Possible Mould and poor ventilation in Edwardian house
Debbie Kukathas
8 years ago
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Damp Mould Problems
Comments (11)Jane we also developed this problem in our 80s built house, especially after a double extension which was brick built and the house being timber framed and then a ground floor bedroom built about 5 years ago which is well insulated and has good airflow; it seems to have affected our upstairs bedrooms more now. My husband fitted air vents in the windows which has given a slight improvement in the winter and then I make sure the heating is on in those rooms during the day winter time, but I have to turn them off at night. When the ground floor extension was built the Building Control of our local Authority, made the builders put covers all along the top of the new flat room which I think has cover the air bricks, we don't know what to do about this as if we take them off the rain/snow could well affect it even more. Hope you get a solution as I am still looking for one too....See MoreHow to make a Victorian house warm?
Comments (24)Hello! We have done two things which relate to some of the issues you describe. However, I should point out that we don't have a cellar; we have ground around 30cm below our ground floor joists. We have wooden floorboards rather than concrete - but I would imagine concrete would be easier to insulate, perhaps from below, in the ceiling of the cellar? Anyway, this is what we did: We insulated under our floor borads on the ground floor. (Note that not every single one has to be lifted, you lift a few every foot or so). Celotex was inserted between the joists. There is a risk the insulation will fall out onto the ground below, so they cut it slightly too big and then hammer it in. It's wedged in very tight and we have had none fall out two years later. As I wrote in my post above as well, we added angled vent covers outside to reduce the draft coming in under the floorboards. We were very concerned about air cirulation when doing all of this, but we have come to the conclusion that the air circulation is already so large under our ground floor, that the celotex and vent covers aren't really an issue. It's not like we have sealed everything shut, there are still plenty of tiny gaps everywhere. We haven't had any issues with mould or anything like that. The other thing we have done more recently is to balance our radiators. We had the problem that our front room was extremely cold relative to the rest of the house (although we had high spec/high BTU radiators in all rooms). We thought this may have been due to low power on the radiators, but in fact after doing a big rebalancing exercise, it's now the warmest room in the house. We're quite surprised how much of a difference rebalancing makes. There are plenty of guides online which we followed; essentially, what you do is you first check how open each radiator is (check the lockshield valve, not the TSV!). We wrote this down on a piece of paper for each radiator in the house (e.g. "fully open", "3/4 open", etc). We then put the heating on from cold and ran around the house checking which radiator fires up first/last. Made a note of this on paper. We then realised that in our case, although the front room radiator was fully open (which would suggest it should get the hot water first), in fact so were many of the radiators that are closer to the boiler. As a result, the hot water was going to those closer ones first (it takes the easiest route). The solution was to close the lockshield valves on the radiators closer to the boiler (not completely, you do it 1/4 of a turn at a time and check the effect). After a few runs we were able to get to a point where the hot water was filling up the front room radiators first. Now it's great. I hope this can help you! Good luck!...See MoreEdwardian Semi - Exterior Help!
Comments (27)People asking about me? Oh wow, I really integrated here, have I? And thanks Carolina. The pity me is wearing off though, baby steps onward and upward. ;) But yes it was a sad year, for everyone really, I simply got the chronical physical part too. Almost there, yet still not at work (and will need to look for new adventures once fully back on my feet)....See MoreBland 1970's terrace house - nothing to work with?
Comments (25)Well, Gary, you have got some great ideas coming in. I turned 70 last year and my family in 1967 bought a brand new townhouse that was an exciting place to live. It had three split-level floors making about 7 levels (not quite designed by Escher!) My advice is look at the inspiration for British 60s houses - that came from 1950s America (and earlier). Draw out the essence. Think: Clean lines / Timber / Brick / Harmony / Balance / Simplicity (and I am sure you are!) You are so right to steer away from the grey format you describe. Attaching 1) a contemporary colour chart for door inspiration and 2) images solely for the cohesive simplicity of window shapes.) These are some thoughts that I have: 1) The porch: Could it be constructed out of SIPs - thereby giving more insulation? Possibly cheaper, easier and cleaner to build with than brickwork? The side panels could be clad with cedar that just wraps round onto the front wall each side - maybe 15cm? (To give depth.) Maybe a very slightly sloping crimped zinc roof on top? Look at the front width of the porch and pretty much divide it into two. Have perhaps a door with a square clear glass pane on the right (like your image above) AND make the adjacent window the same size square aperture as in the door. Maybe some cedar cladding under this window? 2) The other windows: If these could be based upon the same square format (as above) and tip / tilt. The kitchen window could comprise two tip/tilt opening almost square windows and these be echoed in the first floor bedroom above. The bathroom window naturally lends itself to a square pane. NO frosted or reeded glass anywhere! ...Even if it is 'authentic'! 'Roller blinds' were used a lot then and provided an interesting layer to the windows plus a nice slice of colour! Surely no-one would consider vertical strip blinds!!!!???? 3) The front door colour: (I really will have to 'get over' the fact that PVC double-glazed doors cannot be painted like a good old wooden door...!) So, my recollection is that mid-sixties colours in Britain were actually not quite so primary as we think but often a little bit 'slubby'. This makes them more interesting I think. ...Ignore the contradictory red doors below!! 🤣 Images of evocative clean styles - windows mainly....See MoreDebbie Kukathas
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