How to stop damp in the house?

Did you know that on average between 10-15 liters of water enter your home daily?

Too much damp is both unpleasant and unhealthy. Damp problems are usually most apparent during the winter or spring months and more often damp is caused by one of following issues:

Insufficient ventilation – Ventilation is essential to remove moist laden stagnant warm air from the building. To achieve this, there needs to be sufficient air changes of at least one per hour, in order to keep relative humidity levels below 70%. Right ventilating can help save energy. Because it takes more energy to warm up a damp home in the morning. Moreover, too little ventilation means that smells and hazardous substances are not expelled either. Naturally, too much ventilation uses too much energy.

Penetrating damp - occurs when water penetrates through the exterior surface of wall.  It is often not noticed until the moisture shows up on interior surface in the form of damp patches. Common causes include leaking roofs , leaking gutters or damaged and deteriorating mortar.

Leaking plumbing - leaking hot or cold water supply, waste water or central heating pipework that can cause anything from gushing water to a slow trickle of damp.

Rising damp - occurs when ground groundwater rises up through walls, floors and masonry. Bricks and mortar can contain many fine capillaries, through which water can rise. Cold walls and floors, as well as a musty smell, can indicate a potential problem.

What you can do to reduce condensation and damp in your property:

  1. Make sure that your furniture is at least 50mm away from the surrounding walls so that air can move around the property. Also try to put furniture against internal walls which will be less cold than external walls.
  2. Open a window slightly to improve the ventilation in the room.
  3. Adequate amount of heating in your house will reduce the likelihood of condensation.
  4. Try to dry clothes outdoors and make sure you cover fish aquarium.
  5. Installing house insulation will help to keep the temperature of the surfaces inside your property high.
  6. Installing an energy-efficient extractor fan in the kitchen and bathroom can improve the humidity levels and prevent condensation.

But the best way of dealing with damp depends on its cause.

The good news is that we can eliminate condensation damp in your home. Surprisingly, it is easy to resolve once you have identified the problem areas within the home and ruled out any issues with rising or penetrating damp.

Contact damp specialist

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