Well, it is nice that people are concerned for my welfare. I am beginning to feel that I have hijacked this thread, though. I do have a condenser tumble dryer, but can't stand the noise of it working and tend to dry things on the radiators in the two living rooms. Honestly, the problem is not that bad, though it is a nusance. I looked up problems with cwi on the Which website and found the following.
"Cavity wall insulation causing damp is very rare, but it's worth checking whether your home's at risk. You can use the checklist below to assess your home's damp risk. Ask any potential installer about these factors, too.
Damp could occur in properties as a result of cavity wall insulation if there is a combination of these factors:
your home is exposed to severe levels of wind-driven rain (zones three or four in our mapt)
your home is located in an unsheltered position, eg not protected by trees or other buildings
the external walls are poorly built or maintained with, for example, cracks in the brickwork or rendering.
Published guidance by the Building Research Establishment says that in these cases there is 'an increased risk of rain penetration if a cavity is fully filled with insulation'. Rain could penetrate the outer wall, bridge the cavity via the insulation material and transfer moisture to internal walls, causing damp."
Our area of Wales is in Zone 4, which has 'very severe problems' with wind-driven rain.
Anyway, back to the issue of insulating our homes with plants! (Actually, I made a typo the first time I wrote this and suggested that we discuss insulating our homes with pants.)
rendered walls do often seem to have more problems with damp etc than you might expect - depends a bit on whether the render was done as an initial part of the construction or whether it was added at a later stage to unify the apearance of a property where there have been additions/extensions/alterations using different materials. These can (and do) expand and contract at slightly different rates, depending of course on the weather and aspect. I believe some rendering is more able to "breathe" than others, but the fact that it's often painted as well can mean that the paint acts as a sort of waterproof layer which - if it has any breaks in it - can lead to rainwater getting behind the render. Problems arise because the dampness is more or less trapped and can't evaporate easily.
A neighbour of mine - who is a builder - says that many more people than usual have contacted him lately to ask for help in dealing with dampness in walls - even brick walls which he'd usually expect to suffer less. All due to the prolonged rain we've had over the past year, he says, which has meant that there has been little opportunity for things to dry out before the next lot of rain............
Our render is painted, old and does have the odd crack. We need to re-render, I expect, but when it comes to spending money my OH likes a long ponder and a good weep into his wallet.
Posts
Well, it is nice that people are concerned for my welfare. I am beginning to feel that I have hijacked this thread, though. I do have a condenser tumble dryer, but can't stand the noise of it working and tend to dry things on the radiators in the two living rooms. Honestly, the problem is not that bad, though it is a nusance. I looked up problems with cwi on the Which website and found the following.
"Cavity wall insulation causing damp is very rare, but it's worth checking whether your home's at risk. You can use the checklist below to assess your home's damp risk. Ask any potential installer about these factors, too.
Damp could occur in properties as a result of cavity wall insulation if there is a combination of these factors:
Published guidance by the Building Research Establishment says that in these cases there is 'an increased risk of rain penetration if a cavity is fully filled with insulation'. Rain could penetrate the outer wall, bridge the cavity via the insulation material and transfer moisture to internal walls, causing damp."
Our area of Wales is in Zone 4, which has 'very severe problems' with wind-driven rain.
Anyway, back to the issue of insulating our homes with plants! (Actually, I made a typo the first time I wrote this and suggested that we discuss insulating our homes with pants.)
What is 'it', Jill? The cavity wall insulation, drying things on the rads or growing plants up the walls.?
rendered walls do often seem to have more problems with damp etc than you might expect - depends a bit on whether the render was done as an initial part of the construction or whether it was added at a later stage to unify the apearance of a property where there have been additions/extensions/alterations using different materials. These can (and do) expand and contract at slightly different rates, depending of course on the weather and aspect. I believe some rendering is more able to "breathe" than others, but the fact that it's often painted as well can mean that the paint acts as a sort of waterproof layer which - if it has any breaks in it - can lead to rainwater getting behind the render. Problems arise because the dampness is more or less trapped and can't evaporate easily.
A neighbour of mine - who is a builder - says that many more people than usual have contacted him lately to ask for help in dealing with dampness in walls - even brick walls which he'd usually expect to suffer less. All due to the prolonged rain we've had over the past year, he says, which has meant that there has been little opportunity for things to dry out before the next lot of rain............
Our render is painted, old and does have the odd crack. We need to re-render, I expect, but when it comes to spending money my OH likes a long ponder and a good weep into his wallet.