Owning your own home

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CheeseWheel in reply to @OReilly
Mostly reiterating the points already made, but here's my success story against the War on Damp. We bought a ground floor flat 18 months ago. It's built with nicely absorbent cheap Victorian bricks. Last winter we were wiping down some parts of the walls with rags almost daily to dry them. This winter the walls were mostly dry. Tips:
- go outside when it's raining and look at where the water is going. The roofer may have missed something.
- hang as much washing as possible outside.
- wipe down condensation off windows each morning.
- windows and doors open all the time.
- breathe in inside, breathe out outside.

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OReilly in reply to @CheeseWheel

Thanks for your reply.

I never see condensation on the windows or walls which makes me worry that it is a structural issue. Logic would say it's coming from the roof but being told by the roofer that it's not has fucked that up that conclusion. I'm now thinking it must be coming from the outside wall where there is wood attached.

My builder doesn't have any suggestions so I'm tempted to either keep airing it more often and see if it changes things or alternatively get someone out to check the rendering and if not then get another roofer in.

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Hefty in reply to @OReilly

Many solid brick houses like yours would have originally had a vent or airbrick fitted exactly where you describe to stop condensation forming, as it's the coldest bit of the house. The new plaster might actually be where such a vent was removed... Has the wood been added? Link to streetview?

The reading might be going up after rain because it's generally colder when it rains so more condensation forms.

This is a half-decent quick bit of reading: http://www.heritage-house.org/about-condensation.html

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