New built conservatory dry time

[peter212693]

Hi all,

We had our new conservatory frames and glass roof installed a week ago today. The drawf walls and concreate floor the week before that, walls where then plastered last Wednesday. As to be expected with he cold weather anyway there is a lot of condensation on the windows, roof, window sills, etc. I have the windows open slighly all the time and help dry it out but what sort of time frame am I going to be looking at for it to "dry out". I can see overnight the plaster is going darker in some places and around one corner its staying quite wet but this bit of the wall is quite cold, so again im assuming condensation.

One thing that isnt helping is there is a draft around the corner where they plastered an old external wall which is now internal to the conservatory. They are coming back to have a look a this for me because there was originally a leak around the metal box gutter there too, but dont want to just be told "O it will dry its just because its cold, it will take a while".

How long would this normally take, roughly as I know these things can be dependant on many factors.

 

[Newboy]

Dependant on depth/thickness of materials, ambient temperature and ventilation.

Get some gentle heat or active ventilation in the space and open the windows as wide as they will go.

 

[peter212693]

Thanks for your advice I will get opening all the windows I can in the evenings when I'm home and see how we get on.

The plaster seems to be quite wet down the metal strip on the corner of the wall. How absorbent would the plaster and plasterboard be. If there was still a constant drip would it just all be absorbed into the plaster?

 

[peter212693]

Couple of pics of the worst corner, what do you think?

 

[Newboy]

As well as opening the windows you need air movement - avoid heat

 

[peter212693]

Thanks again mate. I have a ceiling fan in there which I have on most nights and will open both the windows.

Already after about and hour the bit closer to the roof seems dryer, hopefully signs of just condensation as it's only surface.

 

[Notch7]

What is the old external wall -do you mean the house wall that is now enclosed by the conservatory?

Do you know what damp proof arrangements have been done to the wall? IE vertical and horizontal?

Has the floor screed been done? If a conventional cementitious screed is laid, the drying time is long, 1mm per day, unless an additive is used.

 

[peter212693]

Hi Notch,

I had posted some pics to help explain.

This was the space which had decking on before the build started. The wall to the left is the exterior of our utility room and as far as I could see and the home report stated when we bought the property there is a horizontal damp proof course in there:

Damp proof course was layed and the then concrete floor was set ontop of this with what looks liked huge polystyrene boards presumably for insulation under it.

Then the drawf walls where built:

You can just about see through that the utility room wall is now interior to he conservatory.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

 

[Notch7]

Im getting confused! Is your utility room the solid wall on the right? And is the left a neighbours conservatory?

I guess the utility room is single storey?

Where the conservatory meets the wall, a vertical cut should have been made, either 50mm wide and filled with insulation, or a cut line and filled with a dpc.

Ideally a cavity tray is fitted at the back above the conservatory roof.

Im always a bit nervous of putting bonding plaster on old walls unless really confident they are dry and damp arrangements properly dealt with. Otherwise its best to use battens and plasterboard or water proof render abd skim

 

[peter212693]

Yea thats right mate, utility room is the solid wall on the right and is single story.

I can see from the pictures a vertical dpc strip was added around the door but I was not around for alot of the work I was at work myself so cant tell about the joins to existing walls. The dwarf walls have definitely been insulated as I could see the foam in there.

I can feel behind the plasterboard on the utility room and its definitely battened out and the rest seems to have been dot and dabbed.