Mould/condensation in wardrobe - dehumidifier?

Jonathan,

Forget a dehumidifier. It will only be addressing the symptoms, and it is the cause of the damp/condensation that you need to address.

If you do have cavity walls then insulation may help but it will not solve the issue. Likewise ensuring that all external brickwork is properly pointed up.

By far the most effective way to reduce damp due to condensation is to both increase heating and ventilation. These two things together are the key. I would suggest that you have trickle ventilators fitted to the window frames, and have an air-brick installed on the outside wall inside the fitted wardrobes and possibly also elsewhere in the room. Also fit some small air vents in the face of the fitted wardrobes. These measures will substantially increase the flow of air around the room and inside the wardrobes, and along with increased heating this should go a long way to curing your problem.

Good luck,

Peter

If you're getting mould at this time of year, when the heating is on, I think there may be a small damp problem somewhere. Now that the mould spores are in the wardrobe, they're extremely hard to get rid of, even if the damp source is solved.

Insulation pumped between the walls can actually make things worse. You really need advice from an unbiased specialist, not out to cash-in on you.

Regarding dehumidifiers, there's really only one you should buy for domestic sized use and that's the Mitsubishi MJ-E16V-E1. Try the cheaper makes at your peril!

+ 1

If there is no water infiltration from outside or leaks from plumbing, then the most likely source of moisture is the occupants. If the bedroom is not ventilated at night ( do you keep a window slightly open ? ), then moisture in the air will condense on the coldest surfaces.

If this is the case, then increasing ventilation by keeping a window slightly open at night, or better, by installing an air exchanger, will decrease the humidity. Insulation of exterior walls will help since the inside surface will not be as cold, but you will not have addressed the source of the problem.

Jan

PS. You mention that the problem started after having fitted furniture installed. Could the workers have inadvertently pierced a tiny hole in a water pipe  ? Any signs of water leaks from the roof ?

Jonathon,

To develop mould in newly fitted furniture you must have a significant damp problem. Is your bedroom on the ground floor? If it is then rising damp is the probable cause. Do the walls feel damp? You can buy a cheap damp sensor at DIY stores to check. If not on the ground floor I would check for things like blocked guttering, overflow pipes from toilets, water tanks in the loft and for cracks in any render or brick walls on the outside. If nothing is obvious then get some professional help. I doubt that that degree of problem is due to lack of ventilation.

Good luck

Steve

Jonathan.

Starting to sound serious.

I think it's simply a combination of a cold wall and damp clothes. You can either warm the wall or dry the clothes.

Buy a couple of packs of polystyrene tiles and stick them on wall at the back of the wardrobe. Before fitting the tiles spraying the wall with anti mold tile cleaner may be good idea.

I wouldn't dismiss the use of a dehumidifier, I've used one in my hall for the past 4 months, we no longer get mold on the outside wall behind where the coats are hung. Even though the dehumidifier is in the hall the whole house benefits.

I use a delonghi DES12, works fine, but IMO it's bit noisy. I'd say noise level is the most important factor when deciding which to buy, although it's in operation for less time than I imagined.

Fatcat,

You can't ignore the possibilities I outlined above which are some of the commonest causes of damp in the house and some, like blocked guttering, can be easily rectified. Why would Jonathon put damp clothes in his bedroom wardrobe? And what would putting polystyrene tiles in his wardrobe achieve other than to mask any underlying problem and look naff to boot? 

A head in the sand approach will not make the problem go away.

Steve

Not head in the sand but using your head to logically diagnose the problem.

Neither of us has seen the wardrobe construction, maybe you're interpretation of Jonathan description is different than mine.

My understanding is the mold appeared after  the installation of fitted wardrobes, the wardrobe having no back, enables the clothes to come into contact or close proximity with the wall. The mold is appearing on the wall not the frame of the wardrobe. There is no indication the wall is damp.

IMO the problem is a cold wall and proximity of fabric containing moisture from ambient air. The problem must be caused by the wardrobe and its contents. As I've said you can either warm the wall or dry the clothes.

With regards to how tiles will look, the last time I saw the back of my wardrobe was when it was installed. You could even paint or use a some other type of insulating material.

I have experienced first-hand the degree of condensation that can occur in a poorly ventilated room on windows, window frames and outside walls. Rising damp or leaks in the roof or guttering are not probable causes, though of course they cannot be ruled out entirely on the basis of the information supplied.  

Peter

Peter,

You'd feel a bit of a prat if you hadn't just taken a look outside your property to discover a leaking overflow pipe or blocked guttering. Rising damp and leaks are commoner causes of mould in houses than poor ventilation. Perhaps you have more of a problem with condensation because of all the hot moist air you spout. 

ATB

Steve

Well guys first thank-you for all the suggestions.  I'm not aware of any leaks or issues with the structure of the building however a builder neighbour is coming around to make sure.

The problem has only arisen since we put the wardrobes in and I think is probably due to lack of air circulation and the poor insulation of the outside wall.  I've now spoken with an old friend who is an aircon engineer and he reckons putting foam in the cavity will help reduce the coldness of the inside surface of the outside wall and probably is our best bet so I plan to investigate the costs of this.

I have ordered a dehumidifier because it's definitely the case that there is evidence of mould around window frames around the rest of the house and plenty of condensation around window areas too so there's no doubt it's a damp house.  Speaking to my aircon engineering friend he has pointed out that  there is a huge difference between the construction and insulation methods used between 1967 when this house was built and 1989 when our previous house was built.  There's no question the 1989 house retained heat a lot better - one blast of the central heating and the house was warm all day whereas in the current place you can feel the temperature drop as soon as the heating goes off.

We've also bought a chemical solution to treat the mould on the walls.  The dehumidifier I went for in the end is the Ecoair DC202 mainly because their machine offers air treatment, dehumidification, filtration and ionisation rather than just dehumidifying and I rather liked the idea of eliminating any remaining mould spores or pollutants as well.  They're also a British firm so at least I feel I'm supporting local jobs. 

Will be interesting to see how effective all this is.

Thanks for all the advice,

Jonathan