Will air bricks help?

[Katethemate]

I wonder if anyone can give me some advice. I have a ground floor flat which I moved out of when I moved in with my partner. Since then the flat has been let. 2 years ago we installed double glazed windows, the flat had single glazed windows before then.

Last year the tenant complained of damp in the flat. We had the gutters checked and cleared and all seemed to be well, the dpc had not been breached, but this week he has complained of damp again. I showed a builder round today and he said he thought that the problem was that the windows are now too efficient and the problem is caused because the flat isn't ventilated regularly. The builder thought that air bricks might solve the problem but he wasn't 100% sure. There are no trickle vents on the windows and the tenant does have a lot of stuff in the flat which the builder said doesn't help.

Does anyone have any idea if putting air bricks in might help and, if so, where should they go. I'd appreciate any advice.

 

[foxhole]

An air brick will help, you can sometimes add trickle vents to DG units , depends on type.But none of this will help if they are drying clothes indoors.

 

[^woody^]

Air bricks would go 1.8m up, and 0.3m in from a corner which is opposite the access door. But if the room layout (ie furniture) makes this impractiacl then window trickle vent s may be better.

But none of this may help in isolation, as they are not a miracle cure for humidity produced by the occupants

Also consider humidistat controlled fans to kitchen and bathroom

Edit

You may need the building owners permission to put holes in the walls, but not for trickle vents in the windows

 

[ajrobb]

If the flat has solid masonry walls, the new double glazing will be warmer than the walls. With single glazing, condensation on the glass suggested windows needed opening before walls got damp. With double glazing the windows stay clear so never need opening. If the 'stuff' is against the outside walls, they get colder and damper.

 

[Katethemate]

Thanks for this. I part own the freehold on this block of four flats so there will be no problem putting in the air bricks if this might help. The builder is going to see if trickle vents can be fitted to the windows but obviously I don't want to spend money on something if it's not likely to work. Tenant is not convinced he is contributing to the problem so I'm really just searching for answers and wondering what I can do to improve things.

Thanks for your replies.