HELP - Mouldy walls in bedroom.

[nicki]

I've just been cleaning up in my room and I've found this behind my chest of drawers.

My daughter keeps getting coughs and colds and I'm thinking that this may be a cause.

Can anyone give me some ideas:

1) What might have caused it? Could it be caused by condensation with me drying clothes over the heaters? It is a brick gabelwall at that side of the room and we have a similar (but not to this extent) problem in all rooms along that wall.

2) What can I do to get rid of the mould and prevent it coming back?

Any help will be much appreciated.

[catherineblack]

Hi Nicki,
We had a similar problem with mould. One day I was making the bed and pulled it back from the wall to find massive mould spores! It definitely caused me chest problems, I had several infections over a few months and had one when I discovered it. That night I slept in the spare room and my infection dramatically improved. We bleached the area clean and then painted some mould resistant paint on top. Also pulled back the bed two inches from the wall to let air circulate.
We have since redecorated and had no problems at all.
I would suggest that condensation caused the problem, just opening the window all night would have prevented this (something we cant do because our window opens too wide brrr). So if you are drying clothes, open the windows. We bought a dehumidifier and use it every night in the bedroom and it extracts two pints of water from the air!!!
I would hope some other MSE can help as this may not be the cause of your mould, perhaps related to the wall itself but I just thought I'd share my experience.
Mould spores really do cause health problems, since that 'incident' I've never had a problems with coughs or my chest again. Also in a flat we stayed in before we had mould around the window frames in the bedroom, my partner had a terrible cough (next to his side of bed!) which vanished when we moved.
I hope this helps!
Cat

[N9eav]

There is little air movement behind the chest of drawers which does not help.


Long term solutions could be to paint the gable end with a water seal such as Thompsons. Also is there cavity insulation in the walls?
Another thing is to paper the walls on the inside with a polysyrene type paper that helps keep the damp out.

[orainsear]

Warm air holds more moisture than colder air. When warm air comes into contact with a cold surface - and that one wall may be colder than the other walls for a variety of reasons, it will condense, and form water. I used to live in Macclesfield in an old mill building and I had this problem. To sort it out you need to stop the air condensing on that wall. What sort of windows do you have fitted? Do you have double glazing? Are there any vents in that room? Also why is that single wall colder than the others? - Which directin does it face? Have you checked out the damp proof course on that wall for rising damp as this can also cause the wall to be colder and as a result cause more water to condense.

[foreverskint]

For getting rid of the mould spores, only bleach will do I'm afraid. i have to regularly bleach the wall in my bathroom to get rid of it.
HTH

[Party_Animal]

As Orainswear said, It does sound like condensation. It will show behind cupboards and wardrobes where there's no air circulating.
Basically' to reduce condensation 3 areas need addresssing;

1) improve heat
2) improve ventilation
3) improve insulation
Is it ground floor?

[cargo]

All the things allready said are true, but it can be a real pain to get rid of you do need to get air around the room and if poss insulate the wall surface.In the past @ work the only thing to stop this as been to styroline the affected wall (styroliner board is a 8x4 sheet of plasterboard with a 22 mm or 16mm sheet of polystyrene stuck to it.This is stuck to the wall with adhesive and then skimmed.
Course not a quick cure but if all else fails.

[Ted_Hutchinson]

Mould prevention Has a list of things you can do to reduce the chance of it happening again.

Do check that it is condensation from the inside rather than water coming in from the outside. Blocked or leaking guttering can be a source of damp in one place. Poor pointing may be another source.

Improving your ventilation by using extractor fans or opening windows whenever the weather is suitable will help. Getting a dehumidifier and keeping that running when you are stuck with having to dry clothes indoors will also help.

[Loobysaver]

Every winter I get black mould patches above the bay window and round the skirting board in the bay.

My Mum reckons it's just cos the bedroom isn't aired so much in winter??!!!

I had the guttering, soffits and fascias replaced as they were rotten so it can't be that. Do you think it could be a roof problem or something simple like my dear old Mum says?

PS Everywhere else in the house is fine.

[ariba10]

Your Mum is probably right. It could well be condensation.

You need ventilation and/or a Dehumidifier.

