8 tips to get rid of damp in the apartment

Residents of the extreme floors, especially in brick houses, It is known firsthand how uncomfortable and uncomfortable to be in a damp apartment. The increased level of humidity in the room not only leads to deterioration of furniture and the destruction of finishing materials, but also is dangerous to health. In the article we will tell you how to determine the cause or source of excess moisture and give tips on how to get rid of damp in the apartment.

Where does moisture come from?

To begin with, you should determine the following - moisture enters the room from the outside, or is formed directly inside the housing. This will help to determine the cause of its occurrence much faster and more accurately. Those who have already encountered this problem, suggest using simple check method:

• Choose the room with the highest humidity indicator you feel, and in which there is a wall that looks exactly out. Usually these are end rooms;
• Take a small piece of ordinary glass, attach it to the selected wall and fasten. Depending on the finishing material, this can be done using masking tape or push pins;
• Glass must be fixed on flat wallto ensure maximum fit;
• After a few hours, unfasten the glass and inspect it;
• If its surface became wet from the side that was adjacent to the wall, then dampness penetrates the apartment from the street. If moisture was detected on the other side, it means that something inside the apartment provokes its excessive amount.

The impact of dampness on housing and people

In case of untimely actions aimed at eliminating dampness, or in case of ignoring the problem, unpleasant consequences will certainly arise.

• Appears in the apartment persistent heavy odor characteristic for basements;
• Finishing materials will begin to exfoliate, namely wallpaper or plaster. Moisturized putty becomes loose and moves away from the surface walls or ceilings in whole layers;
• Wooden floors or outdoor the coating may be deformed cracks are formed at the junctions of the elements, and a characteristic creak appears;
• Furniture items made from natural materials also undergo deformations;
• In the case when the humidity level exceeds 40-60% normal for a person, this leads to exacerbation respiratory diseases or their development;
• Allergies may worsen;
• All microbes and bacteria in a humid environment develop much faster and more actively;
• Skin rashes will appear, wounds or scratches; I will heal or rot longer;
• The microclimate is especially dangerous for such children for young children whose immunity has not yet been strengthened and cannot provide adequate resistance. Children easily exposed to diseases and get sick longer;
• A clear consequence will be education on the walls or ceiling of a black fungus, i.e. mold.

Reasons for the penetration of moisture from the street

In most cases, the cause of increased humidity in the apartment is developer mistakes. Or natural building wear namely:

• Leaky joints between panel elements or masonry. Often in old houses the solution on which the bricks are held is simply poured out. Thereby the integrity of the walls is violated, and voids are formed into which dampness penetrates;
• When it comes to ground floor apartments, dampness can come from flooded basement through leaky joints between the floor and walls;
• To the flooding of basements during rainfall or melting snow leads destruction blind areas at home;
• A common problem of apartments on the upper floors is roof leakage as a result, during the rainfall, the attic is poured, if the roof has a tent structure, or directly flow ceilings in the dwelling. This reason can be difficult to identify if the ceilings in the room tension. Water through the canvas will not be able to leak due to the characteristics of the material, but will evaporate in the space between the floor slab and the canvas and penetrate the room through the mounting holes for the fixtures or the gaps between the wall and the mounting profile;
• If ventilation system the house was thought out either implemented with mistakes, it will not be able to provide timely outflow of warm air in full, which will lead to an increase in humidity.

How to fix the problem

The above defects, especially those related to the destruction of the blind area of ​​the house, flooding of the basement due to leaky old sewer pipes or roof leaks, must decide management organization or Housing and communal services on the balance of which is your home. Be sure to submit an application with a detailed description of the problem. If such actions were unsuccessful or too long, follow these steps:

1. If the cause is flooded basement - spend floor waterproofing and sealing it around the perimeter;
2. If the reason is violation of the integrity of the walls outside, contact the appropriate organizations that carry out wall waterproofing. It’s best to combine this with external insulation. If the apartment is on the ground floor, you can perform exterior wall decoration with waterproofing mortar and its subsequent sheathing with foam sheets yourself;

Fix the design of the ventilation system in an apartment building is not possible. In this case, the installation of a supply and exhaust valve will help. Such a system is also called an alpine window. The design of the valve and the principle of its operation are quite simple, and the installation can be performed independently. Alpine window advised to install in each room. The valve is usually positioned above window openingso that the fresh air from the street in the cold season, penetrating the home, mixes with the warm air rising up from heating radiators, and did not cool the room.

Sources of excess moisture inside the housing

If, after conducting an experiment with glass, you are convinced that the reason for the appearance of damp lies inside the apartment, you need to make a thorough examination of it and analyze your own habits and actions.

