For many people living in brick houses, high humidity in the apartment is a serious problem that entails a huge amount of trouble for residents. First of all, due to dampness in the room, household items made from natural materials, such as leather or wood, can deteriorate. Deformation is also excluded. floor covering, backlog of wallpaper from the walls and damage to the ceiling. Wet and loose plaster can become, and in the event that at one time it was poorly applied, it will crumble at the slightest touch. It is impossible to ignore one more trouble with dampness in the apartment - the appearance of a persistent and very specific smell that eats into clothes, furniture and bed linen. And often it is dampness that causes mold to appear on clothes in closets.
Dampness in an apartment negatively affects human health, often being the cause various diseases. In addition to the occurrence and exacerbation of allergic reactions, high humidity contributes to the reproduction of harmful fungi and microbes that lead to diseases of the lungs and respiratory apparatus. That is why the inhabitants damp apartments often suffer from colds, but the worst thing is that children are susceptible to the harmful effects of fungi, microorganisms and dampness.
Causes of moisture accumulation
Among the main reasons for the appearance of dampness in a residential area is the lack of ventilation, or it may not work well. It is also possible that when installing kitchen appliances the main ventilation was blocked by new outlets. But in this case, the neighbors of the lower floors may also suffer. Flooding by neighbors from above also leads to increased humidity.
One of the causes of dampness in the apartment can be the flooding of the basement of the house. Often, with insufficient thermal insulation of the outer walls or flaws in the seams of the building, moisture can also accumulate in the room. In case of poor ventilation of rooms, insufficient heating in winter period or drying a large amount of laundry in rooms, the occurrence of high humidity is almost unavoidable. And most of the time it's not up to you to solve the problem, as get rid of dampness in the apartment, and the management company.
Ways to deal with dampness in the apartment
First you need to determine where exactly the dampness enters the apartment. It is necessary to take a small piece of the ordinary glass and firmly press it against the surface of the wall, and then, holding it for a while, remove it. If moisture is found under the glass, we can safely say that dampness comes from outside. Otherwise, the source of moisture accumulation should be sought already in the apartment. Below are a few ways to deal with high humidity.
one). With strong humidity in the room, it is worth buying a dehumidifier, and the more power it has, the better. Ideally, you should buy a device with an automatic mode of operation so that it independently maintains optimal humidity in the room. And, of course, it is necessary to heat the premises, including in summer period to dry out the rooms. To reduce air humidity, the apartment must be ventilated, which is also good for health.
2). Another way to get rid of dampness in an apartment is to place jars (bags) with salt or sugar in the corners of the room, which perfectly absorb moisture. You can also put a small bag of coffee beans in the linen drawer in the closet, and wipe the cabinets and drawers themselves with a solution of potassium permanganate.
3). In the event that dampness is present in the bathroom, it is necessary to install an electric heated towel rail. It will not only dry towels, but also the air in the room. As for the washed linen, it should not be dried either in the bathroom or in any other rooms, having allocated a balcony for this purpose.
4). When cooking, use exhaust ventilation, which successfully copes with the absorption of moisture in the room.
5). Engage in floor insulation and wall installation, wipe the walls with a bleach solution and do secondary plastering.
6). During cleaning, try to wipe any wet surfaces dry, for example, when washing floors. Cleaning must be completed by thoroughly ventilating the room.
7). If, nevertheless, the consequences of dampness in the apartment force you to do repairs, then try to use natural materials to help absorb excess moisture.
For humans, normal humidity is 40-60%. With more high rates humidity, there is a risk of developing chronic colds and skin diseases, and fungi that develop intensively in damp rooms cause bronchial asthma.
Due to dampness, condensation forms on the ceiling, walls and windows, wet spots, mold and bad smell damage to furniture and equipment. Wet structures of residential buildings quickly collapse: stone and concrete crumble, metal corrode, and wood rot. To prolong the life of the house, you need to protect it from the harmful effects of moisture by creating effective system waterproofing.
Moisture enters the room both from the inside and outside. The main thing is to find its source. To protect the house from dampness, you need to periodically inspect it, paying attention to areas in which moisture can accumulate, as well as to possible places of its penetration.
We are talking about the waterproofing of the basement, the tightness of window and door frames, the junctions of pipes and antennas on the roof, the integrity of the roof and the drainage system.
Also, moisture in residential premises is formed as a result of human activity. Cooking, watering plants, washing clothes and taking a shower, we increase the humidity of the air. A family of 4 releases up to 10 liters of water every day in the form of steam.