[glenbat]

Hiya
My parents house gets exactly the same thing, only in winter and only in 2 of the upstairs bedrooms. They still have metal framed double glazing and keep all windows shut in the winter and theres very little ventilation and they get small black patches on the wooden window sills

[John 3:16]

We get the same problem. After thinking about it, I think the windows will have a metal beam to support the brickwork. This in turn will be very cold so the warm air hitting that part of th window could condensate. Unless you want alot of draft live with it and wipe down when you see it. Or heat the house so hot it does not form.

You can also get paint that stops mildew.

It could just be a cold part of the house. most houses have one.

[itsakidsworld]

This is a very common problem and it is because you have a "cold Spot" which in your case is your bay window.

The roof is not the problem as this would produce damp patches not mould patches.

You can always open the windows ( if possible) first thing in the morning for the period you are up and getting ready for work which releases the build up of condensation in this area. Also like posted, wipe away the black spots as soon as they appear.

If you have central heating and you do not have a radiator in this area, then consider having one fitted. People do not realise that having a radiator under a window is actually a very good area to increase warm air flow around the room. People assume that by having radiators under windows allows for heat to escape, thus costing us money!!

Houses need to breath to function correct so allow as much air flow through your home as possible.

Good luck.

[Loobysaver]

Wow I'm really surprised that other people have the same problem and even more so that my Mum may be right!!!

It is sooo unsightly. The room was wall-papered but it went all mouldy round the bay and started peeling that we took it off and just painted the room instead.

"itsakidsworld" - It's interesting what you said about the radiator. The radiator at the moment is on the other side of the room against an internal wall. I was wondering if it would be worth getting it moved but didn't want to if it made no difference.

Does anyone know how much it would cost to get a radiator moved from one end of the bedroom to the other (about 10 feet away)?

[John 3:16]

Not Knowing the lay out I would think abou £100

There is also Thin polystyrene Paper that you can put onto the wall before you wallpaper that would help.

[Moneymaker]

Originally Posted by John 3:16

There is also Thin polystyrene Paper that you can put onto the wall before you wallpaper that would help.

I thought that was now illegal because of the fire risk?

Tip: a small electric fan (not a heater, just a fan) to keep the air circulating whenever possible will alleviate the problem.

[shoppingnoodles]

My last flat had a mould problem due to condensation on an external wall. I cured it by stripping the wallpaper, cleaning it with an anti fungal liquid specifically for the job, then painting it with anti condensation paint. I think that it was made by a company called International and I bought it from Wilkinsons for about £11 or £12. It raises the temperature of the wall surface, so condensation doesn't form, so inhibiting the mould. Bit of a pain taking off the wallpaper, but it worked a treat and the wallpaper was getting damaged by the mould anyway. Perhaps this might work for you too?

[Steve_xx]

Originally Posted by shoppingnoodles

My last flat had a mould problem due to condensation on an external wall. I cured it by stripping the wallpaper, cleaning it with an anti fungal liquid specifically for the job, then painting it with anti condensation paint. I think that it was made by a company called International and I bought it from Wilkinsons for about £11 or £12. It raises the temperature of the wall surface, so condensation doesn't form, so inhibiting the mould. Bit of a pain taking off the wallpaper, but it worked a treat and the wallpaper was getting damaged by the mould anyway. Perhaps this might work for you too?

This sounds excellent. I might give that a go.

Also, I have a theory that it might be better to use a matt emulsion on walls/celings in such areas, rather than vinyl or silk finish. My reasoning for this is that a matt paint seems to remain pourous, whereas vinyls and silk finish paints tend not to be porous. The porosity of the matt paint, would, I believe, help to dissipate the moisture within the wall, rather than allowing it to reamain on the surface and therefore cause mould spores to form. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has a view on my theory?

[Clairee]

Please someone, anyone...
I have a major problem with mould in the bedrooms, its on the walls and ceiling.
I clean it off all the time, but no it still comes back.
I have had new windows and cavity wall insulation done, what can it be???
Its not damp but mould
Thank you for reading this and thankyou even more if you know what it is.
:confused:

[mishkanorman]

My dad would quite happily lecture you about this till the cows come home

Basically its because you've stopped the air flow around your room, so have a window open for a couple of hours a day and it stops it.


mishka