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The Environmental Protection Act, The Housing Acts, The Landlords and Tenants Act, and all the fitness standards state that a dwelling must be free from any dampness or defect prejudicial to the health and safety of the occupants. The medical evidence that dampness, condensation and consequential mould growth is prejudicial to health is overwhelming and in court cases is never challenged. Any dwelling affected by dampness or mould growth is a serious health hazard and renders the property unfit.

Whatever remedial action is taken therefore, must effect a total eradication of dampness, condensation and mould growth from the entire dwelling, otherwise the property will not pass the fitness standard.

The equipment and procedures available for eradicating dampness and reducing humidity levels within a dwelling are diverse, though most are capable of doing what the manufacturers claim. Great care must be exercised however when opting for a specific piece of equipment or a system, to ensure that it is not only capable of dealing with the problem throughout the entire dwelling but that it is also the best practicable, most cost effective solution in the context of the Governments Best Value Initiative.

It must always be remembered that the dwelling is a family home, the place where people spend most of their lives and stale, polluted air will be most damaging to the health of the infants, to young children with their immature immune systems, or to the elderly, who it is known are vulnerable and likely to develop respiratory problems as a result of dampness and mould growth.

Under the law, Landlords have an absolute duty of care to ensure that dwellings are kept completely free from dampness and mould growth which is why it is vital that any remedial procedure or system totally eradicates dampness and mould growth from the entire dwelling rather than from a limited area or single room.

The direct costs of dampness condensation and mould growth include remedial works, mould cleaning, redecorating, replacement of damaged property such as carpets, curtains and furnishings.

These obvious costs pale into insignificance however, when compared to the ‘hidden’, or 'covert' costs associated with damp related problems, and in the case of a housing association or an authority landlord, can lead to an enormous waste of precious resources not only to the authority but to their tenants.

We detail below some of the equipment and procedures used by many Landlords, in their attempts to eradicate condensation and mould growth problems, most of which are futile and doomed to fail.

Passive ventilation is a term that encompasses airbricks, trickle vents, gaps around doors & windows etc.. Though it has no direct energy consumption, passive ventilation nevertheless is usually expensive to install, has no heat recovery benefits and wastes energy at the expense of the occupants by continuously allowing warm air to escape.

The replacement air, being cold air from outside is either drawn in or blown in via the available natural leakage points, inevitably creating draughts and reducing temperatures still further.

Natural leakage points whilst creating air changes, can never create the complete air changes required to eliminate the pockets of stale humid air which allow mould to develop and thrive, as they are not guaranteed to be either continuous &/or sufficiently powered.

A common response when surveyors are confronted with complaints of condensation and mould growth is to instruct the tenants to open their windows, this is the most basic form of passive ventilation and from the tenants point of view the most expensive because apart from being a security risk it allows all the heat in the property to escape, open/gaps around windows are also the most common source of penetrating dampness in buildings.

Dehumidifiers work by drawing warm moist air into the unit where it is cooled so that the excess moisture condenses and collects in a container or is dispersed outside the building via a drainage pipe.

Ideally the dehumidifier should be plumbed in permanently, to ensure that the automatic container full cut out is never a factor that affects the performance of the unit, which may in turn reduce the mobility of the unit.

The units will reduce humidity levels and warm the air with energy removed during the cooling process but as a general rule dehumidifiers are noisy, expensive to run and have no facility for bringing in the all important fresh air supply.

Dehumidifiers, if they are to be used as whole house solutions to condensation and high humidity problems, need to be kept running continuously if they are to keep pace with all the moisture created by the occupants in their day to day living habits.

If dehumidifiers are used intermittently, the moist air migrates from room to room and is continuously being absorbed into the fabric or contained in pockets of stagnant air in concealed cupboards furniture etc.

The running costs of approximately 2.7p per hour make it prohibitive to keep dehumidifiers permanently running.

Conventional extractor fans are generally sited in bathrooms, W/C's and kitchens, and literally just extract air from that location. With these extractor fans, replacement air comes directly from adjacent areas rather than an external fresh air supply and as a consequence this replacement air is usually stale, polluted and musty, and of no benefit to the occupant or to the aim of lowering humidity levels within the dwelling.

Experience has shown that it is not possible for a conventional extractor fan to prevent moisture from migrating to adjacent rooms and as a consequence they are of limited use when dealing with condensation and mould growth problems.

For these extractor fans to be able to deal with all the water vapour created at source i.e. when cooking, washing, drying etc.. in a kitchen, it would need to be capable of creating an air change every minute and require fan blades as big as a typical kitchen window.

