Poor housing is a plague in France. According to a report published in January 2020 by the Abbé-Pierre Foundation, more than 12 million people live in intolerable conditions. However, if extensive work is sometimes necessary to restore housing in good condition, solutions can, in other cases, improve your comfort.
Your health at stake
The cold, humidity and mold affecting a home should never be taken lightly. Many health disorders can indeed originate in degraded and unsanitary housing. As the same report by the Abbé-Pierre Foundation recalls, "allergic and respiratory pathologies, inflammation of the skin and mucous membranes (eczema), headache and throat pain, pulmonary infections" can in particular be linked to a damp habitat.
As for molds, they can have a causal effect in the "prevalence of asthma or respiratory symptoms". This is for example the case of chronic allergic rhinitis, which manifests itself by nasal congestion and eye irritation sometimes accompanied by fatigue and headaches. The association also denounces the indirect consequences of these disorders suffered daily by millions of French people. Thus, "the humidity in the home increases the risk of lead poisoning contained in paints".
Recognize the signs
Doctors estimate that the ideal humidity level in a house should be between 40 and 60%, or even between 45 and 55% for people with fragile health, depending on the geographic area of the dwelling. However, it will turn between 30 and 50% in winter. This indicator translates the percentage of water vapor contained in the air compared to the maximum quantity that it can absorb. To stay healthy, it must be neither too high nor too low. To ensure this, it may therefore be wise to obtain a hygrometer which will be used to regularly measure the humidity level in your home.
That being said, in the event of increased humidity, certain signs do not deceive: the windows fog up, even run off due to condensation, molds appear everywhere, the paint cracks and the wallpaper peels off or rots. You have to react quickly.
Your means of action
To remedy this situation, we must first find the cause. Many homes, for example, suffer from condensation due to a lack of ventilation. The first reflex is then to ventilate your home every day, for at least thirty minutes, and not to overheat the rooms. If necessary, the installation of a humidity-sensitive CMV can contribute to this ventilation. On the other hand, if the roof is poorly insulated, your walls have cracks or the pipes are leaking, it is likely that the humidity in your home is the result of infiltration. In this case, you will have to clean and repair your roof, fill the cracks and install a waterproofing coating.
Last possible hypothesis: capillary lifts. Most often, it is poorly drained rainwater that rises from the ground to the bottom of the walls. To overcome the problem, you can call on a professional to inject a water-repellent product that will create a waterproof barrier. Another option is to install a box using a geomagnetic process aimed at eliminating the field of attraction which water takes advantage of to climb to dry areas. In any case, you will have to be patient since these techniques take more than a year to completely dry the walls.
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