Landlady wants £350 from me and GF - with PICTURES

sooz

The photos don't look too bad. Yes, there is some condensation, but not enough to require £700 of redecoration.

Get the Dettol stuff, read the instructions & start cleaning. You don't need to scrub, wipe it on, leave for a bit, then wipe off. That's it, & should clean up most of the discolouration, leaving no marks.

The window does look wet, & you need to address why it is so wet. Are you drying clothes in that room? Do you heat that room? When the windows look that wet, wipe the excess moisture off. That will stop the black mould growing on the sill. You might consider putting one of those small crystal dehumidifiers on each sill.

The main reason for redecorating is to repair those cracks, which need doing. This has nothing to do with you.

Clean the windows, sills & walls (as above) take some new pics & tell the EA that you will not pay to repair the movement cracks to the walls, & that you have cleaned off the very small amount of condensation mould with the appropriate product, & will keep on top of it.

redrabbit29

It is weird, the windows are always really wet and I don't know why. We have an airing cupboard in the room. The radiator is set on medium and comes on for 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon.

No idea why it's like that.

sooz

Do you dry clothes in the airing cupboard? That will increase the humidity in the room.

KathysBoy

neas wrote: »

2. BUy a dehumidifier (these things draw humidity out of air like a tumble dryer draws water out of clothes (deposit water in back of unit).. cost about 100 quid tho methinks. Can also be used to dry clothes as moisture is 'sucked' from clothes.

We got ours because we have no washing line, it always rains so we dried clothes in bedroom... where di we get mould? in the bedroom by the window and behind a cupboard we left 1 inch from wall :P...... Lesson learnt for us.

redrabbit29 wrote: »

It is weird, the windows are always really wet and I don't know why. We have an airing cupboard in the room. The radiator is set on medium and comes on for 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon.

No idea why it's like that.

If there's water running down the windows then there is a lot of humidity in the air, hence the condensation. If the room is north facing and exposed this will increase the condensation, as the room is likely to be generally cold.

If you dry clothes in the house, then you MUST use a dehumidifier. The amount of water that drying clothes put into the air is phenomenal. I bought one when we started to dry clothes in the house, and my experience is that if you put it on when you hang the clothes out they will be dry about 12 hours later (asssuming you have a reasonable dehumidifier - say 12-16 litres per day extraction), BUT you will empty away about 5 litres of water. If you don't have a dehumidifier in these circumstances then this water goes into the air, result - mould, dripping windows etc. you would also be surprised at the amount of water vapour that general living creates - just breathing creates vapour. This is why you need ventilation. I'm not sure with the amount of water that can be seen that you ventilate enough, and unless you wipe up the water from the windows it just goes back into the air, and condenses again on the window.

It also possible to buy paint that stops mould/damp etc. You normally clean the mould from the walls, paint it on (bit like an emulsion, but quite strong smelling), and then paint over with normal emulsion. Works a treat.

redrabbit29

I do dry clothes in the house, although it is in another bedroom across the hallway. We normally only dry clothes after they have been outside for a bit, or if it's raining. It's only at weekends, so only 1 or 2 days.

As for the airing cupboard. Towels are always in there, and we put newly washed undies and socks in there to make them a bit softer and nicer. Well my girlfriend does this, and I assume that's why!!!

KathysBoy

redrabbit29 wrote: »

I do dry clothes in the house, although it is in another bedroom across the hallway. We normally only dry clothes after they have been outside for a bit, or if it's raining. It's only at weekends, so only 1 or 2 days.

As for the airing cupboard. Towels are always in there, and we put newly washed undies and socks in there to make them a bit softer and nicer. Well my girlfriend does this, and I assume that's why!!!

It doesn't matter that you only do it 1 or 2 days a week. If you put moisture into the air it stays there untils it condenses on something cold. Humidity is a measure of the amount of water vapour in the air. Try buying an humidity measure like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/NScessity-NSHG-02W-Digital-Thermometer-Hygrometer/dp/B000TUZ1CS/ref=pd_sim_diy_2/275-4333430-2458458 or this
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Westmts-West-Humidity-Dial-Hygrometer/dp/B0001P1AY4..
Generally a room should be around 60/65% My dehumidifeer has a gauge and when I first hang the washing out it goes upto about 80%.

olly300

OP in some properties heating it for 4 hours a day isn't enough. Mainly due to the poor construction of the property.

You need to ventilate all the property as much as possible. So:
1. Most kitchens and bathrooms have a small window. Keep that window open all the time you are in.
2. Stop drying clothes in the room you sleep in - anywhere in the room. Put them in the spare bedroom and get a dehumitifier for that room if you have to dry them inside. (If you want soft undies go to the old style board and ask what you can add to the wash.)
3. Get rid of the mould in the bedroom. Wipe down the bedroom window every other day, also open it when you come back from work when are not in the room and don't leave stuff on the window sill unless you want it to go wet and mouldy.

neas

tbh the crack looks like it is damp... as it appeasrs wet....i'd be getting a damp engineer out for that... and landlord will have to fix. This woud not be ure fault at all.

shaven-monkey

paint appears to have come away from the coving / ceiling over the window. Difficult to tell which it is because of the resolution and lighting of the picture.
That's unlikely to be condensation, more likely penetrating damp or damp from a room above.

That crack is just darn scary.
Is that an exterior wall? Is there cracking on the mortar or brick on the other side of the wall?
Either way you can pick up a pot of premix polyfiller for very little cash and fill it yourself, if it reappears within a few months then it's a serious subsidence issue which is not your liability but will impact the landlords buildings insurance.

aussiedogga

Good luck with this mate. I'm going through exactly the same thing with my landlord, very similar situation, but we've moved out of the property as our lease has come to an end. Seeking advice on how to best handle the situation. It really sucks because ours was behind a cupboard and wardrobe and I didn't realise how bad it was until we moved out. We were only there for 6 months too.

Good luck with it and I'll be keeping a keen eye on how you go. I would suggest contacting Shelter http://www.shelter.org.uk/ for their free advice. I spoke to a lady there yesterday and she was amazingly helpful.