IS YOUR HOUSE DAMP?

Evening Star, Issue 22462, 6 October 1936, Page 2

IS YOUR HOUSE DAMP?

Old houses in low-lying districts are often inclined to bo damp, and when heavy rains cause Hoods it js sometimes very difficult to keep’ houses warm and dry. Of course, with hotwater pipes running to various* parts of the house there is no difficulty in having a dry house. Even in this case, however, no room should be left unaired for long. Fires and wide-open windows on dry, sunny days soon rid a room of that chilly, uncomfortable feeling, associated with dampness. If your house is damp, try to find out the cause and remove it. If the dampness persists in spite of all yon do, then you should seriously consider moving to another house in a higher, drier, and sunnier snot. Damp is a grave danger to health. Children who live in damp houses aro liable to contract rheumatism at an early age. In a damp house clothing, furniture, woodwork, and wallpapers are all affected. The cause of the dampness is often to be found outside the house. Tiles may bo missing, rain pipes leaking, gutters choked with leaves. To remedy these matters is easy. Gutters and pipes must be kept free from rubbish, and tho roof repaired. If tile woodwork of windows lets in the rain because it is old, it may be worth while to replace it with a metal frame, which can neither shrink nor warn. Sometimes damp is caused by rain boating against brick or stone that has become porous with age. Tho cure lies in tho application of a reliable damp-proof liquid Two coats may be’ necessary for bad cases, but the treatment makes the wall waterproof unless there is some fundamental defect. KEEPING COOL. Britain is becoming acutely “ refrigerator conscious.” The number of electric and gas refrigerators installed each week in British homes at the present time runs into four figures. Lively competition exists between these two methods of . refrigeration, and it now appears that a third competitor is likely to enter tho domestic- market in the form of “ dry ice,” that is, solid carbon dioxide. Plans aro ported to be on foot to provide some of the new blocks of flats now beiim erected with this form of refrigeration.