How damp is your home

Mark twiglet

Mark twiglet

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Mark
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I've moved into a flat and there is a bit of damp in the rear bedroom/storage room.... I've got a stationary cupboard full of my camera gear and batteries flash guns and all sorts...... About 3 months ago I put in one of those moisture catcher things and after 2-3 months there is a tablespoon of fluid in the bottom..... Is that acceptable dampness from the natural air or would you be moving your kit out....?
 
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Blimey! count yourself lucky!!!

We have had all the plaster off the wall, the chemical damp proofer injected, tanking, then renovating plaster, then skim coat on top....

Dehumidifier (which sucks about 4 - 5 pints of water out of the air in the house every 3 days), and we still have mould growing on the walls in a couple of places and window reveals!

Just put all your kit in one of those crates such as 'really useful box' with a load of those silicone teabag things that also suck moisture out of the air and you should be ok..., as long as your room isn't too cold and you take your kit out to use frequently.

Good luck!
 
We run a dehumidifier Oct to May and pull around 1 to 1.5 litres of water a day...

Have found short curtains, rather full room height, reduce the scope for condensation to build during the night (ground floor with a street lamp outside so need them closed at night).

It is much improved with trickle vents, or before that the bathroom window latched open a fingers width.
 
HopefulM said:
silicone teabag things that also suck moisture out of the air and you should be ok
Click to expand...
I think you mean silica gel and unless you dry out the silica gel regularly, it will only work for a short while. By and large the the key to it is heating and ventilation, think about the best way to dry clothes after washing.
 
Pretty good considering its a Victorian cottage, not big on damp courses back then.
 
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The silica style dehumidifiers won't make much difference to humidity in a room - or even in a 'normal' cupboard, I have tested this with a weather station humidity sensor.
In a large Tupperware box you can get humidity down to 30-50% where camera gear should be safe.
They'll need recharging about once a month depending on how often you open the box.
I would be considering a small dry cabinet, they use trivial amounts of power and can be bought under £100.

We have an 1830s stone farmhouse and none of the downstairs rooms are dry enough to keep camera gear, upstairs not so bad but not against an outside wall.
It actually gets worse in summer when heating is rarely if at all on for several weeks.
There isn't any obvious problem like mould or visible damp it's quite subtle but due to solid stone floors and no damp courses downstairs can be 70% or higher.
 
We live in a very large 1890s Terrace and we have a dehumidifier which we will run quite a bit in winter, the house isn't damp our issue is some very cold spots in the upstairs especially the gable end and this does cause wall condensation. Personally in the UK I wouldn't be without a dehumidifier they are brilliant especially in winter.
 
Chew through power, very wasteful of electricity.
 
1930's semi, Mrs makes sure it never gets cold enough to get damp
 
Our house was built in 1903 and I don't think we've ever seen any condensation anywhere never mind damp, except the bathroom where the mirrors steam slightly but even then the shower has to be on for a while and it clears fast. Never really thought about it until now so I guess we've been taking it for granted.

Only things I can think of is that we have a fair size crawl space under the floorboards downstairs and it's vented under there as well, plus the floorboards don't have the gaps sealed.

We also have the heating working pretty much like climate control with the min temp allowed overnight being 15 degrees but it's always on maintaining different temperatures depending on the day and time. It can also be quite windy if that helps (ie with the vents).
 
HopefulM said:
Blimey! count yourself lucky!!!

We have had all the plaster off the wall, the chemical damp proofer injected, tanking, then renovating plaster, then skim coat on top....

Dehumidifier (which sucks about 4 - 5 pints of water out of the air in the house every 3 days), and we still have mould growing on the walls in a couple of places and window reveals!

Just put all your kit in one of those crates such as 'really useful box' with a load of those silicone teabag things that also suck moisture out of the air and you should be ok..., as long as your room isn't too cold and you take your kit out to use frequently.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Blimey, do you live in a 15th century barn? :)
 
I think it can be too dry for kit too, below about 25% is supposed to be bad.
 
Late 30s double brick with vents in rear bedrooms and bathroom. I run a dehumidifier from November to March altenating it between upstairs and a rear modern extention which is a kitchen/family room. I'm always suprised how much water it pulls out.
 
I've lived in all sorts of houses, currently 1890 terraced, and never had need of a dehumidifier.

What's wrong with these houses?
 
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My trusty 1950's council house is pretty good internal-climate wise. I try to keep a west-facing bedroom window slightly ajar and same goes for the east facing bathroom window almost at all times to keep fresh air circulating through the house, even in the winter. Solar heating is evenly distributed through the day where the sun heats the back of the house in the morning and then it's the turn of the front part in the afternoon so there are no long lasting cold spots. Also the double skinned wall is insulated and there is a foot thick insulation in the attic. Like for instance, the pot cabinet in the kitchen is still the original from when the house was built, which makes it over 70 years old and it is still as clean and immaculate as on the day it was installed with no mould or black underneath or at the back.

Even drainage outside is no problem since the house sits on a mound made up of bricks and rocks from former slum dwellings, so the rain water just simply drains straight down. The drawback is the lawn getting parched easily, in fact it's already turning brown at the edges as I type this and it's not even Summer yet.

To be fair, the climate here at the south coastal end of Kent is pretty static throughout the year anyway, rarely stay cold for too long in the winter and I get to have the cooling sea breeze in the summer, although it does get a bit blowy in the Autumn and Winter season.

My camera gear is kept in my west-facing hobby room where I spend most of my time and I've not experienced any problems yet.
 
Been a while since we needed one (very damp basement flat) but it was 300W. Ran constantly except when we turned it off to sleep.
 
The one we rented had a 2 gallon tank and needed emptying every day. Like I said, a VERY damp basement flat!.
 
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