Lots of mould in utility room

lettywetty · 28 Jul 2021

Own a rental.

The washing machine and the dryer are in a small room, off the kitchen. This room has been added to the bungalow something like 20 years ago.
The walls are single-layer red brick and inside there's no insulation or plasterboard, the brickwork is just painted. There is a flat roof of felt.
Tenants usually have also a fridge in that room as there is only an under counter one in the kitchen.

This "utility" room is cold in winter and can be extremely damp. Recently it had gotten so mouldy that all the walls were practically black. This is just condensation as there is no problem when no dryer/washing machine are used (ie when the house is not occupied).

I cannot insulated from the inside because the room is long but only wide enough for the white goods to fit.

What could I do to solve the heavy condensation problem?

Would a fan be of any use?

I have a dehumidifier but it is a big box that take space, not sure if tenants will use it anyway.

Could I install a kind of permanent dehumidifier on the wall, does it exist?

Should I install a small radiator in there?

My other idea would be to buy and install a vented dryer instead of letting a tenant installing a condensing one, would it make a difference?

Thanks.

Deleted member 174758 · 28 Jul 2021

Possibly insulate the outside?

foxhole · 29 Jul 2021

Needs ventilation as does the kitchen and door kept closed or all the warm damp air from the kitchen condenses on the cold uninsulated room.

lettywetty · 29 Jul 2021

Thanks to both of you.
By ventilation you mean an extractor? How will I connect this extractor for it to run each time people use the washing machine or the dryer (if it is based on good will, none of the tenants will switch it on, I know how it works by now)?

Harry Bloomfield · 29 Jul 2021

lettywetty said:
Thanks to both of you.
By ventilation you mean an extractor? How will I connect this extractor for it to run each time people use the washing machine or the dryer (if it is based on good will, none of the tenants will switch it on, I know how it works by now)?

An extract fan with humidity switch will run based on the level of humidity in the room. Condensing driers do not produce much humidity, washing machine probably cause more. I am not aware of any cheap wall mount dehumidifiers, but could you fit one on a shelf or bracket? I have one which I mounted on a TV bracket, not a flat screen bracket, an old CRT TV bracket. This in our poorly insulated utility room keeps it dry, despite my installing several lines for clothes drying to avoid using the drier.

You would need to use a dehumidifier with an optional drain, rather than a water collection tank and pipe it away - no point relying on tenants to empty a tank. It would also need to have a humidity switch included.

foxhole · 29 Jul 2021

Ideally both areas need permanent vents and mechanical vent in kitchen.

Harry Bloomfield · 29 Jul 2021

lettywetty said:
What could I do to solve the heavy condensation problem?

Is there a cooker hood? Does it extract to outdoors? The recirculation type are entirely pointless.

lettywetty · 30 Jul 2021

The hood is not connected to the outside, it recycles.
These humidistat fans are a good idea. I did not know that before, I like the principle but I read reviews on Amazon and the people who complain seem to say the same thing, it is not always reliable and can turn all day long. I am just worried if it is the case and runs non stop that tenants might complain of the cost or disconnect the thing.
I suppose that there is not a lot of other solutions to my problem.

Harry Bloomfield · 30 Jul 2021

lettywetty said:
The hood is not connected to the outside, it recycles.

.

Having it extract to outdoors then, should be a priority. One which doesn't serves no real purpose.

lettywetty said:
These humidistat fans are a good idea. I did not know that before, I like the principle but I read reviews on Amazon and the people who complain seem to say the same thing, it is not always reliable and can turn all day long. I am just worried if it is the case and runs non stop that tenants might complain of the cost or disconnect the thing.

It seem to depend upon make/model. Mine works reasonably well, but I have no idea of the make.

IT Minion · 30 Jul 2021

The difficulty humidity sensor ones have is: what happens when the humidity outside gets higher than the level you set?

Typically you want your indoor humidity to be 70% or less to avoid mold. But tomorrow it's forecast to be 80%+ and thunderstorms where I am. That means it's probably going to be very humid inside as well, so the fan would just keep spinning indefinitely.

You could have a standard bathroom extractor fan with overrun timer set to the maximum connected to the lights. Then you'd get half an hour of extraction whenever they turn the lights on, which might be enough to make a difference.

Harry Bloomfield · 30 Jul 2021

IT Minion said:
Typically you want your indoor humidity to be 70% or less to avoid mold. But tomorrow it's forecast to be 80%+ and thunderstorms where I am. That means it's probably going to be very humid inside as well, so the fan would just keep spinning indefinitely.

My indoor humidity seems to be mostly <50% and unaffected by the outdoor humidity. It would of course be higher, if measured in the bathroom during a bath or shower.

Diver Fred · 30 Jul 2021

You've said the magic word - rental!
I agree that the cooker hood needs refitting so that it extracts to the outside with some urgency.
The Utility room and the machines. Can the tumble dryer be connected to a ventilation hose - if it can that needs doing before the end of summer. I also agree that the room needs an extractor whether or not it is humidistat controlled; in fact if the condensation is bad then a permanently running one as well will be a good idea. Now the important thing is that it is connected up in such a way as it cannot be disconnected or switched off by the tenants, consider hiding it in the room somewhere (behind the tumble dryer?), the modern ones designed to be running constantly use very little power, less than a LED light bulb.

Tenants for some reason don't like ventilation.

JohnD · 30 Jul 2021

lettywetty said:
The hood is not connected to the outside, it recycles.

completely useless then

lettywetty said:
tenants might complain of the cost

a modern extractor runs for about a hundred hours on 15pence worth of electricity.

lettywetty said:
My other idea would be to buy and install a vented dryer instead of letting a tenant installing a condensing one, would it make a difference?

a vented drier is much cheaper to buy and blows all the steam out through a hole in the wall, usually beside or behind it (a plumber has a suitable core drill)

being a simple machine it has little to go wrong.

IT Minion · 30 Jul 2021

Harry Bloomfield said:
My indoor humidity seems to be mostly <50% and unaffected by the outdoor humidity. It would of course be higher, if measured in the bathroom during a bath or shower.

Normally yes, indoor humidity is lower because we heat the air up which reduces humidity. But with cooking, clothes drying or hot humid air outside that can change it.

Harry Bloomfield · 31 Jul 2021

IT Minion said:
But with cooking, clothes drying or hot humid air outside that can change it.

Proper ventilation and 'rules' can deal with the internal sources.

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Lots of mould in utility room

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