Wardrobes and mildew

esspee is wise and very good at explaining things. As a rule of thumb you should leave a clear 5cm gap behind furniture, behind clothes, shoes etc in wardrobes and don't pack anything too tightly. Air must be allowed to circulate and allowed a way in. Vents can be added to wardrobe doors and windows very easily. It all seems so counter intuitive when we are trying so hard to keep the heat in - but that's part of the problem. We need to let our homes breathe. Especially older homes.

It takes a surprisingly long time for damp houses to dry out thoroughly. Our house we needed to renovate was empty and well ventilated for about a year befor we moved in - work being done etc - but it was about another 18 months of actually living in it before it was totally dry. We had some new plastering we had done develop small cracks caused by drying out shrinkage.
When I was a child I remember when new houses were being built after they got the roof on they were left empty for six months or more for the mortar to dry out. I loved that stage as you could sneak in and have a peek!

My late parents had a small well insulated bungalow. They dried clothes on an waiter. There were problems with mould growing on the window frames. There was a lot of condensation on the windows.We had an Envirovent fitted. It was brilliant and solved the condensation problem overnight as if by magic. I really was very impressed. An envirovent is fitted in the ceiling and pumps dry air from the attic space into the house. This pushes moist air out apparently. I cannot believe how well it worked. It cost about 1 K.

I wonder if the previous owners had had replastering done before the wardrobes were fitted. We had ceilings replastered and it was surprising just how much water goes into the plaster and how long it takes to dry out. It's best to let it dry out slowly rather than use heat which could cause cracks to occur.