Condensation

WHAT IS IT?

Condensation is water vapour that has turned to water as a result of coming into contact with a cold surface.

It's good on beer glasses 🍺 and bad on garden rooms!

WHY DO WE CARE?

Condensation inside a wooden structure can cause serious problems: when wood gets damp it rots -> when wood rots it becomes weak and could eventually fail. For a garden room it can mean the difference between a 5 year lifespan and a 50 year lifespan.

Nobody wants their garden room falling apart, so it's best to design your structure in such a way that condensation forms on your beer but not on your garden room!

HOW DO WE PREVENT IT?

If you want your garden room to stay as a garden room and not end up as a pile of very expensive firewood after a few years, there are 4 main ways to control condensation:

MATERIAL SELECTION

🌳 Chose materials that are suitable

🌳 We only ever use C24 pressure treated construction timber - this material is more resilient to the effects of moisture and also helps prevent attack from woodworm

VENTILATION

💨 Ensure that your building can breath

💨 We use trickle vents on all doors and windows and we ensure air flow everywhere - under the building, behind the cladding, and even up above via our unique vented roof system

VAPOUR BARRIERS

💧 Select the right type of vapour barrier and put it in the right place inside your wall. Many people get this small detail wrong - incorrect placement may actually accelerate the formation of condensate inside your walls!

💧 We use a 500 gauge / 125micron vapour barrier on the inside and a high quality breathable membrane on the outside.

WALL DESIGN

⚙ An insulated wall will typically have a 'service void' for the electrical wiring etc and this can be a good place for moist air to hide

⚙ Here at LawnRooms we fully understand all the theory behind good wall design and as a result you can rest assured that interstitial condensation will never be a problem in any of our garden rooms.