Mould :(

katylou6180

Hi,
I don't know if anyone here will be able to give me any hints/tips, I am coming to the end of my tether with my house! I have mould upstairs, bathroom ceiling, under the window in my son's room, and all over one of my bedroom walls which is the external house wall, we have tried countless times getting the mould remover every winter, washing it down, drying it out and repainting only to have it come back worse the next year! It can't be rising damp can it as we have no damp downstairs? or is it just me being thick lol! This year we invested in a dehumidifier- and a fat lot of good that did! If anyone has any advice that may be of any help I would appreciate it....I just need it to go away as I don't really know how to stop it and how much it would cost(that I can't afford) to put right!

Thanks.....please help x

duncan303

I would first try to establish why these locations are having suficient moisture content to allow mould to grow. secondly I would try to identify exactly what type the mould is.

If the water is not obviously coming up from below or in through the walls or through the ceiling, then I would look at how you use water in the building. Do you have an extractor in the kitchen?, do you have an extractor in the bathroom? Do you have a washer/dryer not vented to the outside? Maybe a condensing dryer that has a broken tray?

just some starters to get the thread going.



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gatita

Katylou, I know exactly what you mean, I have the same problem, or rather had! I saw this product 'GROT BUSTER' made by Domestos, I appied it to the bathroom tiles and around the windows, left it for about 20 minutes and hey presto..... the mould had GONE!!!!!!!! its really the best thing. Its a bit pricey, but worth every penny,,,,,,,,,,,,, do give it a try I am sure you will be pleased.

WestonDave

There are quite a few similar threads on here - search for posts by David Aldred or dampdaveski as they really seem to know their stuff!

However in short you have fairly normal problems. You are probably right about it not being rising damp - its probably condensation damp. Mould grows where condensation occurs and isn't cleared. Condensation occurs where warm moist air hits a cold surface.

That being the case you need to either eliminate cold surfaces or remove the moisture from the air. Depending on the age and structure of your house you might want to consider well installed cavity wall insulation to help stop your bedroom wall being so cold. A cheaper (but less effective) alternative might be to get some of the insulating "wallpaper" (in fact a thin layer of polystyrene) that you use to line the wall before papering over with either fancy wall paper or lining paper and paint. Make sure that warm air can get to that wall as well - having loads of high furniture against that wall will stop warm air getting to it, and will leave it cold and damp. Intuitively you might put your wardrobe against that wall and your bed where its warmer, but you might be better off swapping it so that more air circulates on the cold wall. In the bathroom you need to make sure that there is adequte loft insulation above to stop the ceiling being cold if at all possible.

The other angle of attack is ensuring moisture levels in the house don't rise too high. Again intuitively you will probably be keeping windows shut to keep the warmth in and cut heating bills. That has the sideeffect of trapping all the moisture generated from bathing, cooking, drying clothes and breathing in the house, meaning that when the warm air hits a cold surface there is a lot of moisture to deposit. The solution is to ensure that when you are in the bathroom open a window (or at least open it before you come out and then shut the door behind you) so that the moist air goes outside not into the rest of the house. Don't dry clothes on airers or radiators in the house, use an extractor fan in the bathroom and kitchen, sleep with a window open, and regularly air the house out on dry crisp days.

So far (unless you go for cavity wall insulation) no big outlays, but some changes of lifestyle. As for your bathroom ceiling - I've long had a problem with mould forming on the last couple of inches of ceiling by the outside wall. I've just applied a couple of coats of Zinsser Perma White paint which is supposedly guaranteed not to go mouldy for 5 years. So far mine has lasted a couple of weeks so you can either give it a go for £18 for a small tin (the 1 litre tin is plenty for a bathroom ceiling at 2 coats) or wait 5 years and I'll let you know if it lives up to its promise! To be fair Zinsser make some good stuff so I'm inclined to believe its worth a go.

duncan303

Do you have quarry tiled floor downstairs, typical in suffolk, these are laid on sand with no damp course. but they always appear dry. Take a very large bath towel sized piece of thick plastic and lay that overnight directly on the floor. In the morning it could be soaking wet underneath, if fact you could try this method anywhere in the house to find out wether the dampness is penetrating from outside ( the dew point will always occur on the moisture side of the vapour barrier). tape the plastic sheet to the bedroom wall sealed all around with masking tape and try the same test.

Do you ever see condensation on the windows in the morning?

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katylou6180

Hi all, thanks so much for your posts, I live in a 1920s terraced house,. no cavity wall....hardly any loft insulation and rubbish windows! I think the next plan of attack is to get windows done(on 0% interest free credit) get some rolls of loft insulation from homebase( will send the geriatric parents with the 10% off card) and when establishing redecoration get some of that polystyreney wallpaper that was mentioned, and make oh put it up!! I have no choice but to dry clothes indoors on rads really, has anyone else found another solution? Problem is I'm going to have to wait for at least three paydays to get self straight as am going from weekly to monthly pay at the moment.....6wks with no money...ergh!! lol Thanks everyone

Fire_Fox

Mould in bedrooms in winter usually signifies condensation, more likely if you air dry laundry indoors. A dehumidifier should make a huge amount difference, and should help get clothes dry quickly if you shut them in a room with it! Did you definitely buy one that was the recommended size for your home? Is it actually sucking up much water? Are you leaving the windows and doors open or closed whilst you use it?