Serious window condensation

[brightspark]

We had our shower extractor fan trunking that went from a ceiling fan out through the attic and to a roof tile vent droop and it filled up with condensation so there was no air flow.

The first signs were that we suddenly had loads of condensation on the upstairs bedroom windows, but we didn't know what the actual cause was. We only discovered the real cause some months later when water started dripping out of the fan inlet above the shower

When we emptied the water and re routed the trunking everything has been fine since, so it may be worth checking that any extraction you have is working correctly, even if not in the same room as the condensation.

there should have been a condensation trap fitted

 

[daleyd]

there should have been a condensation trap fitted

Yeah I kind of realised that a bit too late! Re routing the ducting so it only runs "up" and can't sag has cured it completely though to be fair.

 

[roofman]

years ago in our old draughty houses with single pane windows and doors that never fitted properly we never had all this condo problems... i say open the windows and doors,put a wooly jumper on and suck it up for a nice condensation free house

 

[brightspark]

u can lag the vertical pipe in attic which will stop it condensing in the pipe and running back down through the duct on to ceiling

 

[daleyd]

years ago in our old draughty houses with single pane windows and doors that never fitted properly we never had all this condo problems... i say open the windows and doors,put a wooly jumper on and suck it up for a nice condensation free house

My mam and dads council house had single pane metal framed windows - for added ventilation the living room top window had a pellet hole in the top for added ventilation that was there as long as I remember !!

 

[roofman]

My mam and dads council house had single pane metal framed windows - for added ventilation the living room top window had a pellet hole in the top for added ventilation that was there as long as I remember !!

lol@pellet hole

 

[colnerov]

Assassination attempt?

 

[brightspark]

My mam and dads council house had single pane metal framed windows - for added ventilation the living room top window had a pellet hole in the top for added ventilation that was there as long as I remember !!

ive got a pellet hole through my ceiling accidentaly shot it when putting barrel of gun out of window and hare trigger set it off wifey hasn't noticed it YET

 

[daleyd]

Assassination attempt?

No, a daft @rse brother and a Webley!! It was there as long as I ever remember (from 5 ish I guess?) until I bought my own house when I was 21!

Doesn't say much for my dads enthusiasm for diy does it?!!​

 

[daleyd]

ive got a pellet hole through my ceiling accidentaly shot it when putting barrel of gun out of window and hare trigger set it off wifey hasn't noticed it YET

 

[blenkie1]

We had similar problems and house has walls over 2' thick. When we moved in we had all the walls done with new plaster and new double glazed windows. The first winter the window was always soaking and then the mould started. Plaster off and we put plaster boards on that had polystyrene on the backside. Cured it for a while but the window was always soaking, and then the mould came back. Replaced the polystyrene boards with insulated backed and a foil liner type and put a vent in from sovereign damp proofing as they said most damp problems are caused by a lack of air flow. Its done the trick, window has no damp now.

We did also try a de humidifier but it was on every day and the window was still wet in the morning, them old houses are like sponges.

 

[brightspark]

We had similar problems and house has walls over 2' thick. When we moved in we had all the walls done with new plaster and new double glazed windows. The first winter the window was always soaking and then the mould started. Plaster off and we put plaster boards on that had polystyrene on the backside. Cured it for a while but the window was always soaking, and then the mould came back. Replaced the polystyrene boards with insulated backed and a foil liner type and put a vent in from sovereign damp proofing as they said most damp problems are caused by a lack of air flow. Its done the trick, window has no damp now.

We did also try a de humidifier but it was on every day and the window was still wet in the morning, them old houses are like sponges.

we got a karcher window vac

 

[colnerov]

We had similar problems and house has walls over 2' thick. When we moved in we had all the walls done with new plaster and new double glazed windows. The first winter the window was always soaking and then the mould started. Plaster off and we put plaster boards on that had polystyrene on the backside. Cured it for a while but the window was always soaking, and then the mould came back. Replaced the polystyrene boards with insulated backed and a foil liner type and put a vent in from sovereign damp proofing as they said most damp problems are caused by a lack of air flow. Its done the trick, window has no damp now.

We did also try a de humidifier but it was on every day and the window was still wet in the morning, them old houses are like sponges.

Hi, That's why cavity walls were introduced to stop the ingress of damp/water and then people want to go and have cavity wall insulation pumped in.

Colin

 

[rtbcomp]

I had a double glazing salesman round once and i asked him about condensation and said leave the window slightly open. Sort of negates the reason for having DG installed in the first place.

This is the state of a neighbor's wall and she wonders why it's damp in the house.

 

[Kent]

It's hard to tell. Are the windows actually steaming up real badly on the Inner pane? To be fair if they are not then it's not damp Inside running down. In the latter case I suspect that someone forgot to drill pressure relief holes on the top inner face of the frame and the water is shaping through the internal bead edges. Or pointing not done under outer cill or bay pole fitting error or error at the head of the window frame fitting.
Have they bothered to come out because they should at least look

 

[Rig Pig]

That wall looks very thin, is it single skin brick? condensation will form on the coldest surface.
Do you have extract fans for kitchen and bathrooms? And are you drying clothing in the house?
I have had condensation issues I'm my house - when the boiler storage tank failed the other day I think I found the source, the heat exchanger has been leaking for some time & rotted the top of the tank out
I also found a leak in the rising main under the cement floor in the kitchen.
So have a good look round for leaks!
Long term I'm going to fit a heat recovery package to solve the lack of ventilation. work starts in spring

 

[voipio]

as above, you need some ventilation

chances are old windows had a trickle vent built in, or they weren't that air tight


Omnita posted while I was typing, I was just about to suggest a dehumidifier too, it'll dry the place out nice... ok it might use 200watts of power you're paying for... but really you just end up with 200watts of extra heat so it's not really a waste this time of year :-)

There's a bonus with the dehumidifier. Every Imperial gallon of water condensed gives up just a tad over 3kWh of heat.

 

[jordan1]

Too much internal moisture not enough ventilation.

 

[gaz1]

as said i need to look if the outside has this



as for sill not sure on that type but its looking like they may have used the type that clipped onto the bottom and cut it to shape if this is not sealed well it goes straight through to your stones

its best to use those above if your window is supporting something else above like another bay area

this one is the better one but has a welded joint as stops leaks under the frames these are the better sills as catches water and ejects it back outside the clip on ones are more for a straight window fit these type are the better ones as long as you get a sill outside

 

[Omniata]

It looks like a 90° bay, cill should have been welded with 90° bay posts as standard.
Looking at the corners they don't appear lined up properly, one from appears to overlap the other, typical when someone mixes up internal and external sizes...
Chances are to cill has been cut and glued to fit so they didn't have to have the whole bay frames and cill remade.
Saw this loads of times when I worked at a manufacturer and an installer local to me, the installer had as many problems through mis-measures as they had good installs. I always got blamed cause I ordered the frames, showed the survey's and quotes to save my skin on multiple occasions.