Mould in rented flat

neas

erm... no offence meant but.. you are trying to push this on the landlord but you haven't provided enough info on who is at fault.

Theres two primary causes of mould:

1. Damp, rising damp etc causing excess moisture to enter property and allow mould to grow. Tell tale signs would be 'wet' walls... i.e a differnt colour from surrounding wall.

2. Too much humidity, heat in the air. We also had mould start develop around a window and a wardrobe which was too close a wall. THIS WAS OUR FAULT.

If its 1 its landlords fault probably, if its 2 its your daughters fault and potentially landlord could claim redecoration costs if walls have been stained through your daughters lack of good housekeeping.

So tread lightly before blaming estate agent and landlord, beause it could backfire.

I've said stuff like this before on mould so will copy and paste it from a previous thread.

Mould needs:

1. Humidity
2. warmth
3. Food

Lack of ventilation and warming house all time will make alot of mould (i.e if its like a sauna in there with steam on windows).

A cold house doesnt mean mould, otherwise vacant properties would be swamped with the stuff.

So open windows after bath showers... close doors when cooking so you dont spread moisture around house... Use extractor fan etc, and open windows more often... treat current mould as above and keep an eye out forit.

So... if you doesnt open windows after showers baths and drys clothes in doors then theres excess water entering the air which profits perfect environment for mould to grow... its exactly same stuff you get on old fruit.. it is needed in nature to decay living matter down. We dont want it in our homes tho .

So summary: find out if damp is causing mold... or it may be your daughters fault. If it is im sure the loss of her expensive clothes will change her way tis a hard lesson to learn. If its landlord fault then i believe she could have a case.

Btw when we had mould it invdaed our wardrobe and destroyed my tuxedo.. but it was too small anyways lol.

neas

loulou41 wrote: »

Thanks for all your advice. I wonder what are her rights as a tenant? She has lost £500 in ruined clothes & had to be binned but she has taken some photos. She has got mould on the other wall as well and on the window, this seems to be contained only in the bedroom she sleeps. Looking at the photos she sent me the walls do not look too bad but the clothes and the shoes look disgusting. I think she will be reluctant to use that wardrobe again. Will she be able to ask for some compensation from the EA, it's the EA who is managing the flat? I told her it does hurt to ask and she has to be firm. She has had nothing but problems since she moved in, first washer dryer, then boiler & central heating and the last straw this mouldy business. Thanks

claiming and all that works both ways. If it can be proved its her fault she'd have to replace the wardrobe if its permanently damaged... or provide monies to the value of the 'loss'.

neas

DAMP




MOULD



Note the bove picture would require a significant amount of work but thats alot of mould lol.

neas

And another copy and paste: C

ant be bothered retyping same problems...

I'd like to clear this up for all.... because OP is twisting things (prob not intentionally)

Damp is almost like water in the walls.... its caused by bad sealant a leak from outside or in cases of rising damp its when the damp is absorbsed from outside.

The letter clearly states... MOULD... not damp. MOULD is a living organism found everywhere... it helps decay living matter (Carpets, Clothes, Humans, Animals, Cheese, Fruits etc). We have a slight mould problem at our house and this was partly our fault as well.

MOULD... as the letter states... needs the following to survive:

1. Warmth
2. Humidity (Lots of water in the air)... Its why you have mildew/mould in bathrooms alot as the steam and heat and poor ventilation of bathrooms causes perfect environment for mould/mildew to grow. (the black stuff between grout).
3. Food source i.e carpet, wall, wood, paint, food, human, clothes etc


Now Mould Can be caused by DAMP, but the letter doesn't state this, it usuallt is created by the following:

1. Not opening Windows in a house enough (POOR VENTILATION)
2. Drying CLothes Inside a house (INCREASED HUMIDITY)
3. Not opening windows after a bath/shower... or leaving the bathroom door open so humidity can spread around a house (INCREASED HUMIDITY)
4. Placing furniture or other items too close to a wall (POOR VENTILATION)

So where do you see mould OP?

Cause MOULD caused by the above 4 items... will appear.... in tight spaces i.e behind wardrobes/draws too close to a wall (less than 4-5 inches), near window sills (as moisture gathers most there)>

Just a final Note:

MOULD Is a black organism that grows rapidily in warm, humid, unventilated conditions... its seen more in rented accomodation because we dont care as much for these issues...

DAMP is water content being absorbed by a wall....and can cause MOULD as it provides a nice humid condition too.


