Damp House Renovation: Why We’re STILL Freezing After 2 Years

better build a scheidel isokern chimney , its fits better in an old stone or timber house

Yeah, that subsidy sounds like "handouts for those friends of us who have more than enough money to pay out-of-pocket and then have someone deal with the paperwork"

I should make a video of a little hack I did recently. My house is an absolute shithole though, so I'm going to have to tidy up and choose camera angles carefully. We have a pro-installed woodburner. Our windows run with condensation in cold weather to the point where we had to do an every-morning window-wipe and whole-house air-change. "Positive Pressure Ventilation" seemed liked a good idea, but the usual install location (over stairs) would push cold air in the opposite direction to warm air from the stove. Our stove installer put a through-wall air brick behind the stove, so I boxed this internally with scraps of insulation board and installed a bathroom extractor 'the wrong way round'. When we run our wood stove, we switch the intractor(!) on, and it blows cold exterior air on the back of the stove. In cold weather when we have the stove on for longer, this has noticeably solved/reduced condensation on our windows. I think (no measurements) the upstairs 'feels less cold' after the hack, but the armchair next to the woodburner is also not the same sauna it was – in fact with thin-shod feet next to the woodburner, I can feel a thin layer of moving cold air. I may get round to making some 'trumpets' or similar to keep the cold air in contact with the stove for longer, but the main objective – to reduce condensation on windows – seems to be gained.

Government efficiency scheme. Government / Efficiency do not belong in the same sentence. It IS a scheme.

I enjoyed the video a great deal. We are long time fans of Grand Designs and this, for me, was on the same level and better in some ways. I am guessing this is in the UK, I'm sure I could figure that out if I looked around, but I'm subscribed now and I'll think I'll figure that out eventually.

I was surprised to see the joist hangers being put in with a hammer. In the early days of Grand Designs I used to yell at the screen asking why the workers weren't using nail guns and circular saws. It seemed to take a long time for those tools to catch on in the UK. I understand that the specialized nail gun for joist hangers is a little pricey for a one off use, but there are structurally approved screws for joist hangers and using those with a standard impact driver might have been faster and certainly less annoying than hand nailing in joist hangers.

stop whining

Thanks!

I chose to steer clean of any handouts from the French government when doing my house. Friends here told us we're mad, the money is what I was entitled to. I'm glad I made the choice that I did. It's true that things took a long time as I had to find the money to fund the work but I avoided the bureaucratic red tape.
I did all of the work myself, learning as I went.
My wood burner is my only form of heat and although I fitted it it meets all the regulations, even the more recent ones.

Keep going, you'll end up with a lovely home just like i have.

how many lead pencils have you consumed?

Found you again! I got unsubscribed.

Damn. This makes my fighting with an old soviet flat for already 9 months much easier.

Please no more close ups of mouths with pencils in them, gross, lol.

Keep it up guys, learning a lot👍👍

Adotta piu riscaldamenti contemporeanamente come pompe di calore e riscadamento a legna ,la casa deve asciugare quindi ti serve molto calore interno, anche i pannelli solari e riscaldamento eletrico,.tanti auguri

I very much enjoy your videos. Creative, informative and genuine. Given there quality, I think the focus needs to be intensified on securing subscribers to 100k+. Then money should no longer be the primary issue. I don’t have the formula but hope others can help you.

Hi. Ten years ago I was advised during renovating a stone house that had had no roof for many years in Ireland, to lime the walls as apposed to dry lining/insulating them as you have done. The walls were soaking wet right through. I am glad for that valuable advice. My walls are two feet thick and limed inside and outside. My heat is from a Neria Bohemia 40 stove; which burns one bucket of fuel per day and that lasts until the next afternoon. I light it at 5pm again for the next night. This allows me to let it cool down so the ash removal is easier. I now have zero damp. It takes two winters of winter stove heat for the damp to dry out of the walls, then they stay dry and warm. If I leave my house for a week, the stone walls retain the heat and it is quite noticable on entering the door. Only under the concrete floor and between the upper ceiling joistss are insulated with 50mm Kingspan foam slabs with silver paper on both sides. My walls are stone with cheap homemade 'paint' made from lime and powdered dye wetted with water and a little hand soap. No seventy euro tins of latex paint for me; that stuff stops the walls from breathing. Now you know how gavernments purposely design schemes, so that they have the final say in how you build your house. Following their 'guidelines usually means having to purchase many un needed products that lock you in to their money system….
I made the choice of buying my own stove early on as soon as the roof was on and was able to retain my stone walls. If I were you, i would fashion a wood burning stove from a 200 litre steel barrel on its side and run my own single skin (illegal) metal pipe/chimney into the chimney breast about ten feet up, this is so you also get heat from the pipe.. Be brave and draw a line through their government BS and red tape. Don't freeze to please the government pencil pushers. The house gendarmerie will not bother you; if you say it is a "temporary building heat source", so long as you intend to remove such an ugly but very efficient heat source later on as money is found for your choide of permanent stove. Subscribed and liked 😉 PS. Pictures of cats on your screenshots attract yotube algorithms… you don't have to own one either. Cheers Nick

Subsidies are just a tax on yourself in the future as the state has no money and they have to print it to provide it, it will increase inflation so in the future you will have less purchasing power off your €’s.
All the best

Those ugly plastic windows are a crime against humanity and everything that is holy.

The answer is government moves slow on freeing up the stuff they need to get it done. And for getting reimbursed for expenses. Government is why.

PS: wet the drywall tape!

