How to Reduce Damp in the Bathroom
Damp can cause widespread problems in the bathroom. It can lead to black mould, which is hazardous to health. It can lead to structural problems with the property if the mould enters the timber and the walls. Damp can occur for many reasons, but it is usually more prevalent in the bathroom. It is important to improve the conditions that are conductive to damp. In the bathroom, this involves a number of different things. We are going to explore these things below.
Ventilation
To improve damp, the first thing that you have to do is to increase ventilation. As the air moves around the room, it will take the damp with it. There are a number of different things that you can do to improve the circulation of air.
- Airbricks:
you should have airbricks in every room in the house, but they are particularly important in bathrooms, kitchens and toilets where water exists. If you do not have an airbrick in the bathroom, you should fit one. This sounds like a huge job, but it simply involves removing a single brick (this is easy, you just cut the brick and chisel it out) and replacing it with a new airbrick and then repointing the brick.
- Windows:
If you have a window in your bathroom, you need to open it every day for at least ten minutes. This will help to remove damp air and replace it with fresh air. If you do not have a window, then you should consider installing one because they are excellent for improving airflow. Again, it is not as big of a job as you may imagine and a small window will be relatively inexpensive to install.
- Extraction fan: if you do not have a window – and even if you do, an extraction fan is a good idea. Extraction fans literally such the air out of the bathroom. There are models that have damp sensitive sensors that will trigger the extraction when damp reaches a certain level. These are excellent and help to eliminate much of the damp problem. The larger the extraction fan, the greater the amount of damp it can remove.
Special Paint
Damp often leads to mould, but you can help to reduce this by painting the bathroom with special damp-proofing paint. This will help to reduce damp, but more importantly, it will help to prevent damp from getting into the walls. If damp gets into the walls, it can spread around the house.
Electric Towel Radiators
One of the biggest culprits for creating damp conditions are wet towels. It is important that you dry your towels as quickly as possible and one of the best ways to do this is to hang your towels on electric towel radiators. The advantage of electric towel radiators, in comparison to centrally heated rails, is that you can turn them on as and when you need them, and thereby negate the need to switch on the entire central heating system.
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