If excess moisture is not removed with natural ventilation, the humidity regime will be disturbed in the house and fungal spores in the air will begin to multiply and create entire colonies in warm and poorly ventilated rooms. This process takes on an avalanche-like character if the humidity exceeds 70% and the temperature is 15°C.
Before you start fighting dampness, you need to determine the level of humidity in the room. To do this, you can purchase a hygrometer - a device that shows the percentage of humidity. If the device shows an increased moisture content, it is necessary to proceed to the next step - identifying the source and eliminating the problem. There can be several reasons for the appearance of moisture in the house.
Groundwater can rise to a height of up to 1.5 m. In this case, the horizontal waterproofing of the foundation serves as an obstacle. If there is no such waterproofing, soil moisture penetrates the walls of the building. Its traces can be seen above the baseboard inside the house, on damaged wallpaper and crumbling plaster at the bottom of the wall, in damp and moldy corners.
To avoid the consequences of poor waterproofing of the foundation, it is necessary to provide additional waterproofing or create it from scratch if it was not taken care of during construction. When building a house without a basement, they usually put horizontal waterproofing, which protects the walls from capillary penetration of moisture. If this is not done in a timely manner, you will have to dig a trench around the house, clean the walls of dirt and make vertical waterproofing of the foundation (roll or coating).
Poor basement waterproofing can lead not only to wet walls, but also to basement flooding. Usually its walls are made of concrete or brick, and they are combined with strip foundation. Groundwater, in contact with the surface of the walls with a porous structure, penetrates inside and becomes a source of dampness and mold both in the basement and in the rooms above it.
To eliminate these phenomena, it is necessary to waterproof the floor, ceiling and walls of the basement, having previously cleaned them of fungus and mold and disinfected them with a special solution that prevents the appearance of organic deposits, and wipe the seams cement mortar.
If there are frank leaks in the walls, they must be eliminated by applying quick-hardening compounds, or perform injection waterproofing. For further processing of walls and ceilings, it is necessary to use anti-salt barriers, penetrating (penetrating) impregnations and water repellents related to coating repair materials.
To make re-waterproofing from the outside, you will have to dig out the backfill of the foundation. From the side penetration of moisture, the walls of the basement, both outside and inside, are isolated with two layers of hot bitumen or cold bituminous mastic. In addition to coating outside, rolled waterproofing materials(roofing material, polymer membranes), laying them from the bottom up on heated resin or bitumen with an overlap of 15 cm. Protect the premises buried in the ground from ground water can be done with drainage.
Having processed the walls, proceed to the basement floor. Arranged throughout the square clay castle, tamp it down and cover it with a layer of sand or gravel, after which cement mortar is applied and ironed. In the future, it will be possible to put on a waterproof adhesive composition ceramic tiles. Paint waterproofing is used for the ceiling, and, if necessary, it is insulated.
Due to the improper arrangement of the blind area, part of the precipitation and household water from personal plot. The only way to solve the problem once and for all is to redo the blind area. It should have a slope from the house of 2-3o and a standard width of 70-80 cm, but in any case be 20 cm wider than the overhang of the cornice so that water flowing from the roof does not erode the soil near the building.
After backfilling the pockets of the foundation, clay is placed on top of the blind area so that moisture from the surface of the earth does not reach the walls of the foundation. A layer of clay is covered with gravel and sand, rammed, and then covered with paving slabs or poured with cement mortar. If the basement is insulated, the blind area must also be insulated. In this case, extruded polystyrene foam is placed under the plates around the entire perimeter of the house.
The main reason for this phenomenon is the clogging or destruction of the downpipe or gutter. In this case rainwater hits the walls and they get wet.
To protect walls from moisture, plasters are used on cement base, mastics, waterproof mineral mixtures and water repellents. The latter significantly reduce the consumption of paints and varnishes and impregnating materials, and coatings formed by paints on water based give water-repellent properties. In addition to water repellents, bituminous waterproofing plasters are widely used, which protect against the harmful effects of water, and vapor-permeable plasters, which help to avoid dampness on load-bearing walls.
Special "drying" plasters are also used. Evaporation occurs inside the plaster layer, and the surface remains dry. In addition, salt precipitation does not spoil appearance coatings and does not destroy the plaster. You can protect the facade of the house and waterproof finishing materials: vinyl siding, tiles under the stone, hinged panels from PVC. At the same time, it is important that between finishing and bearing wall there was a ventilation gap.
Due to the difference between the external and internal temperatures, condensation appears on the wall surface. Getting rid of condensation on the walls is simple: you need to insulate the building from the outside. This will increase the thickness of the walls, and the dew point will shift inside the structure. With sufficient thermal protection, condensation in conditions of high humidity, as a rule, does not form. This is only possible if it heats up quickly or if the heating is not turned on in time.
