7 things people with Victorian houses always do in autumn to prevent damp

If you live in a Victorian house, autumn can be the point at which all its charming period features start to show their less appealing side. As temperatures start to drop and we begin closing our windows, turning the heat on and drying laundry indoors, condensation and damp can quickly become a bit of an issue.

I live in a Victorian house myself and know all too well the pitfalls of single glazing in autumn/winter, and while I love my house's high ceilings and features, keeping moisture under control is something I have to be far more conscious about starting from now. Older properties can be particularly susceptible to damp problems, especially where there are cold external walls and areas with limited airflow.

The good news is that there are plenty of things you can do to prevent damp before the wettest, coldest weather arrives. These are the habits worth getting into right now.

1. Check gutters, downpipes and pointing

Before concentrating on moisture inside your home, take a walk around the outside. Autumn is a particularly important time to check gutters and downpipes as falling leaves and other debris can quickly cause blockages.

'I'd look at the colder areas first. Around windows, in corners, against external walls and behind wardrobes or sofas are all places where you can get a bit of a damp or condensation problem because the air doesn't circulate as well,' explains Tony Reynolds, Managing Director of Supreme Merchants.

And he also recommends looking outside. 'Gutters and downpipes can easily get blocked, and things like damaged roof tiles or cracks in the pointing can let water into an older house. Autumn is a good time to give everything a quick check before the weather gets really wet.'

If damp repeatedly appears in one particular spot, rather than as general condensation around the home, it's especially important to investigate whether water is getting in.

Mary Widdall, Product Category Manager for Laundry at Minky, also recommends checking lofts and roof spaces for signs of leaks and condensation, as well as making sure they have adequate ventilation.

2. Keep the house consistently warm

You don't need to crank up the thermostat, but allowing a period property to become very cold can make condensation harder to manage.

Catrin Parry, Buying Lead for Cleaning and Laundry at Lakeland, recommends keeping your home at a relatively consistent, warm temperature. Cold surfaces are more likely to become places where moisture in the air condenses, which is why external walls and windows can be particular problem areas in Victorian properties.

Once your heating is back on for autumn, aim for consistency rather than allowing rooms to become extremely cold before heating them intensely for short periods.

Mary points out that colder homes often have colder walls and surfaces, making it easier for moisture created by everyday activities (even breathing overnight) to turn into condensation.

This is why bedrooms are another area worth monitoring. Check windows and cold external walls first thing in the morning for persistent condensation rather than focussing on traditionally damp rooms such as kitchens and bathrooms.

3. Keep ventilating even when it's cold

As much as you don't want to open a window when it's cold and wet outside, and you've just paid to heat a room, ventilation becomes really important once we're spending more time indoors.

'Ventilation remains important throughout autumn and winter, even when it feels counterproductive to let cold air inside,' says Laura Bradbury, Head of Ecommerce at Vonhaus. 'Opening windows for a short period each day can help replace warm, moisture-laden air without leaving the property cold for hours.'

There's no need to leave windows wide open all day. Briefly airing rooms, using extractor fans and ensuring existing air bricks, vents and chimney ventilation haven't been blocked can help.

Tony agrees that 'if you keep the house completely shut up, all that moisture has nowhere to go.'

Pay particular attention to rooms you rarely use, too. Mary recommends regularly checking cold, poorly ventilated spaces for early warning signs such as musty smells, persistent condensation, staining and visible mould.

4. Change how you dry laundry indoors

This is a big one as we head into autumn. Once washing can no longer reliably go outside, all of that moisture has to go somewhere.

Avoid placing wet clothes directly over radiators. Instead, Catrin recommends choosing one well-ventilated room for drying laundry and, if you use a heated clothes airer or standard drying rack, pairing it with a dehumidifier.

I use a heated clothes airer alongside a dehumidifier myself, and I find it a really useful combination during this time of year. Rather than allowing all the moisture released by wet washing to linger in the room, the dehumidifier actively removes some of it from the air.

Keep the door to your chosen laundry-drying room closed too, so you're not simply allowing that moisture to travel around the rest of the house.

Mary stresses that using a heated airer doesn't remove the need for ventilation either. The heat might help your clothes dry faster but the water from those clothes is still being released into the surrounding air.

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5. Pull furniture away from external walls

Now is also a good time to look behind wardrobes, sofas and other large pieces of furniture, particularly those sitting against external walls.

Laura recommends leaving 'a small gap between furniture and external walls, so air can circulate instead of moisture becoming trapped behind wardrobes and sofas.'

These hidden, poorly ventilated areas can be easy to overlook until you move a piece of furniture and discover a musty smell or patches of mould.

Pay particular attention to external walls, corners, window frames and the inside of cupboards. Laura also suggests keeping a closer eye on cellars, chimney breasts and ground-floor rooms in older properties.

For smaller condensation hotspots, a passive moisture absorber can be useful too. Mary recommends products such as Minky's 200g Damp Guard, £9.99 on Amazon, for targeted areas including bathrooms, bedrooms, utility rooms and around windows. It doesn't require electricity and works silently, with each tablet lasting up to three months depending on conditions.

6. Get on top of moisture from cooking and showering

It isn't just the weather outside that causes problems. A lot of our everyday activities continually add moisture to the air.

Cooking, showering and drying laundry indoors are three of the biggest culprits, so use extractor fans whenever possible and close the door while producing steam.

Catrin points out that these activities don't stop just because the season has changed, which is precisely why ventilation remains so important through autumn and winter.

It's also worth checking your extractor fans now. Tony recommends making sure they're clean and actually working effectively rather than simply assuming they're doing their job.

And if you wake up to condensation covering your windows like me, wipe it away rather than allowing water to sit against the frames and sills throughout the day. Critically, Mary recommends positioning moisture absorbers (I love Minky's moisture absorber, £25 at Argos and use it in my bedroom) in specific problem areas rather than treating them as an alternative to ventilation or a powered dehumidifier where there is a significant moisture problem.

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7. Monitor humidity and use a dehumidifier

Finally, stop guessing how damp your house is. A simple hygrometer can tell you what's actually happening to humidity levels throughout the day and help identify rooms that consistently struggle with excess moisture.

'A cheap hygrometer is actually quite useful because it gives you an idea of how humid your home is, rather than having to guess,' says Tony.

A dehumidifier can also be extremely useful in a Victorian property, particularly in rooms where you regularly experience condensation or when drying washing indoors.

Laura stresses, however, that it should be used 'alongside suitable heating and ventilation rather than as a replacement for them.'

And that's a really important point as a dehumidifier can tackle moisture in the air, but it can't repair a leaking gutter or a plumbing problem. If one patch of damp keeps returning despite all your efforts, look into the cause rather than simply running a dehumidifier.

For smaller problem spots, Catrin also recommends moisture traps or compact dehumidifiers that can be placed in cupboards and wardrobes, while a larger compressor model is better suited to managing moisture across bigger rooms.

Ultimately, preventing damp in a Victorian house is less about one miracle product (frustratingly) and more about controlling where moisture comes from and giving it somewhere to escape to. And crucially, spotting any potential problems, like rising damp, early.