pints
Cooking and using a kettle
6 pints
Washing dishes
2 pints
Bottled gas heater (used for 8 hours)
4 pints
26 pints or 14.8 litres
Total moisture added in 1 day
4
How can I reduce condensation?
• Dry your windows & windowsills every morning, as well as any wet
surfaces in the kitchen or bathroom.
•
Wring out the cloth rather than drying it on a radiator.
•
Hang your washing outside to dry if at all possible, or hang it in the
bathroom with the door closed and a window slightly open or an
extractor fan on. Don’t put washing on radiators or in front of
radiant heaters.
•
Always cook with pan lids on, and turn the heat down once the water has
boiled. Only use the minimum amount of water for cooking vegetables.
•
When filling your bath, run the cold water first and then add the hot
– it reduces steam (which leads to condensation) by 90%.
•
If you use a tumble drier, make sure it is vented to the outside or that
it is of the new condensing type.
•
Don’t be tempted to use bottled gas or paraffin heaters. These are
not allowed under your tenancy agreement and they produce high
levels of moisture.
5
Increase your ventilation
Ventilation reduces condensation by removing moist air from your
home and replacing it with drier air from outside.
•
Reduce the condensation that has built up overnight by ‘cross
ventilating’ your home – opening a small window downstairs to the
1st notch and a small one upstairs. These should be on opposite
sides of the house or diagonally opposite if you live in a flat. At the
same time, open the interior room doors – as this allows drier air to
circulate. Do this for about 30 minutes each day.
•
•
Ventilate your kitchen when cooking, washing up or washing by hand.
•
Ventilate your kitchen and bathroom for about 20 minutes after use
by opening a small top window. Use an extractor fan if possible –
they are cheap to run and very effective.
•
Ventilate your bedroom by leaving a window slightly open at night,
or use trickle ventilators if fitted.
•
Keep kitchen and bathroom doors closed during use to prevent
moisture escaping into the rest of the house.
A window slightly open is as good as one open. If you have one, use
your cooker extractor hood or extractor fan.
6
•
To reduce the risk of mildew on clothes and other stored items, allow
air to circulate round them by removing ‘false’ wardrobe backs or
drilling holes in them. You can place furniture on blocks to allow air
to circulate underneath.
•
Keep a small gap between large pieces of furniture and where
possible place wardrobes and furniture against internal walls. Pull
shelves away from the backs of wardrobes and cupboards. Never
overfill wardrobes and cupboards as it restricts air circulation.
•
Don’t push beds and sofas against outside walls which are always
colder and attract condensation. Make sure there is a 9 inch (225cm)
gap. Bedding can get damp if air cannot circulate around it.
N.B. However don’t over ventilate you home in cold weather as this will
reduce the temperature inside making condensation more likely as well
as increasing heating costs. Make sure you close windows before you
go out!
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Controlling the temperature in your home
Warm air holds more moisture than cooler air and is therefore less
likely to deposit droplets of water round your home.
•
Heating one room to a high level and leaving other rooms cold
makes condensation worse in the unheated rooms. It is better to
have a medium to low level of heat throughout the house.
•
It is cheaper to keep your central heating on at a low level than to
use electric fires. It is also better to try to maintain a low heat than to
suddenly try to heat the house twice a day from cold.
•
If you don’t have heating in every room, open doors of unheated
rooms slightly to allow some heat into them.
•
To add heat to rooms without installed heating, it is better to use electric
heaters (like oil filled radiators or panel heaters) on a low setting.
•
If you have a freezer and keep it in a space that suffers from
condensation, heat from its motor will help reduce condensation.
•
Don’t push beds or sofas against radiators as this prevents efficient
circulation of warm air.
How can I stop mould growth?
• To kill and remove mould, wipe down or spray walls and window
frames with a fungicidal wash that carries a Health & Safety Executive
(HS) ‘approval number’, and follow its instructions carefully for safe
use. You can often buy these in supermarkets.
•
After treatment, redecorate using a good quality fungicidal paint and
a fungicidal resistant wall paper paste to help prevent mould growth
recurring.
N.B. The effect of fungicidal or anti-condensation paint is destroyed if
covered with ordinary paint or wallpaper.
•
Dry-clean mildewed clothes and shampoo any carpets. Don’t try to
remove mould by using a brush or vacuum cleaner. Reduce the levels
of condensation to stop the problem recurring.
8
Useful Contacts
For more energy advice and saving money please look at our ‘Every
Penny Counts’ leaflet or ask to speak to our Energy Surveyor by calling
01923 209 000 or email - [email protected]
To report a repair call freephone 0800 218 2247
To compare gas and electricity prices consult these websites:
•
•
•
•
www.moneysupermarket.com
www.simplyswitch.com/energy
www.uswitch.com/energy
www.energyhelpline.com
To report a repair freephone 0800 218 2247
If there is some disrepair that is causing a damp problem, we will aim to
correct this for you.
However if the underlying problem relates to the sorts of preventive
actions listed in this leaflet, please do not be offended if the inspector
repeats this advice. He is not ignoring your problem or ‘blaming’ you
for it.
Often people are unaware of the links between condensation and
ventilation or the effect of something like pushing a bed against an
outside wall.
Sometimes we have to tackle the cause not the symptoms, and
the solution to condensation usually does involve an appropriate
change of lifestyle.
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Notes
10
Notes
11
Safer Communities - October 2011
Safer Communities Officers
Bernadette Brennan
Vane
(Maternity cover for Amy Crask)
North area
South
Areas covered:
Boundary Way, Woodside, Sherwoods,
Hillside, Foxhill and Brush Rise, Harebreaks,
Leavesden Green, Courtlands and Garston
Areas covered:
Callowland, Centr
Meriden, Oxhey, R
Tudor and Vicarag
01923 209291
[email protected]
01923 209198
[email protected]
Useful contacts to cut out and
Police non emergency:
Police emergency only:
Watford Borough Council:
The Sunflower Centre: (domestic abuse, race and hate crime)
Turning Point (drug & alcohol misuse)
Citizens Advice Bureau
Hertfordshire Fire Brigade
Environmental Health: (Watford Borough Council)
Environmental Health: (Three Rivers District Council)
Mediation Hertfordshire
Social Services
Refuge (homeless)
Victim Support (victims of crime)
GALOP (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender safety charity)
Crimestoppers
Watford Community Housing Trust contacts
Watford Community Housing Trust
Gateway House, 59 Clarendon Road
Watford, Hertfordshire
WD17 1LA
Switchboard:
01923 209000
Repairs freephone:
0800 2182247
Repairs Line:
01923 209247
Gaswww.facebook.com/
safety:
0800 0556860
WatfordCommunityHousingTrust
Watford Community Housing Trust has charitable status. It is an Industrial and Provident Society
registration number 30183R and registered with the Homes and Communities Agency number L4495.
Watford Commu
is an Industrial a
30183R and reg
number L4495.
P&NB/Tips/1213/V3
t: 01923 209 000
e:[email protected]
w:www.wcht.org.uk
Watford Com
Gateway Hou
59 Clarendon
Watford WD1
www.wcht.or