Occupant behaviour as a cause?!

Very often mold and moisture problems are dismissed as occupant behaviour. People say there is too much washing, ironing and cooking going on and there’s too little ventilation. This way you yourself are responsible for the mold in your house or apartment.

Nothing is less true. You yourself can never produce so much moisture so there occurs damage. 

There is always another cause present. Occupant behaviour weighs only 1 in 1000 in as moisture producer. In other words other third causes produce 1000 times more moisture in a building than you yourself can. These problems are the main cause of mold and condensation stains, usually in unheated bedrooms.

Always look for the right cause or causes of the moisture problem and don’t get mislead. Take all third causes away and the moisture will disappear, even when your lifestyle is the same.

A wet screed of 5 cm absorbs about 15 litre water. In a normal house this is a volume of 1000 to 2000 litre water that continuously vaporises. That’s why the floor of the ground floor often feels cold. This is the wet bulb phenomenon.

This is the same in a wet cellar or crawling space. Because of the vapour pressure difference all the underlaying moisture is absorbed. The absorption of all this moisture costs you 20 to 30% on the heating costs.

So, take all the underlaying causes away and the mold and moisture problems will disappear. And you save 20 to 30% on the heating costs, without insulating.