Bathroom & Toilet Condensation

[topbanana]

Hi,

Have just returned from near Ussel, where we are slowly doing up our house. I am having difficulty in the bathroom and toilet  with condensation, it just runs down the wall, I have painted and stains just comes through. We have a small rad in the bathroom, nothing in the toilet. Obviously its the difference between inside and out temperature but how do I solve it ?

Do I need to do ie get a paint 'blocker' to seal in the old stuff, do I need to dry line the wall ? Do I need more heat in the winter ? Any thoughts, ideas etc greatly appreciated,

Thanks. Alison

[Charlotte3]

Have you any ventilation?

 

Aly

[Nick Trollope]

Doesn't sound like it!

Install a VMC - problem solved. You can find them in any brico.

 

[topbanana]

hi,

yes got some ventilation in both rooms, sorry to sound dim whats VMC ? Thanks !

[Chancer]

Ventilation mechanique controlée

A large casing containing a fan which extracts air from several rooms (usually kitchen and bathroom) to the outside atmosphere.

They are not at all like the tiddly bathroom fans that you see in the UK, they are 2 speed run all the time some switching automatically between speeds according to room humidity.

I can attest that they are fantastically efficient, I am living in a flat that I converted from outbuildings that were running with damp and completely uninhabitable;

I have a tiled floor over bare earth with no DPM, the ground level is on the rear wall is one meter higher than the interior with agian no tanking or damp proofing, the roof covering is uninsulated tole bac acier which used to run and drip with condensation in the summer and that was even before the piece was inhabited with condensation generated from the shower, cooking etc.

It had been used as a commercial kitchen before and the damp and mould had risen from floor to ceiling on the plasterboard and the foam backing had degraded back to granules.

Now thanks to a VMC evacuating the kitchen bathroom and roof void and sensible use of insulation with voids for air flow behind I have no trace of humidity.

Oh I should add that there was some ventilation (windows) before but even if a toilet window is  left open all the time it will not be as effective as the flowing air from a VMC.

[Pierre ZFP]

As a stop-gap measure you could try the bags of anti-condesation crystals.  The come in a bag and sit on a rack above a plastic box and suck moisture out of the air and the water collects in the box, find them at all the Bricos and many supermarkets.  Not as good as VMC but maybe as an immediate measure it might help.  Cheap too!  I have one on the go when the house is shut up and I no longer get any musty smells.  It collects about half a litre of water per month now, it collected much more when I first started using it.

[topbanana]

thanks, will try out that I think, many thanks again

[tracteurtom]

Ventilation is the key as already noted.  If you cant fit a vmc fit a wall fan venting outside - of course, it'll work just as well.  VMCs run at about 50W and the electricity can add up if you dont use it sensibly.

[Cendrillon]

[quote user="Nick Trollope"]

Doesn't sound like it!

Install a VMC - problem solved. You can find them in any brico.

 

[/quote]

You beat me to it Nick, VMCs are the best and we leave ours running all year round, certainly solves the problem.[:)]