• Those who do not have balconies, or those who simply do not have enough space, often have to dry clotheshanging it all over the apartment. If this is done on an ongoing basis, you need to rethink your habits;
• The presence of aquariums in the apartment can cause a rise in humidity, especially if they are not equipped with special covers;
• Excessive amount of indoor flowers;
• The reason may be irregular ventilation or its complete absence;
• Clogging ventilation ducts;
• Overlapping ventilation due to improper installation of household appliances or its overlapping with finishing materials;
• Integrity violation water pipes, which leads to regular water leakage. If the pipes are hidden in plasterboard boxes, notice the leak will be impossible.Go to the neighbors below and inspect their ceiling to rule out this reason;
• Carefully inspect the ceiling in your apartment, especially in the bathroom. Perhaps the leak is not with you, but with the neighbors from above;
• Incorrect installation of plumbing elements;
• Leaks in plastic window structures;
• Cold slopes.

How to fix the problem

All of the above reasons can be easily eliminated by yourself. However, if at the initial stages of the inspection of the apartment you managed to find the source, it is worth completing the inspection to the end. Often, a combination of several factors contributes to the formation of dampness.

1. It may be worth dividing the washing into parts and washing in several stages or washing more often, but with fewer things. If finances allow, a real salvation Washer with drying function;
2. Moisture-loving indoor plants require frequent watering and spraying. If you grow just such, you will have to either reduce their number or dilute with plants that, on the contrary, are able to absorb moisture from the air;
3. In old houses, ventilation is often clogged, debris sticks to its walls, which gradually leads to a narrowing, and then to complete overgrowing of the canal. Check if there is you traction very simple - bring the match to the vent, light it, and then blow it out. If the smoke immediately entered the channel, then everything is in order. Otherwise, try to clean the hole yourself and repeat the test. If nothing has changed, seek help from the housing and communal services;
4. Carefully inspect the pipes in the bathroom and under the sink: if a leak is detected, immediately replace the leaky part of the system;
5. Check how tight the bath walls or shower stall adjacent to the walls. Water may flow regularly a bath or pallet and accumulates there, forming dampness. It is necessary to thoroughly dry the wall and floor, inspect them for mold. If the fungus has formed, use special purchased formulations to destroy it, and then use sealant fill in the slots;
6. If on windowsill or at double glazing condensation is constantly forming; it is necessary to inspect the window structure. Pay attention to the rubber seal on the inside of the frame. Press on it with your finger. It should instantly return to its original state. If the rubber was hard to the touch, there are small cracks on it and in some places the material began to crumble, the seal must be replaced. If the material nevertheless returned to its original state, but not very quickly, it must be lubricated with silicone to give elasticity. Sometimes the window construction itself and its materials are of poor quality and only a complete replacement can help;
7. If during the repair the window slopes were not sufficiently insulated, they will serve as a source of cold, which will lead to the formation of condensate in the winter. In this case you have to re-insulate.

General tips

As in the case when external causes contributed to the formation of dampness, so if there are internal sources, the general advice, which are help to quickly dry the home and return the microclimate to normal levels.

1. In the bathroom, install additional forced ventilation and turn it on every time during and after taking a shower or bath and when drying clothes;
2. For at least several hours after taking a shower, leave bathroom door open;
3. In a kitchen where elevated temperatures and high humidity are observed, be sure to install range hood and turn on the appliance, even when just boil the kettle;
4. Ventilate the area more often. Modern plastic window fittings It has a useful function - micro-ventilation. It allows you to comfortably ventilate your home, even in the cold season;
5. In summer, try not to obscure the window openings, but rather, open the curtains and let sunlight into the house;
6. In spring and autumn, when the heating system is inactive, warm the housing with additional heating appliances. It is during this period that the humidity level rises to the maximum mark. Can be used electric fireplaces, oil or infrared heaters, heat fans. It is better to purchase one small device, but for each room separately. An additional electric can be installed in the bathroom towel warmer. Some recommend using heat guns, but remember that they can significantly increase the temperature in the room and heat all objects in it;
7. Simple ingredients such as salt or sugar will also help absorb excess moisture. Place containers with such a filler as an aid in inconspicuous places. Or use silica gel;
8. After wet cleaning, wipe all surfaces dry;
9. If the apartment has old wooden windows, be sure to seal them for the winter with special paper and insulate cracks with foam rubber. This will not only keep the heat inside the housing, but also prevent the ingress of moisture from the outside;
10. At a home appliance store, buy an appliance called Air Dryer. It will help to quickly remove excess moisture from the air. Some models of dryers are equipped with a built-in hygrometer - a device for measuring air humidity. This is very convenient, because you can clearly see that the dehumidifier is really effective. And in order not to turn the device on / off, and to maintain a constant level of humidity in the apartment without difficulty, it is better to purchase automatic models;
11. Instead of a dehumidifier, you can use a conventional air conditioner, where there is a dehumidification mode - dry.

What to do with raw things?

In damp apartments, as a rule, all things in wardrobes and chests of drawers, wraps on sofas and bed linen are also raw. To the touch the bed seems cold and wet. In addition, a characteristic unpleasant odor appears. To get rid of it, you will have to grind all things with the addition of vinegar, dry them thoroughly, and then iron them with steam. In wardrobes and chests of drawers you can put linen bags with salt or silica gel. But such actions will be effective only if the causes of dampness in the home have been eliminated, and the microclimate is normalized.