Mould on Bedroom Ceiling

Kintarō Hattori

Hi Folks,

The attached regularly forms on the ceiling of my daughters bedroom. It wipes away but I'd like to figure out why it keeps reappearing. Our houses are pretty well insulated and we often have condensation in the rooms come morning time. However this is the only room that mould seems to form. Having no clue about any of this, I wonder if it's because above her room in the attic is where the water tank is stored.

For an issue such as this, to try and diagnose what's causing it and what the solution might be, who do you speak with?

Many thanks.

Heroditas

That's definitely caused by the water tank. Is there any space under the water tank at all?

Kintarō Hattori

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121345281#Comment_121345281

There is. It's on a raised platform, so I am a little puzzled.

10-10-20

Normally the area under the cold water storage tank is left exposed so that residual heat from the house can penetrate through the ceiling and keep the tank from freezing during colder periods (such as the Winter of 2009/10 etc. That's a very annoying feature and it can lead to a situation like this where colder water which comes in from the mains at a low temperature chills the air surrounding the tank causing condensation on the outside of the tank and also causing colder and moister air to fall onto the ceiling further exacerbating the problem (as evaporation causes a the adsorption of heat energy). Hence you get spots like this.

The answer is to insulate the tank with a cold water-tank thermal blanket to cut down on the need for rising heat and then insulate under the tank to reduce the loss into the attic.

https://www.heatmerchants.ie/kingspan-titan-s60-s45-slim-water-tank-jacket-u25331

Hope it helps!

micks_address

do you have trickle vents on the windows? you say they are regularly steamed up - we found this in our bedroom last winter.. had to leave the windows open ever so slightly each night and the condensation wasnt there in the morning.. we also had a clothes horse in the room which we stopped using as it was adding moisture to the room. Just seems like condensation is a pain the hoop everywhere for winter. also have you a room vent in the wall which is open?

Kintarō Hattori

Many thanks for that. I'm in no way DIY gifted so I'd leave that to a professional. Is it something a handyman would do? Do I nee a plumber if there's water and pipes involved?

who what when

I would say its almost certainly caused by condensation which in turn would be solved by increased ventilation in the room.

brokenbad

We have similar issues in all of the bedrooms of our 1980's bungalow - little black spots appear on the ceiling where it meets the outer wall.

The walls do not have air vents - so i leave the small window sash in each bedroom open slightly at night to minimise the condensation build up. Despite this, the windows are still steamed up with water droplets forming at the bottom of the pane.

Have also started using a dehumidifier which is left run overnight in the hallway and each morning it collects at least 4 litres of water.

Humidity levels in the bedrooms can be up to 70% so that's also a factor - using the dehumidifier helps keep the levels down to the optimum 50-60%.

Cyrus

anyone using a clothes horse indoors should have a dehumidifier (unless you are keeping windows open which isnt that desirable in winter!)

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121345397#Comment_121345397

6L? That's an immense amount alright.

The mold at the junction between the block and ceiling may be improved by relaying the insulation and pushing it right out to the top of the wall-plate (but leaving a gap between the insulation and the felt). Worth doing as it's a significant loss of energy!

brokenbad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121345415#Comment_121345415

Sorry that was a typo - i meant 4 litres which is still considerable

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121345369#Comment_121345369

You can try a handy-man as long as he understand the concepts at hand. The tank needs to be wrapped but still serviceable in terms of access, and the pipes need to be well wrapped too. The wrapping needs to be tight to the tank but not compressed, and the insulation reinstated below. Some people run the attic floor insulation up the sides of the tank, leaving the bottom exposed. I installed 100mm of insulation under my tank with 250mm in the rest of the attic.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121345424#Comment_121345424

Still, yes!

Fighting Tao

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121345397#Comment_121345397

Live in a 80’s house too, have vents clear and open, walls pumped, and the humidity is always high. Even opening the windows a few times a day help much and adds a lot to the heating bill to get the rooms warm enough for the kids these days. I’m at a loss as the dehumidifiers collect water, the humidity shoots up again when they are turned off.

One other thing is that having the windows open is not the saviour when the outside humidity is high too.

brokenbad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121345529#Comment_121345529

Same story here - if i wasn't using the dehumidifier our mould problem would be much worse. I even have desiccant packs in the wardrobes as we have discovered clothes with mould on them and also mould behind furniture close to outer walls.

Kintarō Hattori

Glad to hear it's not just me. Thing is, this house was built in 2007 and I think has a BER of B3, so I wouldn't have thought we'd be having these issues. Long term I wonder would it make sense to get new windows which have the 'air vent' built into them?

Thanks for all the replies so far, it's all really useful.

pauly58

It seems a bit of a joke to spend a lot of money on expensive double glazed units to be opening a window for ventilation, we had an old farmhouse with the old sash type windows & you could fly a kite in our bedroom. We have a timber frame bungalow for the last seventeen years, no draughts but plenty of humidity. We use a dehumidifier & open the top vents of the windows in the bedroom at night.

micks_address

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121345954#Comment_121345954

i wouldnt mind running a dehumidifer but are they noisy? and i dont want to use to much energy running one..

pauly58

The one we have is 150w but yes, there is a fair bit of noise alright.

brokenbad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121346172#Comment_121346172

This is the one we have - it is very quiet and you barely even hear it running.

Dimplex 10L Dehumidifier | EVERDRI10E | White/Light Grey | Ireland (harveynorman.ie)

Caspar24

Hi. I am jumping onto this thread as I have a related query which has not been answered. What Professional group would be able to assist in fixing this type of Damp/Mould. Do I need a surveyor to investigate? If yes what type of surveyor? I am not interested in a DIY solution.

Thanks

windowcills

Just read through this and there is a lot of talk about dehumidifying, insulation, double glasing, and yet talk of damp and mould

No one suggested heating

as Busta Rhymes once poetically said....

"LET ME HEAR YOU SAY FIRE IT UP"

So hum that tune to knightrider and turn your boiler on for a few hours

Keep it buring until its 20c at the back of that mouldy wardrobe, and repeat every day. Dry your house out mate

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121355528#Comment_121355528

I'd like to see your bills! 😁

windowcills

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121374197#Comment_121374197

Lol, Ah i am actually a very frugal person, but if you dont have heat you have nothing

Fighting Tao

It’s looking like damp is getting up through our suspended floors. I turned off a radiator in a closet located in the centre of the house that I thought the previous owners were using as a hot press. Stuff stored on or near the floor was starting to smel of mould.