Has everyone coped with the extreme cold?>

[jansman]

Fresh air is massive! We do not get mould in our cottage. Mainly because windows and door are open a lot. My wife is an absolute fan of this ,I really mean that. Our idea of warming up during the day is shutting windows. In fact,quite shortly I shall go back to bed to try and sleep,and reopen the window up there.Woke up because some clown was making a right noise out there. At about 5 am I will be down to take medicine,but the cats and dog will be let in or out and the back door left ajar for them. I am not suggest getting cold of course,but a house is just a shelter ,really,and fresh air is good for both that and health too.

[Frnc]

We were renting my parent's old house out ( the one with the burst pipe) and I'd lived in it for twenty odd years as a kid and in all that time had never suffered with mould. A while ago the tenent complained of mould in the bedroom and I could see the black mould on the ceiling. It wasn't hard to see why. She was drying washing in there without even an open window. I knew that as the grime and cobwebs on the window hadn't been disturbed at all. She took some convincing on why the mould had appeared...

Must admit I dry some of my washing in my room. I also use the banister. In winter I don't open my window. I'll keep an eye on the humidity. It's about 62% currently. One of my lodgers gets a lot of condensation on his window but we checked the humidity and it was below 60. I've given him another thermometer which measures humidity, and said he can use the banister or put his clothes horse in the bathroom.
In fact the bedroom with mould was the one bedroom that's not been used for drying clothes.

[Frnc]

Well a quick update on my leak. It probably started in the early hours of monday when the temper rose and I discovered it monday afternoon so now we are about 24 hours after that and it's going quite well really. The leak was caused by two compression fittings pushing apart so an easy fix. It's an insurance job so we contacted a plumber who did it this afternoon. Everything is now fine. Started to dry things out and used a roll and a half of blue paper towel but noticably different. Looked at hiring a dehumidifier but in the end we have brought one which works out at about the same price as two weeks rental.. That said finding one to buy wasn't the easiest job as most places had nothing in stock.
Woodburners. Ours is a 5kw Stovax and has done what we have wanted it to do. Flat top so we can put a kettle or saucepan on there if needed. In my old house I put in a bigger stove although I can't remember the make. That was over 25 years ago and nowadays there are more regs and it's harder to fit one yourself. Over 5kw requires fitting a vent to ensure adequate airflow.

I bought a dehumidifier ages ago, at least 22 years ago, maybe a lot longer. It's been sat in the cellar for most of that time. I used it in the lodger's room for a bit, and when decorating the back bedroom the last few days. Still works. Got maybe 2 litres of water in it. Doesn't seem to use massive amounts of electricity either, despite being old.

[diamond lil]

Another one who needs open windows and air. Always keep the bedroom window open even if just on the sneck. You're breathing out moisture all night and need circulation of air. My next door neighbour has an identical house to this one, semi detached She was saying that she had bad mould in the bedroom (2 outside walls) - I never have. Then I realised I've never seen any of her windows open since we moved here - that's 2 years So she's obv got big heavy furniture pressed up against the bedroom walls and no through current of air.

[Vitamin c]

Visiting my family at the weekend I was told that the lady next-door asked for help she is about 73ish no phone/Internet she had a leak and no heating they had rang the housing association emergency number it is a answer phone and it was full so unable to take the message so she went back into her ground floor flat ( the leak could be coming from upstairs) with a leak and no heating.
On hearing this I went onto their website only to find a expect delays for repairs because of the weather message surly they could of got someone in to answer the phone.

There should be an out of hours call out number by law they must have that , it should give it on the phone message

The number rang was the out of hours emergency number and it was straight to answer phone The messages were full so no message left.

It makes me wonder how many other families were left in the s××t.

[steptoe]

Visiting my family at the weekend I was told that the lady next-door asked for help she is about 73ish no phone/Internet she had a leak and no heating they had rang the housing association emergency number it is a answer phone and it was full so unable to take the message so she went back into her ground floor flat ( the leak could be coming from upstairs) with a leak and no heating.
On hearing this I went onto their website only to find a expect delays for repairs because of the weather message surly they could of got someone in to answer the phone.

There should be an out of hours call out number by law they must have that , it should give it on the phone message

The number rang was the out of hours emergency number and it was straight to answer phone The messages were full so no message left.

It makes me wonder how many other families were left in the s××t.

Wow that is unusual as when i worked for the council it was a mobile number and there was a landline but i think most times that was a message service but the mobile had to be on call 24/7 , they should report this matter to the council or housing asso and also trading standards because as far as i am aware under the law there has to be a call out number for board ups after a break in or so on and also for emergencies , i would be making a comp-laint for sure on that

[GillyBee]

I understand the ventilation issue. We have been opening the windows and have not had much trouble anywhere else in the flat. I think it was just the sheer amount of junk in that wardrobe restricted the air flow I will look into a thermal liner for the walls and a dejunk and should be good.

[grenfell]

That spare room I just decorated had mould where the bed had been, hiding behind it. It was on an outside wall. It likes places where the air isn't circulating. We do get some on the bathroom wall but obviously it gets a lot of moisture. I'm going to steralise it and paint it with eggshell. It will still get mould, but it will wipe off.

In another of life's things that make you go "mmmmm" my daughter asked me about something she'd seen on instragram. Heated skirting boards. Not something I'd ever heard of but apparently a thing . I would think that even behind furniture it would encourage air movement although how well they would heat a room we're not sure about.
Here's a result from a quick google
https://www.discreteheat.com/

[Yorkshire Andy]

That spare room I just decorated had mould where the bed had been, hiding behind it. It was on an outside wall. It likes places where the air isn't circulating. We do get some on the bathroom wall but obviously it gets a lot of moisture. I'm going to steralise it and paint it with eggshell. It will still get mould, but it will wipe off.

In another of life's things that make you go "mmmmm" my daughter asked me about something she'd seen on instragram. Heated skirting boards. Not something I'd ever heard of but apparently a thing . I would think that even behind furniture it would encourage air movement although how well they would heat a room we're not sure about.
Here's a result from a quick google
https://www.discreteheat.com/

Remember my grandad house had surface run Ch pipework in a 4" or so box at skirting level fronted with a fine stainless steel wire mesh guessing it was a fore runner of the modern version

[grenfell]

Growing up I can remember in primary school there were the large cast iron radiators and they were fed with large ( maybe 2 1/2 or 3" ) steel pipes mounted at skirting level. Equally I can remember sitting on them in the winter although you had to use your coat as a cushion to stop burning your arse. ..
To be honest there seems a modern fad to try and hide stuff away and although it might seem a little unsightly your grandad's pipework would be where it was needed most and easy to maintain.