First post but have been lurking here for a while.
We've bought and pending any last minute slip ups will be shortly be moving into an old 17th century property, hopefully before Xmas and would really appreciate some advice on heating/drying it out please!
It's been vacant for about 18 months with no heating or electric on. It's old, 17th century with about 0.75m thick stone walls, mostly rendered, and no damp proof course due to age. There is loft insulation and one extension is also rendered stone has been externally clad with wood (badly). It sounds a peach yes?!
Plan when we move in is to get the modern boiler serviced and get the heating on (it looks like it's been drained down but as a repossession very hard to check anything) to get some heat on. It's also got a gas Arga that we'll get serviced and one open fire and one enclosed wood burner fire which once swept will also be being used.
We'll be coming armed with carbon monoxide and fire detectors as well for safety sake I should add.
The report has picked up damp in walls from dodgy rainwater downpipes, some poor windowsills and in particular the cladding has no membrane (or insulation) behind so is trapping water against the walls on this sections. As such we need to dry and warm the place and then start to tackle the causes.
Question really is, what is the best way to dry and warm a house this old out? It's not as cold inside as you'd expect (certainly warmer than our mid-80s house was after two days of broken heating).
Do we
- light up all the heat sources and open windows to get fresh air in (bearing in mind it's December so outside air likely to be fresh but damp)?
- heat the air that's in there and use a dehumififier (or two) to dry it out?
- something else?
Is drying with the fires better since the updraught will draw air up and pull in fresh (some windows have trickle vents, some external doors have gaps you could fit your fingers under)? Whereas radiators will just warm what's in there.
And what is a good rate to warm the house? Would going from say 5-8degC ambient to 21degC in a couple of days/week be too much?
Some pics for reference -
Damp on extension caused by poorly applied and non-lined cladding trapping moisture -
Best example of cladding photo I have, also shows comedy downpipes -
Example of the poor finish of cladding, insufficient overlap, no membrane, no insulation and no corner detailing -
We've bought and pending any last minute slip ups will be shortly be moving into an old 17th century property, hopefully before Xmas and would really appreciate some advice on heating/drying it out please!
It's been vacant for about 18 months with no heating or electric on. It's old, 17th century with about 0.75m thick stone walls, mostly rendered, and no damp proof course due to age. There is loft insulation and one extension is also rendered stone has been externally clad with wood (badly). It sounds a peach yes?!
Plan when we move in is to get the modern boiler serviced and get the heating on (it looks like it's been drained down but as a repossession very hard to check anything) to get some heat on. It's also got a gas Arga that we'll get serviced and one open fire and one enclosed wood burner fire which once swept will also be being used.
We'll be coming armed with carbon monoxide and fire detectors as well for safety sake I should add.
The report has picked up damp in walls from dodgy rainwater downpipes, some poor windowsills and in particular the cladding has no membrane (or insulation) behind so is trapping water against the walls on this sections. As such we need to dry and warm the place and then start to tackle the causes.
Question really is, what is the best way to dry and warm a house this old out? It's not as cold inside as you'd expect (certainly warmer than our mid-80s house was after two days of broken heating).
Do we
- light up all the heat sources and open windows to get fresh air in (bearing in mind it's December so outside air likely to be fresh but damp)?
- heat the air that's in there and use a dehumififier (or two) to dry it out?
- something else?
Is drying with the fires better since the updraught will draw air up and pull in fresh (some windows have trickle vents, some external doors have gaps you could fit your fingers under)? Whereas radiators will just warm what's in there.
And what is a good rate to warm the house? Would going from say 5-8degC ambient to 21degC in a couple of days/week be too much?
Some pics for reference -
Damp on extension caused by poorly applied and non-lined cladding trapping moisture -
Best example of cladding photo I have, also shows comedy downpipes -
Example of the poor finish of cladding, insufficient overlap, no membrane, no insulation and no corner detailing -