6 months pregnant and living in council flat with damp and mould

sarah7377_2

hi can anyone help me i have been living in my council flat for the last 11 months and since october last year we have had mould and damp in our living room, which is thick black mould round the door and on the walls and the plaster is flaking off the walls, i am also 6 months pregnant and suffer with asthma. our nursery is constantly cold and the walls are very cold and damp and this is the room our baby (and 10year old step-daughter at weekends) is expected to sleep in. We have called our local council and have had a damp specialist out who says that the walls have been injected and its usual (he was no hope what so ever) and for the nursery told us to get a bigger heater which we have and hasn't improved anything the only difference it has made is to my electric bill!!!. i have phoned the council and asked our housing officer to come round and sort it out but she is off sick at the mo i have also seeked advice from my midwife and has wrote me a letter saying the damp etc is causing my health to deteriate and that the baby cannot possibly be expected to sleep in that cold damp room. I desperatly need some advice on where i stand and what can be done about it
can anyone help me!!!!!!!!

krisskross

Do you have enough ventilation? This is often the cause of mould on walls.

fishingcinema

we suffer from damp too (council property) on an outside facing wall if that makes sense ie on the other side of the wall its not attached to another property.

when i veiwed the flat there was what looked like white spray paint on the area obveiously the councils way of treating it not too sure if it was a stain block one, but the mould returned with a vengance all down and along the wall.

I often open the windows in there room ventilate the room.

Keep on at the council they should really come and sort the problem for you, tell them that the damp specialist came out and said that it's usual but you are not happy with that answer especialy as the plaster is falling off the wall and the room is going to be for a baby.

I have just yesterday used white vinigar to remove the mould as it is supposed to kill the mould not just clear the area then gone over the area pluss a foot over top that with a oil based stain block paint.

I am hoping this solves the problem as it's my two little girls 3 and 4 yrs old room

Coopdivi

A few suggestions:

Contact your local councillor. After all it's for things like this that we vote them into power.

Take photographs and contact your local newspaper.

Buy a dehumidifier although these can be quite expensive.

Kay_Peel

You must do something about the mould immediately and before the mould spores cause damage to your respiratory system and your child's health. The quickest, cheapest and most effective way of treating the mould is with thick household bleach.

Put on some rubber gloves and a face mask (or a scarf wrapped around your mouth). Dilute the bleach with some water (half and half) and paint it on the mould, using a paint brush. Leave it for 6 - 8 hours (depending on the thickness of the mould). Get an old towel that you can throw out afterwards and cut it into strips. Wipe all the bleach off with a strip of towel, then use the rest of the old towel to rinse the walls with clean hot water and dry them. Open the windows afterwards.

The mould spores will die after this treatment. Your next job is to prevent the mould from coming back. You can do that by 'drying out' the air and getting some ventilation into the room.

First - Heat the room.
Second - Hire or borrow a de-humidifier if you can't afford one at the moment
Third - allow the air to circulate by opening doors and windows.

Good luck and best wishes.

dehaani

sarah7377 wrote: »

... thick black mould round the door and on the walls and the plaster is flaking off the walls

You could scrape it off and sell it to those wacky Quorn eating weirdos? Make some money, everyone's happy! Problem solved!

basieman

Hiya Sarah7377,

You say you have "been to the council"? You need to go to Environmental Health. We had a similar problem, albeit private accommodation,damp walls, condensation and mould, and we were told it was not fit for habitation, and they put us on the Emergency Housing List. Within a few months we had been rehoused, however we are just a couple and not expecting a baby soon, so , hopefully, it won't take you as long. In view of your step-daughter staying overnight, it may also be useful to contact Social Services and ask them for a letter of support for your move to more suitable accommodation. Don't worry, we found them OK.
If you have already gone down this road and are still not having any success, then it's down to the CAB!- Citizen's Advice Bureau, it's free and impartial. Take as much evidence of your housing conditions as you can - pictures on your camera phone are ideal, any back up letters you have received supporting your application for a move, doctors note for your asthma, midwifes letter etc.,etc.
One final tip... ring your local CAB and ask if they operate a booking system. It sure beats hanging around for hours if they are busy...which they probably will be! Hope this helps. Good Luck!

P.S. I don't know whether you are claiming JSA- income based, but if you are you may qualify for a Community Care Grant to help with removal costs, carpeting and furnishings, and any personal items damaged by the mould and damp.- Again... Good Luck.

winnie81

Hi there,
Sorry to hear of your problems with damp We lived in a house that had damp along an outside wall so we called Environmental Health who wrote to the council telling them how it was unsuitable to live in especially as we had 2 young children (1 newborn & 1 10mth old) and within 2wks we were moved :T

Try your local EHO they should help you out,

Claire

Anthillmob

councils are crap @ this kind of thing. a friend of mine lives with her 3 year old DD, 9 month old baby, and husband in a ONE BED flat, and they had severe damp. m the council dont give a !!!! and my friends exema was really bad due to the damp. in the end the husband treated the damp himself [literrally going into the walls] it worked but the council wont pay towards it. im disgusted by them.

wish you luck.

spankymonkey_2

take plenty of pictures..contact enviromental health and do not use that room at all.... its not safe with children..or you with asthma. if you can leave the window on a latch do that .just keep the door shut.

slummymummyof3

You need to increase the heating and the ventilation to the room as a starting point - condensation causes black mould and this is due to inadequate heating and ventilation.

As previously mentioned, wash the walls down with bleach and water 50/50 mix to kill off the spores.

Is it possible to move furniture away from being uptight to the walls to allow air to circulate freely? I know this is not ideal.

Do any other rooms suffer with the mould?