Building Contract

How to prevent damp in the home

It’s common knowledge that living or working in a damp environment can cause problems not only with the structure of the building, but with the health of the people who use it too. Common recurrent allergies and respiratory illnesses like asthma can be made many times worse if you are living in a damp environment. Once damp is allowed to take hold it leads to all sorts of other problems like mould, and becomes more and more difficult to deal with. The most effective solution if you catch the problem early is to install the right type of air conditioner as a preventative measure to stop the damp before it has a chance to spread.

Unfortunately when there is a damp problem it’s not always obvious straight away, and often people don’t realise it’s happening soon enough. I experienced this myself in a property when I was renting a house a few years ago, when a plumber called in to take a look at a broken shower discovered that under the bathroom floor was a lot of water and damp. The next day the landlord showed up with a portable dehumidifier, telling us to make sure we left it on whenever the room was not in use. A dehumidifier draws the moisture from the surroundings, condenses it and collects it in a tank that needs to be regularly emptied – and it was astounding the amount of water it produced in the first few days. After a couple of weeks the worst of the problem was solved and we started to notice the difference. The air actually felt clearer and a housemate who had been unable to shake a persistent cough for months suddenly found that he felt a whole lot better.

Of course, problems like this are not always solved this easily. In the case of a more severe damp problem a portable air conditioner might not be enough and you may need to have the problem dealt with professionally to ensure the damp is completely gone and in no danger of coming back.