Home humidity

Hannibal

Hi, I am looking for a few pointers into a humidity problem I'm having in my house.

It is a large open space of around 500sq feet. Half of that is a modern extension and the other half is the original house. The original house has a suspended timber floor and the extension has the standard concrete.
The walls are all internally insulted with 50mm plasterboard and the extension roof also insulated with rockwool. There is three windows and a french door and all triple glazed. There is two vents either end of the space. There is two large double radiators with one on each room.

Calahonda52

Okay we have the physical layout but no clue as to what the humidity problem is, yet.

Describe the house occupancy, is there an extractor fan in all bathrooms and kitchen and are they used.
Is there cooking/washing dishes, etc etc going on
Is there a tumbler dryer spewing to damp air?
Are the rads used and covered with wet clothes.

Are the vents actually working

you get the idea, we need to know whats causing the Tina Turner

Hannibal

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Okay we have the physical layout but no clue as to what the humidity problem is, yet.

Describe the house occupancy, is there an extractor fan in all bathrooms and kitchen and are they used.
Is there cooking/washing dishes, etc etc going on
Is there a tumbler dryer spewing to damp air?
Are the rads used and covered with wet clothes.

Are the vents actually working

you get the idea, we need to know whats causing the Tina Turner

right I whipped up a quick layout for a rough idea.
The rads aren't covered.
Vents are completely clear.
No tumble dryer.
Washing machine is in utility room under the stairs.
There is cooking but not much and the extractor is always used.
The bathroom is upstairs and has extractor.
The house was built in the mid 50's, the extension four years old

Metric Tensor

When you say you have a "humidity problem" what exactly is the problem?

Is there mould growing somewhere? Is there condensation forming somewhere?

Hannibal

Metric Tensor wrote: »

When you say you have a "humidity problem" what exactly is the problem?

Is there mould growing somewhere? Is there condensation forming somewhere?

Slight mould around the reveal of the windows at the back. They're all fully sealed properly.

The problem is there is a lot of dampness in the air no matter how much the heating does be on. Obviously yesterday humidity was 100% outdoors but in this house the windows were fogging up inside.

BryanF

When was extension finished?

Do you open the windows every afternoon for an hour to ventilate the house?

Is the heating on regularly?

Are the Window reveals the only obvious condensation point?

Is it the original plumbing, rad pipes and lead water pipe probably under the suspended floor?

Hannibal

BryanF wrote: »

When was extension finished?

Do you open the windows every afternoon for an hour to ventilate the house?

Is the heating on regularly?

Are the Window reveals the only obvious condensation point?

Is it the original plumbing, rad pipes and lead water pipe probably under the suspended floor?

Extension finished four years ago, yep I have to remove all the blinds every month and clean the reveals with bleach. There does be green speks.

The windows do be opened regularly.

The heating would be on from roughly 5pm to 11pm in this time of year.

Original plumbing and electrics mostly replaced. The majority of the plumbing is qualpex and very little under the suspended floor apart from the runs to downstairs radiators.

BryanF

go round with a damp meter to eliminate leak. Drylining will hinder this.

Ventilation
And heat in the mornings?

Hard to diagnose, site visit may be necessary by surveyor or similar

Calahonda52

Still at a loss, 8 posts in, as to
what is the source of the "humidity"
were else is it presenting itself except on reveals.

The damp on the reveals is pretty easy to explain, especially with 3G.

You have a cold bridge at the reveal due to insufficient insulation on the reveal as the window frame was not made wider to cater for reveal insulation of the required depth.
Some pictures would help of inside and outside window frames

Metric Tensor

Yeah. The reveal is almost certainly a cold bridge and were this the only issue we'd be finished but condensation on the inside of the DG windows sounds very strange and would tend to indicate more moisture than one would expect.

Some options to look for:
A leak somewhere,
Drying clothes in the house
Lots of hot showers

How many people live in the house OP?

Any problems at locations other than the windows? Is the timber floor warping?

Hannibal

Metric Tensor wrote: »

Yeah. The reveal is almost certainly a cold bridge and were this the only issue we'd be finished but condensation on the inside of the DG windows sounds very strange and would tend to indicate more moisture than one would expect.

Some options to look for:
A leak somewhere,
Drying clothes in the house
Lots of hot showers

How many people live in the house OP?

Any problems at locations other than the windows? Is the timber floor warping?

I put a dehumidifier into the extension today and it pulled out a glass of water within an hour.

they're Triple Glazed windows. Most mornings there would be a small bit of water around the bottom rim of the glass.

The cold bridge around the rims is something I copped after it was built. It was partly my fault as I was using a friend as a bricky and we didn't flag it. A friend is an architect who I never bothered consulting, obviusly hindsight.

No timber floor is grand it just seems to be the air. There is a large American fridge/freezer in the kitchen which is the only appliance running.

Anyway thanks for the help, it's just puzzling me as I thought with proper insulating, triple glazed windows and two vents everything would be grand but how and ever.

Metric Tensor

Another quick one - where is your boiler located and has it been serviced recently?

Excess moisture around the place could be a sign of a fault - which could be dangerous.

Unlikely - but in the absence of any other explanation I thought I'd throw it out there.

Calahonda52

OP:
There is a health issue here as well with all that damp and mould so you should try and identify the source of the excess moisture.
Describe the rest of the house, how many bedrooms, are they vented, any condensation in those rooms.

Remember that the damp air will travel within the house so just don't focus on extension.

Is the kitchen venting out through wall or recirculating.

Keep well and good luck.

Hannibal

Metric Tensor wrote: »

Another quick one - where is your boiler located and has it been serviced recently?

Excess moisture around the place could be a sign of a fault - which could be dangerous.

Unlikely - but in the absence of any other explanation I thought I'd throw it out there.

the boiler is in a utility room under the stairs, there's no moisture in that room. The washing machine is in there with it. The boiler is due a service but there's no issue with it, always fires perfect. It's twelve years old so it's next on the list to get done.

Calahonda52 wrote: »

OP:
There is a health issue here as well with all that damp and mould so you should try and identify the source of the excess moisture.
Describe the rest of the house, how many bedrooms, are they vented, any condensation in those rooms.

Remember that the damp air will travel within the house so just don't focus on extension.

Is the kitchen venting out through wall or recirculating.

Keep well and good luck.

the bedrooms and upstairs are alright, well vented and always warm. The bathroom is upstairs also and it's grand. There's no issue up there.

I just thought it strange that all walls in the house are done with 50mm insulated plasterboard, triple glazed windows and all ventilated.

The hall, stairs and landing can be nippy as it's a gable end.

Mould is only forming on the top corners of the french door and the back window to the right of it, it's very slow growth though. I would only notice it when I take the blind off.

I bought a dehumidifier and it took out nearly two cups of water last week. I've had it on intermittently since and it's barely taking a dribble out so I'll wait and see

Metric Tensor

Hannibal wrote: »

the boiler is in a utility room under the stairs, there's no moisture in that room. The washing machine is in there with it. The boiler is due a service but there's no issue with it, always fires perfect. It's twelve years old so it's next on the list to get done

Make sure the utility has a permanently open vent. It's vital.

murphaph

Do you have a hygrometer to monitor the humidity? Preferably both inside and outside simultaneously.

893bet

Sounds like poor detailing at Windows/doors.

Dardania

For the Windows to fog, I have to agree, there's another source of moisture. Or a very cold room (which doesn't sound likely)