Damp walls - possibly condensation
 

My daughter's house has a built-in wardrobe in a corner of a bedroom. The corner wall is showing signs of mould and damp. I am initially assuming this is due to the fact that the wall is an exposed corner - the house is 1920's and does not have proper cavities.

Next week I will be taking off the remaining wallpaper in the wardrobe and leaving the sliding doors open and have a fan running to try and fix the immediate symptom.

Has anyone any suggestions about ways of lining the wardrobe to minimise the problem?

The house is well pointed - the guttering is new and the roof is good.


--


--
John

Damp walls - possibly condensation
 

John wrote:
My daughter's house has a built-in wardrobe in a corner of a bedroom.
The corner wall is showing signs of mould and damp. I am initially
assuming this is due to the fact that the wall is an exposed corner -
the house is 1920's and does not have proper cavities.

Next week I will be taking off the remaining wallpaper in the wardrobe
and leaving the sliding doors open and have a fan running to try and fix
the immediate symptom.

Has anyone any suggestions about ways of lining the wardrobe to minimise
the problem?

If it's indeed condensation, which does seem likely from your
description, then lining the affected area with expanded polystyrene is
very effective IME. You can buy it on rolls like wallpaper, about 3mm
thick. It works by reducing the temperature gradient between the cold
external wall and the moist air inside the house.

You stick in on with special adhesive (all available at B&Q etc).

If you can organise permament ventilation of the wardrobe (eg a grille
or two fitted between the room and wardrobe) then so much the better;
otherwise tell her to leave the doors open a bit.

David

Damp walls - possibly condensation
 

John wrote:

My daughter's house has a built-in wardrobe in a corner of a bedroom.
The corner wall is showing signs of mould and damp. I am initially
assuming this is due to the fact that the wall is an exposed corner -
the house is 1920's and does not have proper cavities.

Next week I will be taking off the remaining wallpaper in the wardrobe
and leaving the sliding doors open and have a fan running to try and fix
the immediate symptom.

Has anyone any suggestions about ways of lining the wardrobe to minimise
the problem?

The house is well pointed - the guttering is new and the roof is good.


Yep. Cork tiles are just the ticket for a cold wall.

Paper over if you don't like the look


--


--
John

Damp walls - possibly condensation
 

Lobster wrote:
John wrote:
My daughter's house has a built-in wardrobe in a corner of a bedroom.
The corner wall is showing signs of mould and damp. I am initially
assuming this is due to the fact that the wall is an exposed corner -
the house is 1920's and does not have proper cavities.

Next week I will be taking off the remaining wallpaper in the wardrobe
and leaving the sliding doors open and have a fan running to try and
fix the immediate symptom.

Has anyone any suggestions about ways of lining the wardrobe to
minimise the problem?

If it's indeed condensation, which does seem likely from your
description, then lining the affected area with expanded polystyrene is
very effective IME. You can buy it on rolls like wallpaper, about 3mm
thick. It works by reducing the temperature gradient between the cold
external wall and the moist air inside the house.

You stick in on with special adhesive (all available at B&Q etc).

If you can organise permament ventilation of the wardrobe (eg a grille
or two fitted between the room and wardrobe) then so much the better;
otherwise tell her to leave the doors open a bit.


I would agree with you but for one thing: I do NOT like polystyrene in
habitable spaces, because of the toxicity in a fire.

Hence my suggestion to use cork instead.


David

Damp walls - possibly condensation
 

In article ,
Lobster writes:
John wrote:
My daughter's house has a built-in wardrobe in a corner of a bedroom.
The corner wall is showing signs of mould and damp. I am initially
assuming this is due to the fact that the wall is an exposed corner -
the house is 1920's and does not have proper cavities.

Next week I will be taking off the remaining wallpaper in the wardrobe
and leaving the sliding doors open and have a fan running to try and fix
the immediate symptom.

Has anyone any suggestions about ways of lining the wardrobe to minimise
the problem?

If it's indeed condensation, which does seem likely from your
description, then lining the affected area with expanded polystyrene is
very effective IME. You can buy it on rolls like wallpaper, about 3mm
thick. It works by reducing the temperature gradient between the cold
external wall and the moist air inside the house.

You stick in on with special adhesive (all available at B&Q etc).

If you can organise permament ventilation of the wardrobe (eg a grille
or two fitted between the room and wardrobe) then so much the better;
otherwise tell her to leave the doors open a bit.

I would use 25mm thick Cellotex or Kingspan sheets, if you
can afford to lose an inch inside the wardrobe.
That should guaranee that nearly all the thermal insulation
between the room and the outside is behind the surface of
the wall, which would make condensation unlikely even if
the doors are shut.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Damp walls - possibly condensation
 

Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Lobster writes:
John wrote:
My daughter's house has a built-in wardrobe in a corner of a bedroom.
The corner wall is showing signs of mould and damp. I am initially
assuming this is due to the fact that the wall is an exposed corner -
the house is 1920's and does not have proper cavities.

Next week I will be taking off the remaining wallpaper in the wardrobe
and leaving the sliding doors open and have a fan running to try and fix
the immediate symptom.

Has anyone any suggestions about ways of lining the wardrobe to minimise
the problem?
If it's indeed condensation, which does seem likely from your
description, then lining the affected area with expanded polystyrene is
very effective IME. You can buy it on rolls like wallpaper, about 3mm
thick. It works by reducing the temperature gradient between the cold
external wall and the moist air inside the house.

You stick in on with special adhesive (all available at B&Q etc).

If you can organise permament ventilation of the wardrobe (eg a grille
or two fitted between the room and wardrobe) then so much the better;
otherwise tell her to leave the doors open a bit.

I would use 25mm thick Cellotex or Kingspan sheets, if you
can afford to lose an inch inside the wardrobe.
That should guaranee that nearly all the thermal insulation
between the room and the outside is behind the surface of
the wall, which would make condensation unlikely even if
the doors are shut.


Cork tiles might be more suitable?

Damp walls - possibly condensation
 

On Dec 16, 2:20 pm, "John" wrote:
My daughter's house has a built-in wardrobe in a corner of a bedroom. The corner wall is showing signs of mould and damp. I am initially assuming this is due to the fact that the wall is an exposed corner - the house is 1920's and does not have proper cavities.

Next week I will be taking off the remaining wallpaper in the wardrobe and leaving the sliding doors open and have a fan running to try and fix the immediate symptom.

Has anyone any suggestions about ways of lining the wardrobe to minimise the problem?

John,

as other correspondents have already said, the above is likely to be
due to condensation. The killer test would be that of checking the
temperature inside the wardrobe w.r.t. the one in the rest of the
room: it should be slightly less than in the rest of the room. If this
is the case, then the wardrobe is a so-called "cold end" and thus acts
as a condensation point for ambient humidity.

My approach would be that of lining the inside with a Kingspan 25mm
rigid polyurethane foam board stuck to the wall and covered with ply,
which can be easily wallpapered or painted if needed (after the usual
priming, etc).

Good luck

W.

Damp walls - possibly condensation
 

I would agree with you but for one thing: I do NOT like polystyrene in
habitable spaces, because of the toxicity in a fire.

Hence my suggestion to use cork instead.

You are thinking of polyurethane, not polystyrene. Polystyrene may burn
sooty and it's not nice as ceiling tiles because it produces burning rain if
you have to go out under it. But I wouldn't worry about 3 mm of polystyrene
on a wall, especially under lining paper.