Also: When you 'simply wipe off the black marks'... with water... you inadvertingly help the mould spread... as it spreads via tiny spores in the air, and will simply grow back (with avengance in another place as well)

To Clean mould off try using Vinegar and Bleach on the wall (Sparingly)...

While the Costs are alot... it also depends on the scale of mould infestation. I would offer to repaint the room or rooms yourselves... in the Owners choice of colour etc. As quite frankly... it appears to be mould caused by yourself rather than by DAMP.... while you didn't realise it was mould and thought it was dirt... the end result is the same... your lack of proper upkeep means there are most probably permanent stains on the walls.

To properly treat mould one cannot just paint over it... as it will slowly grow back through the layers of paint. You need to sand down the paint.. to get rid of all traces of mould... treat it with detergent/vinegar or a commercial mould cleaner to kill/prevent any further mould... then repaint over it all. This is a fair amount of labour.

bristol_pilot

neas is correct. If the problem is condensation due to the lifestyle of the tenants (e.g. doing laundry indoors, not opening the windows) then far from receiving compensation from the LL there is more likely to be a deduction from the tenants' deposit made due to the damage caused to the LL's property. A few years ago a friend of mine let out his house and the tenants did not open any of the windows for the entire year which led to the whole house having to be redecorated and some windows replaced - the tenants lost their whole deposit.

nesssie1702

Agree with b_p and neas. Need info on whether it's a structural problem with the flat, or if the mould growth is as a result of excess condensation due to lifestyle.

Has your DD thrown out the clothes? She could probably have washed them and they would have been okay - provided they were dried properly so that any of the mould spores were killed off.

Mould has been associated with respiratory diseases and it's definitley not good for anyone who has asthma. But that's why it's important to ventilate rooms regularly, even in the winter.

loulou41

Somebody is coming to check it on Monday. I do not see why it should be her fault!! There is some dampness as she said the wall is damped & covered with droplets. She does leave the windows open in the bathroom and when cooking. The photos on the wall she sent me do not look as bad as that picture but the amount of mould on her clothes are unbelievable. thanks for your advice, will just have to wait and see what happens. For what I gather from your posts, the EA could blame her lifestyle, I would better warn her, she is very timid. Thanks

loulou41

nesssie1702 wrote: »

Agree with b_p and neas. Need info on whether it's a structural problem with the flat, or if the mould growth is as a result of excess condensation due to lifestyle.

Has your DD thrown out the clothes? She could probably have washed them and they would have been okay - provided they were dried properly so that any of the mould spores were killed off.

Mould has been associated with respiratory diseases and it's definitley not good for anyone who has asthma. But that's why it's important to ventilate rooms regularly, even in the winter.

She has sent me some photos, no you could not have washed them, they look disgusting. I did tell her, she said no way, she is going to wear them again.

skintandscared_2

bristol_pilot wrote: »

This site gives a useful table indicating how much moisture is put into the air by various normal household activities:

http://www.buildingpreservation.com/Condensation.htm

It is clear that carrying out laundry (washing or drying clothes) inside a flat puts the most moisture into the atmosphere. No amount of absorbent crystals will deal with this - you need to stop doing laundry indoors. Also ensure that the window of the bathroom is left open after taking a shower/bath, ideally overnight. If you still have condensation problem after doing both those things then I would say get a dehumidifier, they are not too expensive and extract a lot of water that can then be used in an iron. Those absorbent crystals are OK for placing in wardrobes etc but will not dehumidify a whole flat efficiently.

A dehumidifier works brilliantly if you have to dry clothes indoors. We are in a first floor flat and have no alternative. I put the clothes on a large clothes horse in the spare room and put the dehumidifier on. They are all dry within a day and we have no problem with damp. I agree that the crystals would probably not be effective enough with a load of wet laundry though.

neas

shame you cant share the pictures with us. It still not sure if its damp or mould.

Its a shame in our world these days we have such a blame culsture and sometimes the blame is ours

Not sure damp is seen as water droplets... as it usually is absorbed by a wall from outside or in the ground.

Condensation is formed as water droplets.. usually on windows or other cold surfaces. The hot steamy air contains water that turned into a gas at boiling point or so.... once it comes into contact with a cold oer object the water molecules will turn back into liquidain form and gather as droplets... same way rain forms.

If it is her fault she has already alerted the LA so if it is her fault she wikl have to take it. Being smart i'd determine prior to LA coming round if it was my fault or theres... if it was mine i'd do a damn good job cleaning it all up... as they will hit her for a 100-200 quid bill removing/redecorating methinks.

Anyways you can email me the pic if the wall or upload it to imageshack? Damp is pretty easy to check if it is damp... or if its condensation