No air vents in house at all??

Heres Johnny

I moved into my house 7 years ago and I have just noticed there isn't a single air vent in any of the rooms except for extractor fans in the 3 bathrooms and above the oven.

None in living room or any of the bedrooms. The reason I noticed now is that I have had a small build up of mould in the back 2 bedrooms this winter, never had the problem before. Front of house is fine. Back of house gets serious sun in the summer but none in the winter so i think there may be moisture in the walls not getting dried out too.

House was built approx 2006 and the same builders are still on site, large development in Adamstown Lucan.

Is this against building regulations and was it in place in 2006? There seems to be a problem developing and need to get it sorted ASAP. If it's on me to fix it, I will get vents installed and the mould removed, perhaps dehumidify the room and repaint.

If there should have been vents installed, I'll be over to the builders, they have been pretty good in the past to be honest.

Embarrassed I never copped this before.

naughtysmurf

Do you have window vents instead?

Heres Johnny

naughtysmurf wrote: »

Do you have window vents instead?

Excuse me on this I don't think so but I don't know what they are. Windows are just normal windows nothing unusual about them.

I do get condensation on the inside of them.

naughtysmurf

They are vents that are part of / built into the window frame, they can be opened & closed AFAIK, if you have these you don't need wall vents

We have wall vents but also had a slight mould issue over the last month with the very cold weather & very warm house due to a stove & drying clothes

Heres Johnny

Maybe I do I'll go have a look. I said windows are normal which isn't actually fully true they're pretty cool windows they can be pivoted completely inside out to clean them. So maybe there are vents in the frame as well.

I think my problem is due to drying clothes indoors too. Mould is just such horrible stuff.

mad m

Heres Johnny wrote: »

I think my problem is due to drying clothes indoors too. Mould is just such horrible stuff.

Nail on head comes to mind!

Del2005

Heres Johnny wrote: »

Maybe I do I'll go have a look. I said windows are normal which isn't actually fully true they're pretty cool windows they can be pivoted completely inside out to clean them. So maybe there are vents in the frame as well.

I think my problem is due to drying clothes indoors too. Mould is just such horrible stuff.

If you are drying clothes indoors you need to leave the window open in the room. I used to dry clothes indoors by turning the heating on in the room and leaving the window open, never got a bit of mould. I eventually got a condenser dryer and when I dry clothes in it I empty a few litres out, I give the clothes a few extra spins in the washing machine before drying. So if you are drying clothes with the windows closed you are evaporating several litres of water into the room.

h3000

Heres Johnny wrote: »

Maybe I do I'll go have a look. I said windows are normal which isn't actually fully true they're pretty cool windows they can be pivoted completely inside out to clean them. So maybe there are vents in the frame as well.

I think my problem is due to drying clothes indoors too. Mould is just such horrible stuff.

mad m wrote: »

Nail on head comes to mind!

Just on drying the clothes indoors you should invest in a dehumidifier. We use one in our utility room to dry clothes and it’s brilliant. We empty 4 plus litres out of it every time we wash clothes. We just got a cheapish one from Argos like this one https://m.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/4020237/Trail/searchtext%3EDehumidifier.htm

Heres Johnny

mad m wrote: »

Heres Johnny wrote: »

I think my problem is due to drying clothes indoors too. Mould is just such horrible stuff.

Nail on head comes to mind!

Have done it for years though and it only started this winter I got away with it before. I'll definitely be investing in a dehumidifier ASAP.

Gumbo

Heres Johnny wrote: »

Have done it for years though and it only started this winter I got away with it before. I'll definitely be investing in a dehumidifier ASAP.

Because it takes time to grow and develop. If you haven’t seen it until this year, imagine what’s going on in the places and spaces that you can’t see.

Graham

Heres Johnny wrote: »

I'll definitely be investing in a dehumidifier ASAP.

Is it just me or does anyone else think it's odd paying to heat a room to move moisture from clothes to air while simultaneously paying to run another machine to remove the moisture from the air.

Not having a go at you OP, I've just noticed a few dehumidifier threads recently.

To me the logical first step to preventing condensation, stop making the air so humid.

naughtysmurf

Graham wrote: »

Is it just me or does anyone else think it's odd paying to heat a room to move moisture from clothes to air while simultaneously paying to run another machine to remove the moisture from the air.

Not having a go at you OP, I've just noticed a few dehumidifier threads recently.

To me the logical first step to preventing condensation, stop making the air so humid.

Yeah, it is a bit odd but clothes have to be dried & not everything can go into a dryer & the drying outside hasn't been great lately
In my opinion, after keeping an eye on my situation over the last month or so, I just dry any condensation on the two windows in the two rooms that I had an issue with first thing in the morning, would usually open the windows for a while anyway & that seems to be enough
Once the weather picks up, I'll use the clothes line as usual

When we had an open fire place we had no problems for years, the stove has created a different environment I believe, with the milder weather the condensation on the windows is gone

I nearly bought a dehumidifier but I don't think it's really needed in our situation, OP hasn't come back as regards vents

Heres Johnny

No window vents lads.
The only rooms I dry clothes in have the problem, they are spare bedrooms. I will be looking into solutions but I still think I should have air vents which I don't. I'm going to check with the neighbours if they have them.
Only thing I can think of is my house was a boom time build and was taken off the market unfinished in the crash, I bought a few years later and it was completed then.
A builder friend of mine did a snag list for me, he picked up on plenty of small things alright.

mickdw

Heres Johnny wrote: »

No window vents lads.
The only rooms I dry clothes in have the problem, they are spare bedrooms. I will be looking into solutions but I still think I should have air vents which I don't. I'm going to check with the neighbours if they have them.
Only thing I can think of is my house was a boom time build and was taken off the market unfinished in the crash, I bought a few years later and it was completed then.
A builder friend of mine did a snag list for me, he picked up on plenty of small things alright.

Assuming you dont have piped ventilation, you should have vents.
Window vents can be retro fitted and can be handier all round that putting in wall vents.

mexicanking

naughtysmurf wrote:

When we had an open fire place we had no problems for years, the stove has created a different environment I believe, with the milder weather the condensation on the windows is gone

naughtysmurf wrote:

I nearly bought a dehumidifier but I don't think it's really needed in our situation, OP hasn't come back as regards vents

Re. Dehumidifiers and heating room. My best buy was a dessicant dehumidifier. Best purchase. I hang clothes on the cloth horse- run the dehumidifier for 2 hrs on timer. Clothes are dry. Dessicant dehumidifiers have heater in it, and it warms up the room. No need to switch heat on. I have started using it more as a heat blower than dehumidifier. I had purchased a condenser dehumidifiers before but half the time it was defrosting. Returned and got this. Two hours a day, relative humidity below, 40%.

h3000

Graham wrote: »

Is it just me or does anyone else think it's odd paying to heat a room to move moisture from clothes to air while simultaneously paying to run another machine to remove the moisture from the air.

Not having a go at you OP, I've just noticed a few dehumidifier threads recently.

To me the logical first step to preventing condensation, stop making the air so humid.

In my case I don’t use any extra heat to dry the clothes, just enough to keep the house warm enough for the kids. Which is very little as the house is in general quite warm. The dehumidifier works away well. I also believe it’s more efficient than a dryer.

astrofool

Engage with somebody competent, or an architect (or ask the builder if they're still around), vents aren't always necessary, depending on the heating solution being used.