Dampness In Shower

[potty64]

I have a walk in shower room for myself & my disabled hubbie. The tiles are fine and easy to keep clean but the paint work in the first section of the shower room has black marks like mildew/dampness no doubt caused by the condensation from the heat of the showers. I have been using a damp cloth to remove the blackness but now the paint is coming off. Are there any solutions to this other than not having a shower!!

[Old_Geezer]

Just to say my woman has issues with her bath, mildew always trying to form. I think the only answer is to keep at it with the bleach and other cleaning materials and try not to let it get established. Sounds like you need to replace the paint. I'm unsure if there are mildew resistant ones, you could ask at your local DIY shed what they sell.

[douglas9401]

I the ink if you were to redecorate with a paint designed for bathroom and kitchen it would help a lot as they're designed for areas where condensation can be a problem. They can be wiped down or washed as needed.
Using a mould an mildew spray at the first sign of a return of the stuff will keep it at bay too.
We have a shower room with a wet floor and have similar problems, especially where the rubberised flooring curves up to meet the tiles. The floor itself can look a bit grubby after a while an the best way I've found to deal with that problem is to wet the floor, squirt a liberal amount of cheap washing-up liquid onto it and give it the message with a deck scrubber once a month.
Good luck.

[buildersmate]

Please describe precisely what extraction system you have, how large is the diameter (4 or 6 inches), where it is in the room in relation to the shower and any external window, plus how long the thing is allowed to run on once the light is switched off.
Armed with that info, some of us will be able to comment further.

[Jennykenny]

Don't forget to leave the shower door ajar and open the bathroom window after a shower, even if it's only for half an hour. Will make a big difference, and if possible, dry your bath towels outside or in another room, even airing them for a bit outside the bathroom will help.

[The Builder]

I have to ask, Potty .............. do you have an extractor fan over the shower, and is it used every time you shower?

[puzzlemaniac]

douglas is right, there are paints specifically for bathrooms that will help. can you increase ventilation in the room - open windows / have an extractor fan or more powerful extractor fan fitted?

[bookbinder]

Is it possible to replace the painted woodwork (I assume that is wood) with plastic products?

[bookbinder]

...that it is wood?

[chris1957au]

ventilation and bleach

[potty64]

Thanks for all the helpful advice. We always put the extractor fan on while showering and open the window as wide as possible after showering. I think I'll pop to our local DIY and see if there is some special paint as suggested by Douglas & Old Geezer & hopefully that will diminish the prob considerably. The extractor fan, buildersmate, is above the shower head and is about 12inches square stays on for quite a long time after I've turned lights off. The window is the same side as the shower. The walls are made of wood, bookbinder, except the back wall where the shower is as thats the outer of the house and is brick.

[carrust]

Water based kitchen and bathroom paints are ok, but they'll only take so much washing. The best alternative is to use an oil based eggshell. Remove all the loose paint and prime, wash down the rest with sugar soap, then give the walls 2 coats. Allow 8hrs between coats

[potty64]

Thanks carrust, will make a note of that.

[jomifl]

mould and mildew will only grow if the humidity is over 90% so keep your bathroom well ventilated and remove as much liquid water as possible. humidity meters are quite cheap.

[buildersmate]

I'm not sure I agree with the 90% humidity figure, but the sentiment is right. It seems to me that it is far better to concentrate on sucking the humid air out in the first place then spending money on paint that is mould resisting.
Since your fan is big enough as an aperture and in the right location, the next question to ask is whether it is actually sucking. You could test this with a smoke test from a taper. You might also want to get a handyman to clean out and check the ducting as it gets filled with dust.
I use Ventaxia fans, which I reckon are one of the best.
Lastly, if the fan is working properly, it may not be the best idea to also keep the window open since what then happens is colder air is sucked in from the outside, rather than warmer but less humid air being sucked in through the door from other parts of the house.
Warm air has a far greater capacity to hold water vapour within it than cold air.
What you are trying to do here is remove the water vapour laden air completely out of the room by sending it up the extractor before it gets the chance to condense out as droplets on the room surfaces.

[The Builder]

I too, would investigate the fan. 12" is massive. That much surely be the size of the grill only.
A modern bathroom extractor over a shower should give no problems with mould etc. Do check the fan, and especially the duct. It's not unknown for nests to be built in the outlet.

Plenty of suitable, specialist paints around, but that only addresses the symptoms, not the cause.

[jomifl]

/I'm not sure I agree with the 90% humidity figure, but the sentiment is right. /
90% is the figure I was given for the survival of moulds etc. on my microbiology course 50 years ago. Obviously the humidity in a shower goes above that when in use and although the atmosphere may be reduced well below that, the substrates upon which moulds grow may take a long time to dry out. So, go for reducing the length of time there is high high humidity and lowering the humidity as much as possible when possible.

[MargoTester]

We have a small shower room off the bedroom and had an extractor fan installed , this helps take the steam away. I always run cold water for a couple of seconds after having a shower and then run a squeegee over the tiles and spray with a shower spray, this seems to keep the mildew at bay