damp house how can I insulate?

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ney001

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Hi guys

We are currently doing up an old cottage we bought (built 1935). We will be replacing the windows later this year but my real concern is dampness in the rooms. When the rooms were empty they began to get mouldy, now the rooms are lived in and I notice serious damp. For example in our bedroom, you can actually see condensation running down one of the walls in the morning and there is a lot of condensation. I know damp course was not used in the construction of the house so my question is? do we need to now insulate the walls?, if so how do you go about this? and finally if it's possible how much would something like that cost?. The house seems to be built with blocks and/or poured concrete. There is a painted cement render on the outside. This is driving me mad - even our clothes are damp in the morning!.
 
Dry lining is the way to go. Can be expensive alright and makes rooms smaller but don't think there is an alternative??
 
a better alternative to dryling is out-sulation.. this is where you insulate on the external of the walls and render over. This also has the advantage of not taking up extra floor space as drylining does. You can inject a dpc into the existing walls. You will probably also have to take up the floor and incorporate insulation under a new slab.
 
Thanks guys I guess it's going to be expensive. The problem we have is that we are planning to build on in a couple of years to turn it into a four bed home with large kitchen and so that wall will be knocked eventually and we don't really want to spend a fortune on insulation only to knock it down in two years time. So I'm wondering is there anything I can do as a 'quick fix' which will last for a while. Just one other question re out-sulation Syd - is it possible or would it look awful to just out-sulate the wall which is causing the problem i.e the wall at the back of the cottage.

Will new windows make a big diff to damp problem do you think? - the existing windows are pretty bad - also would re-insulating attic help?
 
Is insulation alone a solution to a issue of damp/water ingress (and possibly not just condensation) due to lack of damp course and maybe other problems? Surely a survey is in order first?
 
That is hardly a permanent solution that addresses the underlying causes (which would presumably require a survey to identify)?
 
ney001 said:
Thanks guys I guess it's going to be expensive. The problem we have is that we are planning to build on in a couple of years to turn it into a four bed home with large kitchen and so that wall will be knocked eventually and we don't really want to spend a fortune on insulation only to knock it down in two years time.
Click to expand...

Doesnt sound like a permanent solution is required
 
Conshine said:
Doesnt sound like a permanent solution is required
Click to expand...

I guess it all depends on how expensive it is, ideally if we could get away with just out-sulating the affected wall then this would be the best solution. The other thing we are in the process of doing is putting in vents - there are no vents in the two bedrooms at all and this is adding to our problem - although there really is an excessive amount of water running down the wall in the morning time.
 
ney, i didnt cop on to the fact that you may knock it down in a few years.. that would probably negate the outsulation based on costs.
i would agree with the pother posters that you need to get a survey to determine the exact cause of the problem in order to remedy it.
 
If it was built in the 30's the heating system was probably fireplaces in the bedrooms.Do you have a blocked up fireplace? did they put in a vent where they blocked it up? If not I'd knock a few blocks out to get the airflow going again.Very quick cheap fix.
 
interesting I have the same type of house, never had problem with water running down walls but did have to dryline may years ago because was not able to paper or paint the walls. Dryline was great but the problem was really with the floors which we have just removed and dung up. No dampproof under them at all, so the damp was coming from the floors and even a room which had a fireplace in it suffered from damp when it was closed up. So I would look at your floor and don't put down a rubber back carpet as it will only rott the floor boards.
 
Fingalian said:
If it was built in the 30's the heating system was probably fireplaces in the bedrooms.Do you have a blocked up fireplace? did they put in a vent where they blocked it up? If not I'd knock a few blocks out to get the airflow going again.Very quick cheap fix.
Click to expand...

There's fireplaces alright but as well as blocking them up they removed the chimneys. We will have to put in vents above each of the doors for now. I have noticed that all of the floors are find except for the floor in our bedroom - the floor which is touching the damp wall is damp and swollen as well - we are not putting down a carpet, just keep the floor boards.
Thanks for the help
 
We had this problem....what it is really is condensation. Its due to bad insulation in the walls and then warm air (from showers, breathing, rads etc) hitting the cold walls and causing the condensation.

Its about how you live.....two houses side by side can experience it differently

House A) only one person living there, showers at work and is away most weekends - they will not notice too much condensation

House B) next door there is a family of 5 with rads on all the time, lots of showers etc....they will have a problem.

Drylining as suggested above is probably a good solution.
As a quick fix you can do the following:

1. Ensure your house is well ventilated. Ensure all vents are open. This allows the air to circulate.
2. Ensure the bathroom is also well ventilated. If you have a window leave it open after the shower or fit an extraction fan
3 Try to open the windows on a daily basis.
4. Get dehumidifiers as mentioned above.

Its a real pain but seems to be a problem in a lot of older houses.
 
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