Winter care for your property – interiors

All this water can cause endless problems, and it can be a real headache to get rid of the effects.

I hope you’ve escaped any flooding, but even without that there can be plenty of issues to deal with.

Leaving aside the exterior problems that come with the cold and the wet and the winds – see my last newsletter – the effects inside the property also need to be looked at.

Internal water damage often stems from a few common causes: leaking or blocked gutters and downpipes, water ingress around frames, damaged damp proof courses and erosion of mortar between bricks. The high winds literally force the water through all these gaps, and before you know it you have damp patches, mildew, peeling wallpaper and cold spots.

The external causes have to be dealt with first, even if it’s difficult in the winter conditions. But after that comes the interior redecoration.

Poor ventilation is often a contributing cause of damp and internal mould, and sometimes the building industry forgets this, leaving many houses with nowhere for water vapour to go. The human body exhales about a cup of water in the course of a day, and then there’s the steam from the kettle, the shower, and the cooker. All that water vapour condenses on the nearest cold surface – usually walls and windows. Plaster absorbs this water and turns it into a feast for microbes.

If mould has started to appear, anti-fungal sprays are a start but following that it’s 1/ ventilation and 2/ stop the water getting in.

Most paints have a degree of biocidal protection agains moulds and fungus, and we can also use barrier paints to undercoat problem areas, but looking at ventilation issues is a very good idea at the same time as redecorating.

If you’ve got damp-related problems we’ll be happy to advise. We don’t undertake major building work but we can deal with many of these problems as part of a normal decorating job.

If you think you might need some work done, call us on 0208 946 5045 to arrange a visit and quotation, or just for friendly advice

Geoff Parvin
Never Wet