Condensation Problem

Solutions to The Condensation Problem

When trying to solve condensation problems other areas that you should take into consideration are:

• Existing wall or trickle vents, many houses have too few natural vents to give your house a constant low rate of ventilation and provide fans with an air flow from outside. Galvanized vents because the way they are installed usually give a very poor rate of ventilation. Trickle vents that are retrofitted or poorly installed can provide a limited amount of ventilation.
• Extractor fans in bathrooms, usually when the flow rate is tested the fan is operating at under half the recommended extraction level. The real reason for this is because the fans are usually not installed by a certified installer and the air flow tested after the install. Most fans installed in houses and apartments are purchased for around €20 and have no details about the power output of the fan. The grille, ducting, and length of time the fan is in operation massively affects the amount of humidity that is extracted. If the fan is ducted into the attic the ducting should be solid ducting and insulated.
• Depending on the ventilation system there should be a cooker hood extractor in the kitchen. Sometimes these fans are used for a limited amount of time because of the noise they create.
• Utility rooms should have extraction.
• Toilets should have extraction.
• All stoves, fires, gas fires and solid fuel appliance should have a permanent open vent in the same room according to the kilowatt size of the appliance.
• Internal doors that are tight fitting to the saddle board can stop air circulation through the house. According to the TDG part F ventilation regulations provision should be made to facilitate the transfer of air and cross ventilation between rooms, e.g. a 10 mm gap should be provided under doors. Different rules apply to apartments because of fire regulations.

• Ventilation of the attic space should be checked as condensation can cause real problems with wood worm and wood rot in the rafters. If you have a problem with condensation in the house, you may also have a problem in the attic as moisture from the house will make its way through the plaster board. Very often when new PVC facia and soffit board are fitted the vents do not go through the original wooden soffit board.
• Ventilation of suspended timber floors as moisture from the house can condensate underneath the wooden floorboards.
• Drying clothes in the house can add massively to the moisture level in the house and affect any room.
• The way we heat our homes and our heating pattern. With the massive number of stoves installed over the last decade we sometimes find people are heating the living area of the house and only heating other areas for a limited amount of time. You can really only tell by taking the absolute moisture level in the house to find out if heating or ventilation is the problem.
• Problems with your heating systems such as a sludge build up in the radiators or air locking can also add to problems in some rooms such as north facing bedrooms which already have a large heat loss. Thermal imaging is very good at highlighting these issues.
• Insulation and thermal bridging can be the cause of excessive condensation in some houses. The more you insulate the house the smaller the areas there are for condensation to form and hence the increase levels of condensation. These areas can be found and highlighted with thermal imaging.
• Poor doors and window frames which provide no thermal breaks or insulation. This can be highlighted with thermal imaging.