High humidity can also be observed with improper insulation, when water vapor cannot be brought out. This means that they accumulate indoors and in the structure of the building. In addition, the leaking roof causes the walls and ceilings of the house to get wet.
As for the roof, its leaking sections should be repaired by replacing damaged elements with intact ones, installing a patch (for metal roofs), as well as by processing with coating waterproofing materials.
When insulating walls, you need to follow the technology and sequence of work, and not replace one material with another. The sequence of laying materials is subject to the principle: the vapor permeability of the layers must increase from the inside out. Then the moisture will be able to get out freely, without accumulating in the room.
As a result inadequate ventilation musty air, excessive humidity and condensation appear, the result of which is damp corners, damp walls and misted windows. Ventilation is so important that its quantitative characteristics have the force of law and are spelled out in building codes and rules (SNiP). Every hour a person needs at least 30 m3 of fresh air.
Good ventilation is key comfortable living. But since the construction began to use sealed double-glazed windows and monolithic concrete, the house has become like a vessel that does not allow air to pass through. Therefore, it is necessary to check the patency of ventilation shafts and regularly ventilate the premises in order to get rid of humidity, tobacco smoke, harmful substances emitted by furniture, finishing materials and cleaning products. The best way ventilation - a draft, in which after 5-10 minutes the air in the room completely changes. And create optimal microclimate forced ventilation will help in the bathroom, kitchen, bathroom, gym and laundry room.
The supply air will be provided by door ventilators located at the bottom, and the exhaust will be created by a fan built into the exhaust opening, the operation of which can be synchronized with turning on the light or opening the door.
These are the reasons for poor ventilation of rooms, misted windows, wet window sills and wall sections under them, as well as damp slopes.
Installing metal plastic windows, one must choose those that have ventilation valves, closing at strong wind and open in calm weather. If they are not in the installed windows, you can mount them in upper part profile. In addition, you need to ventilate the premises twice a day for 10 minutes. Installing the window sill and filling mounting foam the depth of its attachment, insulate the frame junction from the warm air inside the room so that heat does not penetrate into the cold zone of the window and condensation does not accumulate under the window sill. Check the integrity and elasticity of window seals, which provide the window with tightness. If you find a defect, replace them with new ones.
In addition, the increased humidity in the house creates improper operation of the premises. Therefore, care must be taken to living rooms there was not too much water vapor coming from the kitchen and bathroom. Do not dry wet things in rooms and store liquids in open containers. And in autumn and winter, the premises need to be regularly heated, maintaining a constant temperature in them.
There are many ways to protect your home from high humidity, but to maximize the effect, use them in combination.
Constant problems with hair styling, spoiled wooden furniture, literally yesterday new books and notebooks are rotting, and mold has appeared on the wallpaper? The reason for this is the high humidity in the apartment. Dampness in your home can cause not only damaged furniture and wallpaper, but also chronic diseases lungs, which are very difficult to cure. Immunity in conditions of humidity above the norm acts worse than under normal conditions, and even a common cold can turn into a huge problem with a number of ensuing complications. Fungal organisms that multiply much faster in humid air can cause many skin diseases, rashes and allergies. It is especially difficult in such conditions for children and the elderly. In order not to spend a lot of money on medicines and doctors, it is necessary from the very beginning to monitor the dampness in the apartment. What to do if the dampness in the apartment is much higher than normal, and how to remove it?
First of all, find out what is the reason for the increased dampness in the apartment. The most common cases include:
Some of these problems should be corrected by the workers in charge of the house, and if you find any of the above, contact the appropriate services.
Other reasons for the increased concentration of flags in the apartment depend on us.
First of all, this is linen, which we often hang in the apartment itself after washing, when there is no space on the balcony. Moreover, if there is already too much moisture in the house, things will not dry out in a few days. A fungus can even grow on them, so we advise you to more carefully and deliberately approach the issue of hanging linen in the house.
Irrational placement household appliances around the house is also the cause of increased dampness. For example, the hood in the kitchen, if there is one, which is also important, should neutralize the steam from kettles and pots throughout the house, but its range is limited. If you boil water in another room, the result will be noticeable soon in the form of mold on the wallpaper.
But, it often happens that we have to fix the problem (or its harmful consequences) ourselves. To do this, first of all, you need to determine where moisture enters your home from. A small piece of glass will do for this. Lean it against the wall surface. If after a while moisture appears on it, it means that it penetrates the house from the outside. In another case, moisture is contained in the walls of the house themselves.