Most extractor fan manufacturers pre-set their humidity controls to come to boost at 65% R.H. rather than the optimum 50%. It is obvious therefore that the majority of the water vapour created in bathrooms and kitchens will escape and migrate to adjacent areas and at best the fan would need to be operating permanently, even to maintain the excessive 65% RH. In reality extractor fans under tenants control are rarely used.

The current F1 Building Regulations for ventilation, whilst giving individual guidelines for bathrooms and kitchens are meant to be taken in context with the whole house requirements, including bedrooms and living rooms.

Most of the water vapour produced in the kitchen and bathroom, inevitably migrates to the lounge or the bedrooms, where it is absorbed into the building fabric, into the carpets, the curtains etc.. creating conditions in which condensation and mould growth can develop and thrive.

Conventional extractor fans are energy wasters; they exhaust expensively produced heat.

A typical 4" extractor fan for example, expels warm air at the rate of 100m³ per hour, wasting a minimum of 0.75kW of energy in the winter months, which for people on low incomes is a serious matter.

Conventional extractor fans are frequently used in rooms other than bathrooms and kitchens in an attempt to eradicate mould growth. This has no technical merit and merely adds to the occupant’s energy bills.

Conventional extractor fans are, rarely serviced and maintained properly and grease, towel lint, hair spray etc builds up ultimately clogging the fans. The London Fire Brigade pinpoints such build ups as being one of the main causes of fires in extractor fans.

Companies who use chemicals to clean off mould growth and as additives in paints, provide at best only a temporary solution as they do not attempt to remove the causes and sources of the excessive humidity which allows mould growth to develop and thrive. The use of chemicals does not prevent the water vapour from building up in source areas, or stop it from migrating around the dwelling and being absorbed into the building fabric, into the carpets, into the curtains etc..

Anti-Mould paint may prevent mould growth from developing, for a limited period of time, on a wall or ceiling that has been coated, but it will not, can not prevent mildew developing on clothes in a wardrobe or cupboard, or on children's bedclothes.

No amount of anti mould or Anticon paint can prevent condensation running down a window or mould growth developing on the glass, on carpets, on curtains or any other surface not coated with the product.

Coating with anti-condensation paints has no dramatic effect on the humidity levels within a dwelling, the thickness of two or three coats of paint, though able to absorb a certain amount of water vapour like a sponge, can only absorb to fibre saturation point, at which point, like a sponge, it will reject any excess water.

An average family, in the course of their day to day lifestyle, produces over 5,000 litres of moisture a year, much of which is absorbed into the fabric, it can be seen therefore that Anticon paint will soon become saturated if there is no means of reducing or controlling the water vapour creation.

The purpose of dry lining is to insulate, and insulation when used as the means to eradicate condensation and mould growth problems will fail.

Day to day moisture production by the occupants carries on, like a continuously boiling kettle, and, even though thermal values improve enabling more moisture to be held in the air, sooner or later, during the night for example, temperatures will drop and the surplus moisture will be deposited on cold surfaces such as window glass and on the surface of the dry lined walls. Once condensation and surface moisture appear the U-values immediately plunge and precious heat drains away.

The remorseless bombardment of moisture will eventually lead to the dry lining becoming saturated like any other organic material and mould growth will develop on the surfaces and even worse behind the surfaces creating conditions in which mildew, mould and wood rotting fungi such as dry rot and wet rot can develop and thrive.

Decay of organic materials result in the creation of toxic gasses, which further pollute the internal air supply and endanger the health of the occupants.

Double glazing like dry lining or insulation helps to improve the thermal barrier between the internal and external temperatures, however, the conditions within the property can still cross the dew point, at which surface condensation will still occur on the windows or it will move to the next coldest location where there is little or no air movement i.e. on the lintel over the window or door, on the window frames, behind the built in cupboards, inside the drawers, on clothes inside cupboards etc..

Double-glazing simply seals in the moisture; hence it is likely to make condensation problems worse elsewhere. The proof of this is that most double-glazing companies sell windows with trickle vents, which surely defeats the purpose and expense of having the windows upgraded in the first place.

These "positive pressure units" whilst being capable of controlling condensation problems, inevitably create a 'chill factor' because, 24 hours a day, winter and summer, their function is to bring in a continuous supply of fresh air from outside the building. They rely on internal heating levels being sufficiently high enough to warm up the cold air being brought in so that the 'chill factor' is not noticed.

