Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Mold appearing under windows

  • 12-12-2023 11:16pm
    #1
    RobbieV
    Registered Users Posts: 362 ✭✭


    I am living in an apartment that has a lot of condensation on the windows in the living room and especially bedroom which leads to pools of water on the timber ledge underneath. Someone has added a bead of acrylic caulk around each ledge against the window frame.

    There is mold that keeps reappearing on the bottom of the frames on the acrylic and timber . I'm also concerned about what I can't see, if water is going down into the wall maybe

    Apart from drying every morning, opening the windows and spraying the mold is there anything I can do?

    My clothes smell musty in the drawers too. I have taken them all out and will be cleaning the drawers with a vinegar mix to try sort it.

    Tagged:


Comments

  • #2
    listermint
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,044 ✭✭✭✭listermint


    The only real solution to this is a dehumidifier.

    It's excess moisture and in an apartment hard to control (presume renting).



  • #3
    10-10-20
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,235 ✭✭✭10-10-20


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121489249#Comment_121489249

    Yes, I'll second that. The moisture is trapped inside the apartment from washing, drying, cleaning and cooking and either has to be ventilated out (causing over ventilation and excessive heat-loss) or has to be removed by running a dehumidifier within the kitchen or general areas of the apartment.



  • #4
    sydthebeat
    Subscribers Posts: 41,704 ✭✭✭✭sydthebeat


    Do you dry clothes within the apartment?



  • #5
    RobbieV
    Registered Users Posts: 362 ✭✭RobbieV


    No clothes dried inside the apartment. Only thing that would be on is the electric heaters, lots of kettle boiling and myself breathing.

    No real ventilation in the place at all. The bedroom especially is a sealed space.

    I examined the musty smelling drawers today and they are absolutely coated in black mold. They are going to the dump on Saturday morning.

    Not a rented apartment and building is probably 100 years old that had been sectioned off into apartments.

    Will have to purchase a dehumidifier I'd say.

    Last night I kept bedroom door open and bathroom window slightly open and there was minimal condensation this morning.



  • #6
    listermint
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 34,044 ✭✭✭✭listermint


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121491948#Comment_121491948

    If you own the apartment, I would consider then a longer term strategy, dehumidifiers are a great tool. But it's also a unit that's sitting around powered up all the time.

    It's a superb thing for a rented place where you can't do much. But for a place I own I would consider centralised ventilation or demand controlled . Even a2a units make sense in an apartment acting as a dehumidifier and heater in one unit.



  • Advertisement
  • #7
    RobbieV
    Registered Users Posts: 362 ✭✭RobbieV


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121491955#Comment_121491955

    I don't own the apartment it is belonging to a relative but long term there should be a solution carried out.

    I will have a look into the air to air system you mentioned. I would be uneducated about that kind of thing so will have to learn about that system.

    Thanks for the suggestion



  • #8
    Anaki r2d2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 993 ✭✭✭Anaki r2d2


    There is a YouTube channel by a fella Charlie DIYte - worth watching as an entry level to why moisture forms on windows etc.

    Ventilation, humidity, insulation etc.

    But you have seen yourself, opening a window helps. So airflow reduces condensation but the apartment will be cold.



  • #9
    DC999
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,469 ✭✭✭DC999


    2nd what others have said here on ventilation. Also get a dehumidifier as you won’t be making major changes to prevent it (as it’s not your place). I got this one in 2016 and it’s still working. Uses 200watts (which is low) when running and you can set the humidity level. So it will come on every ~15mins. If the level in the air is lower than the unit it set to it goes off again. And doesn’t use energy. Also has a timer on it so I can turn it on during the day for an hour.

    Meaco 12L Low Energy Dehumidifier and Air Purifier 2 in 1- Quiet Dehumidifier For Flats, Apartments & Small Homes - Controls Humidity & Cleans Air Year Round, Comes with HEPA Filter [Energy Class A] : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen. But any decent brand will work.

    Mine is a heatpump version so doesn’t work as well below 17C, so I just use it when the place is warmer than that. As in don’t run during the night if the internal temp is lower. 



Advertisement