Mould in rented flat

Ephemera

If your daughter has not adequately ventilated the flat, no matter how expensive the flat, and how good the building, it is a fact of life she will get mould growth.

And if she moves, and does the same again, guess what? She will get mould growth in her next place too.

As mentioned by other posters, reducing the amount of moisture in the atmosphere will help, as well as ventilation (opening windows and air vents....and the wardrobe doors!!) and also investing in a dehumidifier are all sensible things to do.

I live in an old bungalow, with failed damp course, rising damp in places and we have a dehumidifier on all winter. And open the windows whenever the weather allows. We have no signs of mould anywhere.

Gorgeous_George

Another good tip comes to mind.

When you fill your bath, add the cold water first followed by the hot water. Less steam = less condensation.

GG

Lokolo

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1346209

^^ when I had mould last week.

neas

Altho not high res picturs i'd say looks like damp entering through corner of wall, Notice the discolouration of wall in corner as opposed to undamp wall.. As suggested in email ask around for someone to look at it more often. As its in a wardrobe is not ventilated well (not your daughters fault) and provides alot of food for mould to grow (clothes), in addition with damp provides all the moisture it needs.... and if she has heating on its near damn perfect condition for it to grow. Wouldnt use wardrobe until damp problem fixed and i'd be taking pictures.

So yea... i'd say she had a case now as that looks like its landlord fault for not providing a safe building etc. It also has been known to aggravate asthma... so i'd be talking to local council too about their position...

Ephemera

LOL Only thanking those that tell you what you want to hear, and not those that give advice on how not to get mould...

No matter how good the building, if it is not adequately ventilated then mould will grow. I have a feeling your daughter will be plagued with this for life unless she changes her habits....

olly300

OP you can only tell if the mould is caused by an external factor i.e. a pipe, water dripping on a wall due to leaky guttering if you have a look at the outside of a building. You need to look in dry weather and then when it's raining.

You can't presume from just stating it started in the corner that it's due to an external factor.

I had mould on an inside wall like that and there was nothing on the outside that could of caused it. The reason for the mould was that a fitted wardrobe side was fixed to an external wall. There was a partial gap of a few mm between the wardrobe side and the wall which didn't go all around the wardrobe side. In the flat the previous occupiers had closed all the trickle vents, blocked or closed as many air bricks/vents as they could and turned off most of the radiators. (When I moved in I couldn't understand why they had done that because the flat isn't draughty with them open.) I removed the wardrobe and cleaned the wall and the mould hasn't come back.

I have also lived in a house where due to a gap in the neighbour's guttering rain ran down the external wall of a down stairs room leading to mould on the wall on the inside and in the corner.

I've lived in a few other houses and flats with condensation problems which would have turned to mould if I hadn't been warned about the problems of condensation before I left home.

loulou41

Ephemera wrote: »

LOL Only thanking those that tell you what you want to hear, and not those that give advice on how not to get mould...

No matter how good the building, if it is not adequately ventilated then mould will grow. I have a feeling your daughter will be plagued with this for life unless she changes her habits....

What make you think it is due to her life style? She never had this problem before, her bedroom is ventilated and what more can she do!! The fitted wardrobe is built directly to an external wall and she can feel it is cold and damp. The problem is contained in only that bedroom and another external wall. It's just it makes sense what the OP says. Thank you all very much I have taken all your comments on board.

neas

did anyone look cloesly at the pics i posted? Thats the wardrobe...

It shows 'stain' marks at centre of mould... Tell tale signs of damp!

neas

and it doesnt matter if op is initially thinking its all landlords fault when it might not be....

The pictures look like damp coming in through corner of wall... Mould doesnt UNIFORMLY stain walls like that!

Jeez... if you gonna give advice at least think...

Debt_Free_Chick

neas wrote: »

and it doesnt matter if op is initially thinking its all landlords fault when it might not be....

The pictures look like damp coming in through corner of wall... Mould doesnt UNIFORMLY stain walls like that!

Jeez... if you gonna give advice at least think...

But if the walls aren't completely true - and most aren't - then any condensation will follow gravity and ..... moisture could collect in the corner .....?

N'est pas?