Damp Proofing

Water under floorboards / very high relative humidity in Bungalow

Anonymous user 23/02/2024 - 3.43 PM

Question is about a 2 bed council bungalow at least 60 years old. We have had large damp patches at floor level on the wall in both bedrooms, and a medium size damp patch at ceiling level in a corner of one of the bedrooms. The council surveyor did his survey and sent me the results, which seem somewhat unbelievable (see below). The survey noted that there is 2 inches of water in the space under the floorboards. No attempt to dry this out or to identify the source of the water. We are being blamed for all of the damp, because of our “lifestyle”, being that we have the house too warm do not leave windows open all the time, do too much cooking etc. Despite it being our fault, the council has done lots of work to “help”, such as fixing the roof, putting extra vents into the roof area, putting in about 8 extra vents below the damp course, cleaning the existing 4 vents, adding 2 extra vents on the wall in each bedroom near ground level. The damp got so bad at the start of 2021 that we had re-decorate the bedrooms (for the time 3rd time in 5 years), buy new bedroom furniture (because the damp had done serious damage), replace both bed matresses (being too damp to use), and replace carpets with new wooden flooring. Questions: 1. Is it likely that the damp is ONLY because of “life style”, being condensation caused by us, or is it more likely that the cause is rising damp, and structural damp from roof, gutter problem? 2. Is it possible for 3 rooms (both bedrooms and the bathroom) all next to each other, could have a room temperature of 28C, Rel Humidity of 93%, and a Dew point of 21C, with a wall temp of only 12C, with the outside temp at 2C (Jan 2021), the kitchen, temp 16C, RH of 75%, Dew Point 11C, wall temp 17C, Living room RH 62%, Temp 18C, Dew Point 11C, wall temp 19C, Hall way (between Living area and bedrooms) Temp 19C, RH 60%, Dew Point 11C, Wall temp 17C. 3. The fact that the wall temperatures vary between 19C in the coolest rooms, to only 11C in the hottest rooms (bed / bathroom), would seem to indicate that either, the readings are all inaccurate, or that the amount of insulation being provided in different rooms is considerably different. 4. It is technically impossible to be to heat any part of our house to 28C in the winter. 5. Given that we have most of our doors open all of the time, is it even possible for some rooms to have a RH of 93% whilst other rooms are only between 60% and 75%. Thanks 11/11/21