Best way to ventilate a garage conversion?

powlesY

powlesY

powlesY

Associate
Joined
12 Dec 2010
Posts
1,428
A while back i posted on here about a botched garage conversion making me ill, condensation issues etc. I'm still ill with a bad chest and taste in my mouth now but the condensation problem has since been fixed and i've been going in the room during the day for computer use. Odours seems to hang about though and the air quality doesn't seem that great. I open windows and it improves, aswell as giving a consistant bit of heat and an air purifier set to low. As soon as the windows close the odours and air quality seems to be lowered in a short amount of time.

What's the best (and cheapest) way to properly ventilate it so i don't have to leave all the windows open all the time and lose all the heat?
 
I'm wondering if you could go after the firm and get them to fix the problem. If you've got well documented health issues arising from their faulty craftsmanship and you had a contract with them to do the works, then it sounds to me like there's a lot wrong here that you could hang them out to dry with.
 
Is the damp definitely completely stopped now? I think in another thread you said the damp proofing solution was giving off nasty vapours? Is that resolved?

From what you say about the air rapidly becoming tainted there may still a problem other than ventilation.

/edit - rereading your post can you identify the odours? Are we talking about odours from the building or (excuse the term) odours from you?
 
Last edited:
zooankski said:
Air vent at low level?
Click to expand...

Does an air vent at a lower level (say just under a foot from the floor) have a different outcome to having a window open?

ash_scotland88 said:
Did you not read the OP, he used an air purifier.

I would suggest an air vent too, and make sure the vents in the windows are open.
Click to expand...

There are no vents in the windows.

J-FRO said:
I'm wondering if you could go after the firm and get them to fix the problem. If you've got well documented health issues arising from their faulty craftsmanship and you had a contract with them to do the works, then it sounds to me like there's a lot wrong here that you could hang them out to dry with.
Click to expand...

I'd have done that already but it was my Dads rushed job, he is a builder but there was a lack of funding and it had to be done quickly.
 
Fourstar said:
Is the damp definitely completely stopped now? I think in another thread you said the damp proofing solution was giving off nasty vapours? Is that resolved?

From what you say about the air rapidly becoming tainted there may still a problem other than ventilation.

/edit - rereading your post can you identify the odours? Are we talking about odours from the building or (excuse the term) odours from you?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure it's stopped. I get no condensation on the windows or any cold surfaces anymore.

The damp proofing solution smelt very rubbery but since laminate flooring and and good underlay has been put down, that has lessened greatly. Almost completely gone albeit it is there a bit if all the windows have been closed and the heatings been on for a bit.

The odours quite hard to describe. Very hard in fact, it's just like a stuffy combination of god knows what. If i eat a meal in here, i can go out and come back an hour literally and the smell will still be lingering as opposed to in the house the smell will disappear pretty quickly.

I should really quit smoking with the health problems i have at the moment (please don't anyone give me hassle for that, i know the health risks smoking inolves) but i don't even wanna keep my fags in here 'cause i feel like they'll pick up the stuffyness of the room and go bad.

I'm still sleeping on the sofa at the moment (have been for 6-8months). Before i start sleeping in here i just want to be a bit more content with it rather than worry i'm risking my health getting any worse.

Thanks for the replies so far guys and i appreciate any more advice given.
 
Houses we build now have constant trickle ventilation through fans, have a look at vent axia or newelec website you might be best fitting a trickle vent even with a boost switch, you'll be dragging the damp air out, you really need then some kind of fresh air in, an air brick and a hit and miss internal vent may do but it might be easier and cheaper to retrofit a trickle bent in the window.

However you do need to address your smoking its only making everything worse or weak and easier to pick up chest infections, save the money from smoking and get someone to instal a vent as above
 
The Smell will be the waterproofing. It's quite toxic so your not doing yourself any good by breathing it in. Headaches yet?

Get a big tub of paint, ask for stuff you can put on concrete floors. Your going to need to take up the laminate and paint over the black stuff.... Pain in the rear but you WILL benefit. This will basically hold back the smell.

As for a vent, DIY store will sell vents. 30 quid i'd imagine. Ask for one that you can fit to a wall, you will then need your dad to punch a large fist sized hole through to the outside. 100mm approx. You can either get a vent that literally has flaps over the hole so it looks neat and tidy but still offers ventilation, OR you can purchase one with a fan that you will have to tap into the electric to run. Second option being the best.

Hope this helps matey.
 
chloe138 said:
The Smell will be the waterproofing. It's quite toxic so your not doing yourself any good by breathing it in. Headaches yet?

Get a big tub of paint, ask for stuff you can put on concrete floors. Your going to need to take up the laminate and paint over the black stuff.... Pain in the rear but you WILL benefit. This will basically hold back the smell.

As for a vent, DIY store will sell vents. 30 quid i'd imagine. Ask for one that you can fit to a wall, you will then need your dad to punch a large fist sized hole through to the outside. 100mm approx. You can either get a vent that literally has flaps over the hole so it looks neat and tidy but still offers ventilation, OR you can purchase one with a fan that you will have to tap into the electric to run. Second option being the best.

Hope this helps matey.
Click to expand...

A tub of paint? I read up on this kinda stuff when i first started getting ill (which has got me really frustrated, been dealing with bad taste in the mouth, shortness of breath etc for around 8 months now and doctors haven't helped at all - despite me seeing 6 different ones). Anyway, i thought that paint stuff was just an alternative to a DPM?

maccapacca said:
http://www.handlestore.com/category/Trickle-Vents/0/

retrofit some of these
Click to expand...

Can they be fitted to windows that have already been put in with no trickle ventilation?
 
I think you have far more problems than just a poorly done garage conversion OP.

The damp proofing smell was probably due to polymer used to inject the floor/Walls, as stated above if that still concerns you then you can get paint to "paint" onto the bare concrete floor.

As for ventilation add an air brick/ceiling mounted fan ducted outside, but... Myself and many many many people spent much more time in far more inhospitable places than a rushed garage conversion for their jobs and do not get ill as a result of it.
For example the O2 level in a room needs to drop from 20.9% to around 19% before you begin to feel a difference and by a difference I mean ever so slightly and even then you wouldn't put it down to lack of oxygen (ventilation, as you say the air is now dehumidified).
 
My old man says that (about inhospitable places), like farmers living in old barns and stuff. This has led my family to think i'm just being all hypochondriac, or deluded about it but i noticed the symptoms got worse the more time i spent in the room and it was even worse if it had rained in the night. You and he says that but then i go and read a bunch of stuff about air quality on the internet and the crap that i'm breathing in. I concede that my illness may not be 100% to do with this room but at the same time i don't think it's done me any good and it just has to be the root of it (developing asthma, stained teeth, shortness of breath, bad chest, horrible taste in mouth all the time)

I'm fairly certain the air is dehumidified because i'm getting no condensation whatsoever, however i do still get a horrible musty smell, especially in the mornings. Thanks for the reply.
 
If the air is too dehumidified then you can also feel uncomfortable.

Before you complain about the room you are staying in how about you give up smoking. I'm willing to bet that's your problem ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom