If allowed to enter your home unchecked, dampness can cause untold damage to your Fife property, possessions, and even to your health. Dampness can be expensive to remove, and at the very least, causes an unpleasant and lingering musty smell.
Condensation is just one form of dampness, but it’s the most common and often most ignored. During summer, your guard is down. How can my house be affected by condensation when it is a problem typically associated with cold weather?
The truth is that condensation can be caused by changing temperatures that occur within your household, and not just outside of it. Kitchens, bathrooms, and attics are more susceptible to this problem due to there being higher chances of steam or inadequate ventilation in these rooms.
So, before your condensation issue escalates into a full-blown black mould problem, we have a few recommendations for you that can keep your home, health, and happiness better protected.
Know the signs
Nip your condensation problem in the bud by keeping an eye out for:
- Excess water on your windowsills
- Peeling paint or plaster
- Mould on clothes or fabrics
- Musty smells
- Presence of black mould
Unfortunately, by the time that some condensation warning signs are noticeable, the damage can already be quite extensive, and that’s why it’s best to take a preventative rather than a reactive approach.
Our suggestions
When facing difficulties with condensation, good ventilation is key.
Give your house plenty of room to breathe. Leave small gaps between your furniture and walls, don’t cram too much into too tight of a space – as air will not be able to circulate efficiently – and hang wet laundry outside.
It is essential that your kitchen is properly ventilated whilst you are cooking! Cover pots and pans and make use of your extractor fan. Don’t have one? Invest now and save yourself a bigger bill later. It’s also important to have properly ventilated washing machines and tumble dryers.
If able, close your kitchen door when cooking or boiling a kettle. This may seem excessive, but it will stop condensation spreading from room to room.
As for your bathroom, keep your windows open during and after baths or showers. Again, invest in an extractor fan if you have a windowless bathroom. Mould growth will thrive in this environment, and without proper bathroom ventilation, you risk breathing in these harmful spores.
Say no to condensation
Whether you are trying to sell your house, or simply live in it, condensation must be dealt with before the problem progresses beyond your control.
When you think about it: The government has been beating the insulation drum for many years and single glazing has been changed to double glazing, cavity wall insulation has been provided free of charge to many households, front doors are now UPVC and perfectly sealed, laminate flooring has become more popular closing off all the spaces that air would have circulated. Everything that could have caused a draft has almost been eliminated. So what do you think happens when steam rises from the shower, bath or pots and pans when cooking. Even the simple act of breathing during the night gives off water vapour. It must go somewhere, so it goes straight for the cold areas in your house and condensates. Water on your windows, damp patches on outside walls or behind your furniture, bathroom ceilings, cupboards that haven’t been aired in years the list is endless.
Hence the need to change your lifetime habits to stop the spread by doing these simple things every day.