You have to separate condensation and mould from damp. They fall under the umbrella of damp, connected but there are clear differences.

I break damp down into 4 categories, and in the order of prevelance.
1. Condensation
2. Water Penetration (internal)
3. Penetrative damp ( external)
4. True Rising damp ( often misdiagnosed).

There is most likely no damp proof course on this structure so ground levels need to be effectively adjusted. Usually french drains prove effective when correctly installed. Solid floors will need correct design i.e a damp proof nembrane.

Condensation is merely unmanaged vapour. Vapour pressure gives you a more accurate picture than relative humidity.

Modern living, we generally have higher levels of relative humidity, hemetical seals, via double glazing. Modern facilities, showers, laundry and the relevant appliances, and modern kitchen fixtures.

A sound approach to insulation will pay for itself rapidly. A stone structure with 3 main external walls that is a lot of heat loss. The roof and external joinery are merely part of the picture.

Kingspan has a number of grades in their thermal boards. You can achieve high rates of thermal improvement with a higher grade board which is unfortunately more costly. You may not want to secure directly to the external walls on the ground floor, studwork would be an option.

Infra red panel heaters would have been beneficial temporarily or as lomg term fixtures. The modern style of panels use beam technlogy which warms objects rather than space. By this token they have relatively small power consumption. You could replace a 3 kw storage heater with a 800w versatile infra ref panel.

Surya is a brand I have had personal experience with. You could conveniently back up a log burner. You have bathroom mirror options and towel rails. You have remote controls and phone connectivity functions available.

Great job, really. Always takes longer and costs more than you hope, doesn't it? Nonetheless, you will get there eventually. I especially like that you are making good choices in the build, and doing things right. Carry on!

great vidéo making, nice job

Damp is one of the most difficult obstacles to deal with.
I tried to upgrade a 100 yo old cottage the problem was after I put cavity wall insulation in, the damp was just trapped inside. I just didn't have the money to do the right thing.
In the end I put in a loft heat recovery ventilation unit which ventilated every room, which did work for the air, but I still had the foundation problems.
It was easier for me to move. ☹

Totally unrelated but have you considered knocking through the wall between the two lofts and removing the tiny old staircase?

What is the goal? Are you flipping? I have less sympathy for an individual buying a property to flip and make money.

How far of a drive to the nearest convenience store?

I would take down the insulation covering that beautiful attic wall once, and after they've been and installed your heater 😋and after you've dehumidified your home from constant wood stove fires.

Bureaucracy is deep, especially French bureaucracy. I have heard many horror stories about how people are pumped from one door to another in France. In your case, too, quite a trap has been created due to bureaucracy. You need heating in your house, but you can't get it because of the regulations. You have to build in a cold house and at the same time you are also putting new building materials at risk of being exposed to moisture. However, I have to take my hat off to your perseverance. Keep up the good work. Yes, it will turn into joy.

I admire your dedication but think you must be crazy. Is it worth sacrificing so much for a piece of real estate? We all need a safe and comfortable place to rest our head. The aspiration to anything more I just don't get although I am watching with interest and wish you well.

I'm 5 years into a 3 year rebuild restoring an 1880s house in Scottish Highlands. Original plan was I'd get the whole house done then we'd be moving in properly. Nope. Now it's only what MUST be done so we can move out of the inlaws……

In one of your first videos you said you wanted to cap the chimneys. Many comments suggested at that time it may be a bad idea. Maybe it was. See my experience below.

When we bought our stone house, the first thing we did was buy a cheap wood stove and attach it to one of the existing chimney (steel, not expensive cast iron, recirculating stove). We had this stove for years as we renovated. This helped keep the house warm during indoors renovation and greatly reduced indoor humidity. Then when we felt the time was right, we knocked down the chimney and installed a new ceramic lined insulated chimney and got a very good wood burning stove. If fact there were two chimneys in the house and so we did this twice. No grants. No subsidies. And it really was not that expensive. The first stove was given away. It was not expensive new (<500 Euro) and did its job for the time we had it so was an excellent investment. It went to a good new home.

Umbau interessant….
Aber sich nicht mal bemüht selbst seine Sprache zur Erklärung einzusetzen…..
Habe bei 3.30 abgestellt und Video gelöscht, nicht anzuhören, grauenhaft…
KI lebe hoch, lausiges Video…..

Hi! im new on this site,have u found any old message in the walls ?

The geographical climate doesn't help .

l would strongly advise you not to get a boiler stove. they only work when the fire is absoulutly fullof fuel ;this costs a fortune.also they give very little heat to the room it is in. good luck ,it will be worth it

Wood-burning stoves aren't what you'd call eco-friendly, and your house (and clothes) will probably always carry that hint of smoke.

I enjoy your music

It would help if you applied a waterproofing solution on the outside of the walls, this will allow water vapor to to travel out from the house but not in from the wet weather.
A dry wall is much warmer than a wet wall, I have used Beeks plus on many projects, including several churches, it is not the cheapest but i think it is the best.good luck with the project

Purchase a couple of cheap diesel heaters while your working on the construction of the build. They work a treat! Saved my butt from freezing.

just get a stove already

Hi guys, I have any of the walls externally cement rendered or are they lime mortar rendered?, as I’ve just been watching the young couple having to clear out all the gaps between the stone building because someone in the past had put cement in and it was making the place damp now ,where lime mortar helps the walls breathe.

I sit here in Florida all warm an comfy. Wondering why you do not have electric or some other fuel heaters? Waiting to dry the house and keep warm is the goal right.

I enjoy your videos!