In social housing, with people on low incomes, adequate heating is often non-existent and in cold weather, even though in some cases the equipment is thermostatically controlled, the occupants turn off the equipment rendering it ineffective as a solution to condensation problems.

The running costs of this type of equipment are usually very low, but the 'chill factor', particularly in damp, poorly heated dwellings, does have a significant impact on the overall cost of heating the air.

As agents for ABB, Kiltox can supply the finest heat recovery systems available, systems that are well capable of resolving condensation and mould growth problems throughout a dwelling.

With whole house systems, however, the air supply and exhaust has to be ducted to and from individual rooms and this can on occasions look unsightly, in many cases requiring extensive, 'boxing-in' etc.. to disguise it. In addition, the air movement capability required to create the whole house air changes means that the units are often large, difficult to site and sometimes too noisy for the occupants comfort.

As a general rule whole house heat recovery systems are not considered to be the most cost effective cure for condensation and mould problems in occupied dwellings or for responsive maintenance purposes, they are more suited for new build projects, when the 'boxing-in' can be disguised and made part of the decor.

Kair Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRV's) have a continuous running input/extract capability, hence they create continual air change throughout a dwelling, with replacement air being brought in from outside the building, fresh and filtered thereby creating dramatic improvements in the quality of the internal air supply.

With up to 85% heat recovery and low running costs, the units are energy efficient and far more efficient and cost effective than conventional extractor fans, or dehumidifiers, and are guaranteed to totally eradicate condensation and mould growth from any room in which they are fitted.

When combined into a 'whole house' system, Kair HRV's always achieve a complete cure to the worst of condensation and mould growth problems within a few hours, no matter how severe the problem, how many people living in the dwelling or how varied their lifestyle.

KAIR HRV's, because of their energy efficiency, can be and are being supplied/obtained by Local Authorities and Housing Associations, on grants.

Grants for Home Energy Efficiency, Energy Conservation, Improvement Grants to restore the dwellings to fitness, Disability Grants, Housing Grant Restructure and regeneration discretionary Grants.

There are no energy grants for conventional extractors as they waste so much energy.

Kiltox can provide full damp surveys embracing all aspects of dampness, including penetrating dampness, rising dampness, interstitial condensation or cold bridging and all our surveyors are specialists in the field of dampness in buildings.

We are the only company to have a British Board of Agrément Certificate for a Chemical Damp Proofing and Replastering System and we are manufacturers of some the most effective waterproof renders available, renders which, because of their quick drying capability, enable redecoration to take place in weeks not the many months required by most other materials.

Our bulk quotation services and our Kair for life long term guarantees on dampness and air quality are unique and provide long term solutions to what are serious health hazards.

Kiltox Contracts Division supply and install our unique chemical damp proofing and replastering systems and Kair ventilation systems.

Kiltox provide a monitoring service until such time as the tenants are satisfied and will refund all monies paid should the systems fail to do what we claim.

Kiltox Kair systems have never ever failed to resolve a damp or condensation problem in social housing and we can provide references from our Housing Association and Local Authority client base to verify this.

Finally, wherever there are dampness, condensation and mould growth problems, it is imperative that, whatever remedial action you decide upon, action should be taken very quickly the health implications of condensation and mould growth being so serious.

We enclose information leaflets that pinpoint many of the hidden or covert costs associated with dampness, condensation and mould growth problems. The facts contained in them may be contentious but are based on information freely available in the public domain, based on case histories, on published medical evidence, on the laws of the land, on established guidelines, on B.R.E information, University research and much more.

The facts with regard to the health and legal aspects can be backed up by official documentation and the liabilities and penalties to any Landlord for failing in their duty of care are severe, often running into thousands of pounds. The costs and consequences of trying to defend what is basically indefensible or delay what is inevitable are very expensive indeed and include:

Damage to health of the occupants both Physical and Mental.

Huge amounts of expensively produced heat wasted.

Cumulative administration costs spent dealing with the complaints often totaling £10,000 to £20,000.

Legal costs defending actions brought under the Environmental Protection Act and other housing acts with compensation or damages of £5,000 or more.

Void properties, which would otherwise be available for habitation.

Almost all of these costs can be avoided if the problems are correctly diagnosed and the necessary works are carried out.

WHY TAKE CHANCES WHEN YOU CAN TAKE KAIR?

© Kiltox – July 1999 – May not be reproduced without our express written permission

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Copyright © 1997 to 2009 Kiltox Dampfree Solutions - Last modified: April 10, 2009
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