Honestly, I ran into a similar thing after tightening up my '68 ranch. Felt great to finally get rid of the drafts, but then the windows started sweating like crazy every morning. Never had that issue before either. I think you’re right—old houses kinda “breathe” whether we want them to or not. I ended up cracking a window in the bathroom just to keep the mildew away... which feels a little backward after spending all that time sealing everything up. Guess there’s no perfect fix, just a bunch of trade-offs.
- Totally get this. Sealed up our 70s split-level and suddenly the bathroom mirror takes an hour to clear up.
- Ironic how fixing drafts just creates a new problem—now it’s towel duty every morning for the windows.
- Feels like old houses are stubborn... you fix one thing, they throw another curveball.
- I did try a dehumidifier, but it’s not exactly cheap to run all winter.
- Not sure there’s a “right” answer, but at least the heating bill dropped a bit? Small wins, I guess.
Feels like old houses are stubborn... you fix one thing, they throw another curveball.
Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m running into. Sealed up some drafty windows in our place and now I’m dealing with condensation on every cold morning. It’s frustrating—sure, the heating bill went down, but now I’m wiping down sills constantly. There’s always a trade-off, it seems. I guess it’s just part of figuring out what actually works for your specific house.
I hear you on the condensation—ran into the same thing after I finally replaced our old wood windows. Thought I’d solved all my problems, but suddenly every morning there’s water pooling on the glass. Turns out, making things airtight means the moisture from showers, cooking, even just breathing has nowhere to go. I ended up cracking a window in the bathroom and adding a cheap dehumidifier. Not perfect, but it’s cut down on the constant towel patrol. Funny how fixing one thing just shifts the problem somewhere else.
Honestly, airtight windows are overrated if you don’t sort out ventilation. I swapped mine last winter—condensation city. Ended up installing a bathroom vent fan and running it after showers. Works way better than just cracking a window. Dehumidifiers help, but fans are the real fix.