Mould in rented flat

tbs624

clutton wrote: »

i have proved in 3 of my properties that tenants life styles have a significatn effect on "damp" - where tenants hang washing outside, open windows in the day and during cooking/bathing, and heat the property - no damp problems

where the next tenant does all the opposite of above - damp black mould appears within weeks.

Not disagreeing with you Clutton - see my earlier post:

tbs624 wrote: »

....... The LL/LA has to ensure that the property is structurally sound, that the heating is in good working order & can do its job efficiently , and that there is ample means of ventilation, but a T can also help to improve conditions by making adjustments to their own lifestyle.

Many LLs will have experience of one of their properties which when occupied by one T has extensive black mould and a fusty smell, yet once new occupants are in place there are no further problems of a similar kind.

The key difference, however, is that *you* have frequently posted that your properties are well maintained and you would probably have arranged to call round to assess things properly when the problem was notified to you, rather than behave as this LA appears to have done - given that the OP has already had a slow response with another repairs issue, it does suggest that the LA is inefficient.

Meanwhile there may well be an unsuspecting LL somewhere who is trusting that LA to (a) to do right by his tenant and (b) not let his carpet & wallpaper rot away, nor his plasterwork turn into a saturated mess.

carolt

bristol_pilot wrote: »

This site gives a 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 property puts the most moisture into the atmosphere, far more than breathing, cooking, bathing etc. Look at the figures in the table, four and a half litres (that's a gallon!) a day from drying clothes indoors. That is additional to the moisture from other activities. Modern housing is too well insulated to ventilate that much moisture and in the UK it is usually too cold to open all the windows when drying. If you can't hang washing outside, use a tumble drier or go to the launderette then if you really must dry clothes indoors put them in a room with a dehumidifier but you will need quite a powerful one to draw out that much moisture. However this is no way the LL's fault and far from shouting your mouth off about demanding the LL do this and that, you are likely to lose some of your deposit for causing damage to the property.

Rubbish.

We rent a modern property, dry all our (extensive - enough for 5 people) washing inside on the radiators/dryer racks, except when it's warm enough to dry outside (ie most of the time) and have never, ever had the slightest problem with mould. We have windows open, but not when it's freezing and take no other special precautions to prevent damp. We obviously cook, wash, breathe etc too.

The simple fact is that if a house has a major mould problem, it's the fault of the house, not the tenants.

There is no reason to presume the OP uses the property in any unusual way - drying washing inside sometimes is a perfectly reasonable thing to do in a property.

If there's a mould problem, I'm sure it's in the landlord's best interests to fix it - it may well be that they do not even know, and that it is the letting agent who is dragging their feet.

mellymeep

scrummy_mummy wrote: »

It contains bleach which is why you shouldn't use it on painted surfaces, cos it bleaches the colour!....make sure you ventilate VERY WELL if you use it otherwise it'll make you cough! It can also burn your hands if you use it without gloves (particulalry if you have sensistive skin like me!) I have used it in my rental poperties to clear mould in bathrooms and off the walls in a bedroom where the tenants didn't vetilate the room and mould grew behind the wardrobes. It is really good, but smelly!!!

That dettol stuff is my absolute hero. I don't care that it costs so much, its saved me a lot of disturbance from looking at horrible mould growing in our bathroom!
Its amazing, it works within a few seconds of spraying and it completely removes all the mould/mildew!

I've used it in my bedroom loads of times on the wall underneath my window which also has mould issues. It's not effected the paint at all.

Totally recommend it