Advice Help

Sitamoia

Hi, I'm looking for some help regarding dampness.

My grandmothers house has damp spots on the walls where the plasterboard is attached with some sort of bonding compound/adhesive, dot dab. Would I be right in saying this is caused by air getting down from the attic between the ceiling and wall if you know what I mean? The attic is insulated but may need more, a topping up? I have some pictures here of the exact issue, not the best pics but the best I have for the moment.

I want to paint the house for her but I need this problem sorted first. Any advice would be appreciated, any questions just ask. Thanks

dpofloinn

Can you describe the heating and ventilation set up

Sitamoia

It's oil central heating, the only ventilation would be opening and closing windows etc. The house had this system for years but the problem only started in the last year regarding the damp. Maybe she's not opening the windows enough, although she said nothing has changed in that regard, she opens them the same as always.

dpofloinn

Is the room regularly heated

Sitamoia

Only really started within the last month due to it being mild all along I think, I'll have to double check that. Would that cause it? Did you see the picture showing the lines on the ceiling, the ceiling joists?

Berkieahern

Sitamoia wrote: »

Only really started within the last month due to it being mild all along I think, I'll have to double check that. Would that cause it? Did you see the picture showing the lines on the ceiling, the ceiling joists?

Are you certain its dampness on the ceilings?

Does she have an open fire or smoke in the house?

Sitamoia

Berkieahern wrote: »

Are you certain its dampness on the ceilings?

Does she have an open fire or smoke in the house?

She has an open fire but it hasn't been lit since last year. Regarding the joists, I'll have to double check that. Could be soot too from candles maybe? She loves the candles

Berkieahern

Sitamoia wrote: »

She has an open fire but it hasn't been lit since last year. Regarding the joists, I'll have to double check that. Could be soot too from candles maybe? She loves the candles

The joists look like smoke damage.

Have you been up in the attic to make sure there's no pipe leaking?

TOEJOE

I am about to paint a room in my house it had not been painted for approx five. Years I have black marks on the walls from tv radiators and candles. It's not bad on the ceiling. I am not sure if its the same as your situation .I cleaned the wall before I painted
,it did not look great after cleaning but I should be able to paint it now

TOEJOE

I am about to paint a room in my house it had not been painted for approx five. Years I have black marks on the walls from tv radiators and candles. It's not bad on the ceiling. I am not sure if its the same as your situation .I cleaned the wall before I painted
,it did not look great after cleaning but I should be able to paint it now

Sitamoia

Berkieahern wrote: »

The joists look like smoke damage.

Have you been up in the attic to make sure there's no pipe leaking?

I have but didn't notice anything, could it be a damaged chimney flue? I'm a bit worried now.

Sitamoia

TOEJOE wrote: »

I am about to paint a room in my house it had not been painted for approx five. Years I have black marks on the walls from tv radiators and candles. It's not bad on the ceiling. I am not sure if its the same as your situation .I cleaned the wall before I painted
,it did not look great after cleaning but I should be able to paint it now

Not sure, let me know how you get on. I came across a British forum and one guy had an answer that may explain it. Here's what the person said

"I'm not at all familiar with heating systems in the UK, but I believe I can advise you on the cause and cure of the dark marks that are forming at the TOP edge of your radiators and extending upwards, just like smoke marks.

They are in fact caused by tiny particles of dirt suspending in the rising air above the radiators precipitating onto the wall.

And, the problem is exacerbated by two factors;

A) a source of smoke particles in the house, such as someone smoking, or burning incense or candles, and

the use of a flat or eggshell paint on the wall which the dirt has an easier time getting caught on.

Basically, what is actually happening is that the air rising due to convection is carrying tiny particles of dirt with it, and this dirt is precipitating out of the air stream onto the rough surface of the flat paint on your walls.

If you simply scrub off the surface layer of paint with an abrasive cleaner (like a Scotchbrite pad), you'll find the paint underneath to be perfectly clean, meaning the dirt is on the surface of the paint, not coming through the paint.

You'll also find that one of those "microfiber" cleaning cloths will be much more effective at cleaning the dirt off because the size of the dirt particles and surface porosity of the paint you're cleaning is far too small for a brush or sponge or rag to penetrate into. We're talking thousandths of a millimeter for the size of the pores in the surface of the paint to a few hundred thousandths of a millimeter in diameter for the size of the dirt particles. Even a microfiber cloth has fibers far too big to be really effective at getting into those tiny pores to clean them out, but it will do a better job of cleaning than anything else cuz it's the right size.

If you can eliminate the really really tiny dirt particles from the air in your house, then you'll reduce the problem, and that means getting rid of sources of smoke. Dust in your house consists of paper and fabric fibers, dead skin cells, pollen, road grit, etc. and all of this stuff is huge and heavy compared to smoke particles. To get dirt that will be tiny enough to be suspended for hours in the air and be carried aloft by the convective air currents rising from a radiator, you need really really tiny dirt, and that means smoke particles. If there are no sources of smoke in your house, it could very well be that this dirt is coming into your house from outdoors. Also, if it's taken a long time for these marks to form, then that means there is little of that really tiny dirt in the air of your house, so maybe the source is outdoors.

Also, if you scrub off the dirty surface layer of paint above the radiators, and repaint with a smoother glossier paint, you'll find it won't get as dirty as quickly, and that dirt will be much easier to clean off.

And, for what it's worth, buy a GOOD QUALITY satin or semi-gloss paint to repaint those areas. Good quality paints cost more, but they stand up much better to scrubbing without losing their gloss"

MicktheMan

Sitamoia wrote: »

Would I be right in saying this is caused by air getting down from the attic between the ceiling and wall

Probably not.

More than likely this is the result of a imbalance between the moisture load, heating and ventilation resulting in high moisture levels in the internal air which is condensing on the colder "dabs" and ceiling joists leading to the beginning of mould growth (dark areas).
Reducing the moisture load, increasing the heating and better ventilation is key. Has there been any changes in the house recently, something like replacing an open fire with a stove, for example.

Sitamoia

MicktheMan wrote: »

Probably not.

More than likely this is the result of a imbalance between the moisture load, heating and ventilation resulting in high moisture levels in the internal air which is condensing on the colder "dabs" and ceiling joists leading to the beginning of mould growth (dark areas).
Reducing the moisture load, increasing the heating and better ventilation is key. Has there been any changes in the house recently, something like replacing an open fire with a stove, for example.

No changes at all, she has the oil central heating for years, sometimes lights an open fire in the winter. Would heating the place a bit more and opening windows be sufficient to stop this mould?

MicktheMan

In general yes, it will definitely help the situation. It might also help a lot to install a low noise, long life continuous mechanical extract fan ducted from the upstairs bathroom/ensuite to the outside. This will ventilate the house at a low level 24/7 which is more effective than opening windows for an hour or two.

Sitamoia

Thanks everyone for all your help, I appreciate it.