Mildew in tiled shower during the winter

5 years ago

My house is just over a year old, and we have found that in the winter we get mildew in the shower. We have no such problem during the summer. Our HVAC contractor tells us that the reason is that the shower has two exterior walls and tile walls, so when the warm shower steam forms, there is lots of condensation causing the moisture to build up and doesn't evaporate. He installed an exhaust fan in the shower, but so far I am quite skeptical that it will work unless we run it for a very long period of time and pump lot of warm air out of the house.

It seems to me that adding heat to the shower would be an alternate solution for cold days, but so far, my contractor has not been unable to identify a heating solution that meets code for a shower. It is a large shower, roughly 4.5X8 feet, with 10 foot ceiling, so it is larger than a lot of bathrooms where I have seen heat lamps and such.

Are there other solutions to getting rid of the mildew problem without sending excessive amounts of heated air outside?

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Comments (4)

mtvhike
5 years ago
I assume your bathroom has an exhaust fan; do you run it while taking a shower? In my new house, the fan is controlled by a manual timer and I set it for 30 minutes when I start my shower. Make sure there's a way for fresh air to get into the bathroom while the shower is running - opening below the bathroom door, or vent(s).
Elinor Kasza
Original Author
5 years ago
The original build was a bathroom fan just outside of the shower. The ceiling is 10 feet tall, with an 8 foot opening between bathroom and shower, which is part of the problem because the steam gets trapped in the ceiling area. The bathroom fan was installed just outside of the shower, behind the header, so it doesn't pull air out of the shower very well. We recently installed a vent fan inside the shower, but it is uncomfortable running while I'm showering. I had specified an ultra quiet fan, and they installed a regular fan, so they will be replacing it, and I am hoping to find another option before then.
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Sammy
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
He installed an exhaust fan in the shower, but so far I am quite skeptical that it will work unless we run it for a very long period of time and pump lot of warm air out of the house.

That’s exactly how it’s supposed to work. Turn it on a couple minutes before you start showering and leave it on after you’ve finished showering for however long it takes to do the job. The fan might be running for an hour or it might be running for three hours...or longer!
Elinor Kasza
Original Author
5 years ago
That's what I'm trying to avoid. With two exterior walls, the tile gets pretty cold and adding the air movement to the already cold space makes for uncomfortable showers.