JohnnyD
Member
Mayenne (53) When Covid allows..........Which isn't very often these days........
Posts: 1,988
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Post by JohnnyD on Jan 1, 2023 16:35:34 GMT 1
We got to the house a few days ago, it has only been empty for 7 weeks or so and the moisture on the walls was incredible, you could see stain drips on the newly painted walls in the hall, and some of the thinner plaster skim areas have bubbled, it had dried out a bit I think, but at some point had become very wet in those 8 weeks, we turned off the VMC as most here said it was a safety risk leaving it on unattended. What can be done to stop this happening again, we have taken a backwards step with a lot of the work we did last visit, some of the walls are going to need filling and painting again. Once the heating is on and there is movement in the house, the moisture disappears after a day or so, but the damage done is considerable.
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Le-Dolly
Member
La Souterraine (23) depuis '05.
Posts: 563
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Post by Le-Dolly on Jan 1, 2023 16:45:13 GMT 1
We got to the house a few days ago, it has only been empty for 7 weeks or so and the moisture on the walls was incredible, you could see stain drips on the newly painted walls in the hall, and some of the thinner plaster skim areas have bubbled, it had dried out a bit I think, but at some point had become very wet in those 8 weeks, we turned off the VMC as most here said it was a safety risk leaving it on unattended. What can be done to stop this happening again, we have taken a backwards step with a lot of the work we did last visit, some of the walls are going to need filling and painting again. Once the heating is on and there is movement in the house, the moisture disappears after a day or so, but the damage done is considerable. Sorry for your troubles but now you know what bollocks that was. In all the time we have been fitting them here in France, well over a dozen years, we have never had a 'safety risk' failure. Turn it back on and leave it on.
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Post by gigi on Jan 1, 2023 16:56:41 GMT 1
I was sorry to read that, Johnny, - what an absolute pain! But I was surprised at reading about turning off the VMC, hadn’t heard of any safety risks with them. Ours is a modern apartment, but friends have houses of various ages, some old stone without any damp proof courses, and I don’t think any would turn off their VMCs.
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Post by Loiseau on Jan 1, 2023 17:37:08 GMT 1
So sorry to read that, Johnny. Like Gigi, I was always told particularly to leave the VMC running during absences from my holiday home.
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Post by pcpa on Jan 1, 2023 18:00:14 GMT 1
I think you have developed selective memory Johnny, myself and most others were very insistent that you should leave the VMC running 24/7, now you have found out the hard way as probably most of us did I am very surprised that you are even asking the question.
I can give you 2 examples of my logements which would have been condemned and uninhabitable with damp but for the VMC's, my appartement at the hôtel, the ground behind had been built up to create a tennis court, my floor which as only carrelage laid on sand on terre battu (no moisture barrier) was and remains 1m below outside ground level, worse the fall on the tennis court sheds water towards the wall and the 45cm strip of earth beyond it (the wall is my boundary) the place had been abandoned for a couple of decades, my living area was the hôtel kitchen, the rear wall was black with mould from top to bottom, it was sodden placo with polystyrene doublage, it fell off when pulled and the polystyrene had decomposed into millions of billes.
I was unable to stop the ground water so simply have a metal stud doublage with laine de verre insulation and placo on top, thanks to the €60 a year that the VMC consumes the whole appartement is dry but if I remove a socket backbox to pull a cable the inner skin of the 13" brick wall is running with humidity.
My pied à terre in the UK, now demolished for a new build, that was a wooden workshop and softwood & glass conservatory on the end, it served as my woodworking shop and office before I converted it, it was always running with damp as it was never intended to be a habitation, worse still like you it would only get visited and aired a few times a year, I knew straight away that I would have to fit a VMC, since doing so there has never been any damp or mould even on opening up after a wet winter, even the year that the roof leaked and was not detected for months.
But I am repeating myself, I recounted all this the last time you asked, I would be surprised if anybody actually said to turn it off because it is a fire risk, if they did you should have ignored them.
