The reason for the new layers of felt and the vent tiles and new dry ridge was to cure the condensation problem but I'm not sure it's made much difference.
Was I ripped off?
- Thread starter ZACCCC
- Start date
The reason for the new layers of felt and the vent tiles and new dry ridge was to cure the condensation problem but I'm not sure it's made much difference.
Sponsored Links
You are not going to see much difference straight away, you will need to allow any damp to dry out, and in this weather it is not going to dry fast, you may however escalate drying using a cold air fan blowing at the damp wall, or to speediate drying, I would suggest using a fan heater set to no more than 1 Kw heat power, I think it is worth spending an extra tenner or even little more in electric charge so you could dry it up quickly, direct a fan heater of 1 kw from about half a meter away at the wall, keep moving it every few hours to a different part of the wall, in 24 hours it would cost you 24kwh electricity and at average price of 12p (I pay 10p/kwh with PFP Energy) so every 24hrs it will cost you just under £2.88 and for 3 to 4 days constant blow drying cost would be around £10 additional charge to your electricity bill, personally I would go this route and have done so without damp coming back. (once the source of damp has been rectified of course)
Keep an eye on the fan heater every few hours that it is not going to get knocked over and cause any fire risk, also keep an eye on your 3 pin plug or socket that it does not get warm or hot to touch. safety comes first of course.
Keep an eye on the fan heater every few hours that it is not going to get knocked over and cause any fire risk, also keep an eye on your 3 pin plug or socket that it does not get warm or hot to touch. safety comes first of course.
That's the point, was there a condensation problem? Or was there just condensation?
Sponsored Links
No I didn't mean that! Warm air has to be humid (which means it has to be carrying moisture) in order to condense on cool surfaces, once you start warming the wall, moisture from the wet surfaces will obviously start releasing from it and get carried away and by warm air currents which will also heat your felt, and if you ventilate the loft space to outside, moist air will escape carrying any moisture to outside.Introduce warm air to condense on the cold felt you mean?
Dry warm air does not have high moisture content, and so it would remove more moisture from the wall and vent it out. The hot air heats up the wall and the space in your loft, escalating evaporation and so it drys fast.Humidifier would also take fair amount of energy and not be as fast as warm air blow drying.
Only thing is he will have to make a way of removing moist air to outside, through the eves or use a an extractor fan (like the ones used in bathroom) and flexible ducting to vent moisture laden air to outside. or alternatively wait for summer by which time his walls could be covered in mould.
Last edited:
That theory is contrary to current scientific thinking, I'm afraid.
Unless the loft is in a vacuum (not a vacuum in the loft though)
As long as his loft has plenty of ventilation, i.e. his eves are not blocked off, there is a natural flow of air through it, which should remove moist warm air, if it lacks this , which it shouldn't then he ,may need additional means to extract that moist air using an extractor fan, which hopefully draws cold air in from opposite side and not warm moist laden air from rooms below.
What the fan heater is doing is extracting by forcing the wall or any other damp surfaces to release moisture by heating , which then gets mixed with natural flow of air in the loft, and even if some of it condenses on very cold surfaces such as felt, in short time that will dry due to natural air flow, but the heater is helping in extracting damp faster from the wall and throwing it out into the loft, and air currents then drag it away. thats the theory.
If i am correct, his problem arose when he had a rain leaking into his loft running along the wall, and walls soaked up lots of water.
What the fan heater is doing is extracting by forcing the wall or any other damp surfaces to release moisture by heating , which then gets mixed with natural flow of air in the loft, and even if some of it condenses on very cold surfaces such as felt, in short time that will dry due to natural air flow, but the heater is helping in extracting damp faster from the wall and throwing it out into the loft, and air currents then drag it away. thats the theory.
If i am correct, his problem arose when he had a rain leaking into his loft running along the wall, and walls soaked up lots of water.
In a car in a cold weather, if you don't put on and direct your demister (blower/fan) to your windscreen, even if at first it blows cold air, as the car engine has not warmed up yet, it will prevent the inside of your windscreen getting misty, from your breath containing moisture, but a blower will soon clear it of any misting and condensation, its effect gets better and rapid when the air blowing on the windscreen is warmer and draws away any condensation as well as your breath containing moisture. keeps it clear of fogging or condensation, applying the same principle to your wall, assuming it is a windscreen, it will soon dry up and clear up and moved away from wall to ventilate out, cars do have vents, though they may be hidden.
However, the above depends if your car has not suffered any flooding around your carpets, such as a leak from its internal heater matrix, or someone spilled a drink or water inside the car on its carpets, in which case as the wet carpets get warmed up, they will start extracting a lot more moisture than just from your breathing , and soon the car's windows would be steamed up, and it would then be a struggle to keep the windscreen clear as not enough is being ventilated, in which case you may have to lower your windows to allow more moist laden air to escape. This is the science behind things, and again as i said it depends how good his loft draft/cross ventilation is, if not adequate, he may have to then use an extractor fan.
Last edited:
DIYnot Local
Staff member
If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.
Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.
Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local
Sponsored Links