Major condensation issue w/tenant

[markwm]

One of our tenants in a 2up/2down 19th century terrace has some major condensations issues. Sapping wet windows, mould on walls etc etc.

I've sent him round lots of information about condensation, all the basics about opening windows when cooking etc etc but the problem persists.

He seems to think that the roof or walls are leaking but I'm sure they are not and none of the other tenants have such major condensation.

I went round today because he said the carpets are soaking wet in one corner of the bedroom and indeed they are. The underlay is totally wet through as is the carpet. There's no obvious water source, no pipes etc etc and the same spot on the ceiling downstairs is fine.

I lifted a section of carpet up and found that the top side of the underlay was wet and the underneath that comes into contact with the floorboards is dry so they tells me the source of the problem is from inside the house. The moisture is extremely salty to taste as well.

The tenant is a carpet 'dry cleaner' by trade and informed us that he cleans the carpets in the house once as week. He using special carpet cleaning crystals/machines and the only thing I can think of is that this is the reason why this house has so much condensation. Would you agree?

 

[MdB]

he cleans the carpets in the house once as week

:shock: (sorry Penners)

If his cleaning process uses water in some fashion then it sounds like a possible cause to me.

 

[Penners]

I agree with MdB (or, as he shall henceforth be known, Yellow Spot Man).

Have you considered fitting a hefty extractor fan in the kitchen? It sounds as though it could do with one.

 

[Moo]

What are the clothes-drying facilities like?
If there's no tumble-drier and/or outdoor line, it's amazing how damp a place can get - and if he's as neurotic about cleaning his clothes as he is about the carpets, it could well be like living in a Turkish Bath.

What are the floorboards like? It might solve the problem if you scrapped the carpets and gave him nice wooden floors instead.

He'd be appalled at the squalid conditions people who only vacuum their carpets live in.[/i]

 

[Nemesis]

I just wonder what he gets up to that the carpets require a weekly clean of this sort :shock:

 

[Penners]

:shock:

Now don't you start! I thought you were a member of the yellow measle police.

 

[Moo]

Now that our daughter has moved out we decided it was worth tackling all the food-and-drink stains she'd dribbled up the stairs.
Today we hired a carpet cleaning machine and were simultaneously gratified and horrified at the filth it removed. I'm willing to bet that your tenant doesn't get anywhere near the same satisfaction at a job well done if he only leaves it a week between cleans.
Give it a good twelve years and you can really see the fruits of your labours.

 

[Penners]

Such wisdom is hard to find, these days.

 

[Nemesis]

That's about my philosphy with most cleaning tasks.

 

[Flyfisher]

I'm with Moo on carpet cleaning - the results can be impressive but once started it's likely that all the carpets in the house will need doing, just to even things out!

Carpet cleaning once a week sounds like some sort of compulsive disorder.

Has the tenant been in the property for long? Was there a 'damp' problem in the summer? Can they be persuaded to open some windows to increase ventilation?

 

[markwm]

No damp in the summer. I think they moved in around last summer though.

Never had this issue with previous tenants either. They know about opening windows and such but I can't force them.

 

[Moo]

They know about opening windows and such but I can't force them.

On the other hand, if their behaviour could damage the house in some way you must surely have some right to insist that they desist.

 

[Aidan]

Carpet cleaning once a week sounds like some sort of compulsive disorder.

I'd think so, too. Once a year at most for his regular customers, I'd guess. And they're the ones who do clean their carpets.

Try an experiment. Get a square of carpet, roll it up and weigh the roll on the bathroom scales. Then lay it flat and ask him to clean it; roll it up and weigh it afterwards to see how much water it has retained. Old carpet would be better, new stuff sheds a lot of fibres when first cleaned.

More than about a pint per 4 sq. metres would be excessive, IMHO. You could leave it on the floor to see how much evaporates in a week. If heavier than when you started, the water will accumulate over many cleanings. Evaporation will be slower into a humid atmosphere.

 

[Pford75]

Our standard leasehold agreements we use with our tenants make excessive condensation their problem...as they are required to 'ventilate the property on a regular basis', 'avoid drying clothing inside the property' etc.

We had a previous tenant who installed an unvented tumble dryer and wondered why he got condensation....duh.

Suggest you look at your tenancy agreements...these clauses are pretty standard

 

[Penners]

Suggest you look at your tenancy agreements...these clauses are pretty standard

I must immediately take a look through the tenancy agreements for all of the dozens of properties that I own.

If I find that any tenants are breaking their agreements, I presume I am legally permitted to have them flogged?

 

[Nemesis]

their bowels shall be torn from their bodies, and before their eyes be burned with fire, and that they be .afterwards hanged. And the body of Thomas Harding... the principle leader... be taken down and beheaded... and that his head be fixed on the outer gate of the King's palace at Westminster.

 

[andrew gayton]

I lifted a section of carpet up and found that the top side of the underlay was wet and the underneath that comes into contact with the floorboards is dry so they tells me the source of the problem is from inside the house. The moisture is extremely salty to taste as well.

In the bedroom?? Yikes! :shock:

 

[Nemesis]

Down, boy. Cease to unleash that imagination.

(Of course if the walls were lime and there was limewash on them they would mop up all that 'steamy' atmosphere... )

 

[Penners]

their bowels shall be torn from their bodies, and before their eyes be burned with fire, and that they be .afterwards hanged. And the body of Thomas Harding... the principle leader... be taken down and beheaded... and that his head be fixed on the outer gate of the King's palace at Westminster.

This from the woman who wishes to be imagined as a fluffy blue teddy bear.

 

[Nemesis]

That's history. I was merely quoting.