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Post by lapourtaider on Jan 1, 2023 18:40:01 GMT 1
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Post by jardiniere on Jan 2, 2023 9:43:31 GMT 1
but the damage done is considerable. So sorry to read this. It must have been very disheartening to find after all your improvements. I have a vmc which I know nothing about. I will start a new thread.
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Post by annabellespapa on Jan 2, 2023 10:51:21 GMT 1
Get an electric dehumidifier that can drain to the outside (not just fill the tank) and leave it running, we bought one from leroy's called a Qlima it cost about €130 about 5 years ago and can run 24/7 if you want it to, it tells you the humidity of the room and you can see over time it going down.Don't put it in a room with a toilet or sink as it will empty that too and then you will have smells from the fosse.
The weather about two weeks ago were the perfect storm for moisture forming on unheated places, my wooden uninsulated workshop was a prime example, condensation was on all my metal tools and my bottles of wine, solution bring them into the house for a few hours. This is a weather condition that happens every ten years or so, so don't worry, sort it now and it should not come back.
p.s We put double glazing in the house and the condensation has not been a problem since.
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Aardvark
Non-gamer
Living in soggy 22 and still wondering what's going on.
Posts: 2,172
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Post by Aardvark on Jan 2, 2023 12:51:25 GMT 1
This is a weather condition that happens every ten years or so, so don't worry, sort it now and it should not come back. You need to get out more, mate. Or at least spend a few months in Brittany. The effect you notice every ten years is pretty much normal up here.
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JohnnyD
Member
Mayenne (53) When Covid allows..........Which isn't very often these days........
Posts: 1,988
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Post by JohnnyD on Jan 2, 2023 13:02:20 GMT 1
Been thinking a bit more on ways to help this situation, am I right in thinking I can shut off the water to the house when we leave, but still fire up the boiler/CH as the CH pressure loop is a sealed system? The one thing that concerns me is the cold water feed to the boiler for hot water, when we get back and turn the water back on, its a minute or so before the water flow stops, ie the house plumbing is partially empty due to the water being shut off, leaks maybe? is it still safe to run the boiler if the cold water feed to it is shut off? That way, I can set a schedule, or fire up the boiler remotely occasionally.
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Post by annabellespapa on Jan 2, 2023 13:03:06 GMT 1
This is a weather condition that happens every ten years or so, so don't worry, sort it now and it should not come back. You need to get out more, mate. Or at least spend a few months in Brittany. The effect you notice every ten years is pretty much normal up here. I have lived in Brittany, the winters of 2010 and 2011 were the worst I have experienced, in fact we were stranded as the local airport at Dinard was snowed in and had no snow plough to clear the runway, we attempted three times to get to the airport as they would not refund the flight (Ryanair) if you hadn't checked in, even though we knew the plane wasn't landing.
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Post by pcpa on Jan 2, 2023 19:14:18 GMT 1
Just switch on the VMC and let it do the job it was fitted for, CH will cost a fortune and run the risk of flooding.
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Post by pcpa on Jan 2, 2023 19:17:04 GMT 1
electric dehumidifier .Don't put it in a room with a toilet or sink as it will empty that too and then you will have smells from the fosse. That is incorrect, the water will have to evaporate from the U bend (which it will do anyway) before the dehumidifier can remove the moisture from the air, having a dehumidifier on will not cause the evaporation or increase its rate.
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Post by Polarengineer on Jan 3, 2023 7:23:15 GMT 1
electric dehumidifier .Don't put it in a room with a toilet or sink as it will empty that too and then you will have smells from the fosse. That is incorrect, the water will have to evaporate from the U bend (which it will do anyway) before the dehumidifier can remove the moisture from the air, having a dehumidifier on will not cause the evaporation or increase its rate. That is also incorrect. water in the bog would need to have heat added to increase the vapour pressure sufficient to affect humidity. (Latent heat of evaporation)
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Post by pcpa on Jan 3, 2023 12:49:57 GMT 1
Please explain what you consider to be incorrect in my posting Polarengineer.
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