Choose carefully houseplants. By abundantly watering, for example, tropical plants, you thereby increase the humidity in the apartment, since a certain amount of moisture evaporates. The best choice- cacti, they absorb moisture from the air and need to be watered very little. By doing this, you will help yourself to remove excess dampness.
If you still decide to do it in an apartment overhaul, pay attention to materials with a mineral base. They do not create a greenhouse effect, while most of the moisture is absorbed. Latex-based materials behave quite differently, the use of which in an apartment with high humidity is not recommended. Carefully approach the choice of windows. In the cold season, they can fog up, collecting moisture on the surface, which also negatively affects the overall microclimate of the apartment.
We hope that our tips on how to overcome dampness in the apartment will help you. Finally, it is worth saying that if you think that in this case you can do with a simple air freshener, airing every few days, or placing vessels with salt around the house, you will not get any effect. It is necessary to approach this issue seriously, otherwise you risk not only the improvement of your apartment, but also the health of your relatives and friends.
Not every one of us pays attention to the level of humidity in the home, but it is this indicator, along with air temperature and illumination, that is involved in creating a microclimate and directly affects well-being. Both low and high humidity are harmful.
Optimal values. If you focus on sanitary norms, the normal level of relative humidity for a dwelling varies from 40 to 60%. In winter, when hot radiators dry up the air, the humidity “drops” to 15-20%, air humidifiers come to the rescue. But in the warm season, the indicators often “go off scale” in reverse side, which leads to unpleasant consequences.
Effects. Negative influence high humidity on the human body is not exaggerated. Firstly, heavy humid air is contraindicated for people with cardiovascular diseases, hypertensive patients and asthmatics. Secondly, in combination with elevated temperature air (more than 25 ° C), high humidity provokes overheating of the body, and if the temperature is lowered - hypothermia.
In such conditions, harmful microorganisms and bacteria multiply with amazing speed. Even in healthy adults, breathing is disturbed, efficiency decreases, allergic reactions occur, to say nothing of the “risk zone” - the elderly and young children.
In addition, high humidity in the apartment contributes to the appearance of mold and fungus on any surface, it can ruin furniture, books, bedding and mattresses, food (cereals, flour, vegetables). A persistent "swampy" smell appears in the house.
At home, a hygrometer is useful. This device, more like a digital alarm clock, controls the increase or decrease in humidity.
Hygrometer - the simplest device for measuring humidityHowever, you can find out whether the humidity is increased or not using ordinary water. Fill a transparent glass halfway and place it in the refrigerator for several hours (“outlet” water temperature should be no more than 5 ° C). Place the vessel in the “tested” room, away from household appliances and radiators, watch for 5-10 minutes. Large drops of condensate appearing on the walls of the container indicate that the humidity in the room is high.
Large drops are a sign of high humidityFirst of all, you need to find and fix the problem. The following options are possible:
1. Non-working ventilation. Hoods tend to break, and ventilation shafts become clogged. And if in the warm season you can open the window to ventilate a room or kitchen, then in winter it is problematic to do so. Be sure to check the ventilation of the apartment or house. If necessary, install a hood in the kitchen, a more powerful fan or deflector in the bathroom.
2. Insufficient insulation or waterproofing. Poorly insulated and not waterproofed walls and floors, like a sponge, absorb moisture from the outside, becoming covered with condensate and "giving out" all this into the room. Constantly wet wallpaper or “chunking” linoleum is a reason to do repairs.
3. Lack of heating. The rooms that are heated to a minimum dampen most quickly. Installing an additional radiator or buying an oil heater solves this problem.
4. The presence of sources of moisture. Perhaps the most common reason for high humidity in an apartment: poorly installed double-glazed windows that collect condensate, errors when connecting a washing or dishwasher, leaking pipes or plumbing. "Walk" through all nodes and connections, if necessary, replace or repair problem areas.
If windows “fog” in the apartment, treat the glass special composition: 5 parts clear dishwashing gel or liquid soap, 3 parts glycerin, 1 part turpentine, and then rub them to a shine with a clean rag.
Basic but effective preventive actions will not be superfluous even when everything is in order in the house with humidity.
From this article you will learn about the main causes of dampness in an apartment or house. We will also talk about how to eliminate these causes and restore the normal microclimate of the home. You will learn about the traditional and most modern methods solution to the problem of air drying.
With the change of seasons, almost all owners are faced with increased humidity due to snowmelt. The spread of negative phenomena is great: from mild discomfort to “weeping” walls and mold. Consider some of the most popular cases and causes of dampness in residential premises, as well as ways to combat this unpleasant phenomenon.
Any changes in the microclimate have their own reason, influencing which, you can change it. Dampness has its own "sources", which the owner may not know about, or may not attach importance to them.
