Flo 2.0

theroamingnomad · 20 January 2018 at 10:53AM

Good luck on your journey

Seasidegal58 · 20 January 2018 at 3:50PM

Flo - it can’t be good for you both to be living in a house with so much mould. I would think there must be something in your tenancy agreement that states that the landlord has to ensure that the property it is a fit condition to be rented out. Have a word with the Citizens Advice Bureau to see what your rights are.

Florence_J · 20 January 2018 at 5:47PM

Honeysucklelou2 wrote: »

Do landlords not have to adhere to a certain level of maintenance? As a short term solution, are you able to use a dehumidifier?

Hi Honeysucklelou, We do have a dehumidifier in the bedroom, I want to get a second for downstairs but OH is worried it will drive up our energy bill, it seems we need one in every room of the house!

Florence_J · 20 January 2018 at 5:50PM

theroamingnomad wrote: »

Good luck on your journey

Thank you, I have been on MSE for 2 years with a previous diary, but am changing my focus now to building up an emergency fund and planning for the future. Still got debt to shift though.

Florence_J · 20 January 2018 at 5:59PM

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

Flo - it can’t be good for you both to be living in a house with so much mould. I would think there must be something in your tenancy agreement that states that the landlord has to ensure that the property it is a fit condition to be rented out. Have a word with the Citizens Advice Bureau to see what your rights are.

I hadn't thought of citizens advice, thank you. It is certainly something to consider.

One thing I had thought of was suggesting to the Landlord they increase the rent on the condition that the work gets done on the house, it may seem like something I shouldn't have to even suggest (they should make the house fit for purpose), but the rent on this property is so cheap and for such a large amount of space that it might make financial sense.

OH and I were looking in the window of a letting agency today and a two bedroom first floor flat is £840 on the street ours connects to, whereas we pay £550 for a two bedroom house and garden with living and dining room.

OH and I aren't going to do anything dramatic about a house move yet as we have decided that either way we need to do a massive clear out, and once that is done we will assess what we need from a house (walls that aren't wet and mouldy would be nice)

beanielou · 20 January 2018 at 9:16PM

Also please speak to the Shelter helpline who can advise.
My DS & his GF have the same problem & it is now sffecting their health :mad:

Silver_Queen · 20 January 2018 at 9:28PM

Hi Flo, I agree with the others that you should seek advice but thought I'd add my two pennies worth. When I was at uni I lived in a house with a huge amount of damp and mould and sought advice about it. The consensus was that it depends on the type of mould. If it's rising damp then the landlord is liable and needs to fix it. If it's surface mould (it almost always is surface mould) then the tenant is responsible for dealing with it.

A few things that we found helped us significantly:

1. Don't have posters, pictures etc on the walls, basically anything that covers the wall and will trap humidity as the mould will grow under there and spread.
2. Try to keep the heating on as much as you can over the winter. Raises your fuel cost, yes, but will make it harder for mould to grow, which is important for your health.
3. When showering/bathing, keep the window open. It's bloody freezing yes but it lets out the steam which is a huge factor.
5. If possible, give the walls a coat of anti-mould paint as this will help stop the mould.
6. Make sure you clean off all the mould that you can see as soon as you see it. You can get mould sprays but we found that bleach and water with a washing up sponge worked just as well. If you can get a mask whilst you do this, it's pretty bearable and quick.
7. Besides contacting CAB you can try to contact your local council/housing team. This is what we did and they helped us a bit too (we were privately renting but they still helped).

There's ways of figuring out if it's surface mould or rising damp. I don't remember anymore but I'm sure a quick google will tell you or otherwise you can take pictures and show the people at CAB if/when you go to see them.

Hope this helps and you can get it sorted soon, I know how horrible it is living in a damp mouldy environment x

Seasidegal58 · 21 January 2018 at 1:11PM

Some really good advice there from Silver Queen which should help you coping with the mould whilst living in the flat.

Your low level of rent is an indicator of the state of the house. Do you actually need a house or would a flat suit you just as well after you have decluttered and have an idea of how much room you need. Maybe a one-bedroom would be an idea as it is just the two of you as it would be more affordable?

Florence_J · 29 January 2018 at 2:19PM

beanielou wrote: »

Also please speak to the Shelter helpline who can advise.
My DS & his GF have the same problem & it is now sffecting their health :mad:

Silver_Queen wrote: »

Hi Flo, I agree with the others that you should seek advice but thought I'd add my two pennies worth. When I was at uni I lived in a house with a huge amount of damp and mould and sought advice about it. The consensus was that it depends on the type of mould. If it's rising damp then the landlord is liable and needs to fix it. If it's surface mould (it almost always is surface mould) then the tenant is responsible for dealing with it.

A few things that we found helped us significantly:

1. Don't have posters, pictures etc on the walls, basically anything that covers the wall and will trap humidity as the mould will grow under there and spread.
2. Try to keep the heating on as much as you can over the winter. Raises your fuel cost, yes, but will make it harder for mould to grow, which is important for your health.
3. When showering/bathing, keep the window open. It's bloody freezing yes but it lets out the steam which is a huge factor.
5. If possible, give the walls a coat of anti-mould paint as this will help stop the mould.
6. Make sure you clean off all the mould that you can see as soon as you see it. You can get mould sprays but we found that bleach and water with a washing up sponge worked just as well. If you can get a mask whilst you do this, it's pretty bearable and quick.
7. Besides contacting CAB you can try to contact your local council/housing team. This is what we did and they helped us a bit too (we were privately renting but they still helped).

There's ways of figuring out if it's surface mould or rising damp. I don't remember anymore but I'm sure a quick google will tell you or otherwise you can take pictures and show the people at CAB if/when you go to see them.

Hope this helps and you can get it sorted soon, I know how horrible it is living in a damp mouldy environment x

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

Some really good advice there from Silver Queen which should help you coping with the mould whilst living in the flat.

Your low level of rent is an indicator of the state of the house. Do you actually need a house or would a flat suit you just as well after you have decluttered and have an idea of how much room you need. Maybe a one-bedroom would be an idea as it is just the two of you as it would be more affordable?

Thank you all for your suggestions and replies.

I'll admit I am not completely certain about what type of mould is what but in the hall we have what I would say is rising damp, and the rest may be surface damp.

We have little in the way of things on the wall, the things we do have are not affected by mould/damp.

Our heating is one pretty consistently and we try to open the windows as often as we can. We always have the dehumidifier on in the bedroom when we are drying clothes (no washing line, no tumble dryer) but it won't work if the window or door are open so we keep them closed then.

We do have a lot of stuff, but I went on a major selling spree last year and got rid of an easy 40% of stuff I own, what remains out of my possessions would cause me heartache to reduce further but there are some things I am debating, so there is potential to get rid of more.

OH needs to declutter but rarely finds the times to.

We can easily get rid of some bigger items but we have no car and have to rely on a friend to take us to the tip and as her car is small we might not be able to fit in everything anyway, even if it is broken up or we make multiple trips.

I really want to hire a skip.

natsplatnat · 29 January 2018 at 2:44PM

Salt in a container (jam jar / margarine tub / vase etc) sat on the window cill (or corner of a room) will help absorb some of the moisture. It definitely wont solve your damp, but may just help!

Flo 2.0

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