The owners often “forget” about the device of forced ventilation during repairs out of economy, relying entirely on windows and doors. In our apartments, the project provides for ventilation of two rooms - a bathroom and a kitchen. Living quarters have vents, windows and balconies for ventilation. Of course, ventilation lowers the temperature of the room by blowing out warm (and moist) air, so in cold period it is rarely used.
The effect of dehumidification in summer is achieved by mixing dry air from the street with vapor-saturated internal "exhaust" air. During transitional periods, especially in early spring, atmospheric air saturated with steam, but at the same time remains cold. Accordingly, ventilation does not bring the desired effect.
Check the ventilation arranged according to the project - the draft should be noticeable. If the draft is good in the kitchen and bathroom, and dampness is not removed, there are three options for solving this problem.
1. Forced exhaust ventilation. The device of such a system, although it will entail certain costs and inconveniences, will solve the problem of dampness once and for all. The branched hood has its drawbacks - energy consumption, duct system, background noise. The minimum that can be done is to install a fan in the kitchen duct.
2. Installation of the heat exchanger. A ducted room heat exchanger of the "PRANA", "Reventa" or similar type is a more modern and ergonomic element that solves two problems at once - the extraction of moist air and the inflow of fresh air. Many models are heated for operation in the winter. The cost of a channel heat exchanger is from 340 to 380 USD. e.
Video: PRANA duct heat exchanger
3. Use a dehumidifier. This device passes air through itself, collecting excess moisture and filtering it. Such a device is very effective - it removes dampness from the room within an hour. At the same time, the composition of the air remains unchanged. Moisture is collected in a separate container and drained. Filters, ozonizers and fragrances can optionally be integrated into the device. The cost of such a device for a room of 30-50 square meters. m is from 140 to 220 c.u. e.
In private houses, these are septic tanks or shambos located close to the house. They impregnate the soil with water, the water passes under the house, the soil surrounding the foundation or basement becomes damp. The same with atmospheric waters flowing onto a split blind area. Dampness in the basement and in the floor of the 1st floor is provided.
In apartments, this can be:
It is difficult to name other trouble-free open sources of moisture in the apartment, but in each individual case everything is possible.
Eliminate source. Fix a roof or drain, relocate a septic tank, protect a wall from atmospheric waters. If the reason is in an open source, waterproofing should be done with a liquid composition. Remember that waterproofing is applied from the source of moisture.
Extreme savings on heating on the principle of "only warm air in the room "- the most common cause of dampness of the "weeping walls" of an apartment or house. The wall must be heated to at least half the thickness. Then the dew point (the place where condensation forms) will come out on the side of the street. A frozen wall shifts the dew point closer to a warm area, and sometimes even to the inner plane.
This problem often "works" coupled with a lack of ventilation. Abandoned or poorly heated premises become damp very quickly - Decoration Materials are destroyed in 2 seasons, the structure loses up to 5-6% of strength annually (in addition to natural wear and tear). It is highly undesirable to combine heated and unheated (according to the project) premises under one roof.
Increase heating. Try to calculate how much damage your home can receive from merciless dampness and the amount that you will save on heating. Then compare these amounts and draw a conclusion. Of course, insulation must be of high quality and timely.
If it is not possible to raise the temperature, set the fans to heating appliances and provide short-term ventilation - the humidity will even out. Do not leave the house unheated if you are going to return - find a person who will heat it.
Thermal insulation of walls with cheap and lightweight foam plastic or expensive modern extruded polystyrene foam has already gained momentum and is becoming a welcome event for residents apartment buildings. Almost no one ever does thermotechnical calculation walls of the apartment to determine the thickness of the insulation. Therefore, when choosing a layer of insufficient thickness, the wall continues to freeze and dampen.
Life in such a "thermos" can spoil the dampness in the apartment and the inevitable fungus. The reason is the same dew point, which is comfortably located between the panel (wall) and the insulation plate. In addition, the vapor permeability of sounded materials is close to zero and this is not the only problem with foam. cheap material, produced in an artisanal way, is extremely flammable and toxic when heated. Keep this in mind when preparing to insulate the apartment.
Video: Styrofoam problems
Study useful articles where engineers and builders with extensive experience speak. Understanding the physics of processes will save you not only from dampness, but also from many other troubles. There are two unmistakable options for warming an apartment:
Dampness in the apartment can provoke the appearance of mold, which, getting into the body, causes viral diseases person. In addition, in itself, humid air is not suitable for everyone. Weakness, soreness, spontaneous loss of working capacity - something that can happen due to excess moisture in the air. Therefore, the elimination of moisture is a concern not only for native walls, but also for yourself and dear people.
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