Mould, Ventilation and Heating - how to stop my study from getting mouldy and cold

MrsManda

Hi,
I've got a small single bedroom in my house which I've been using as a study. It has mould growing on the wall in one corner which I think is due to ventilation issues. I've had the window replaced and once my exams are over I'm going to empty the room, strip the wall paper and use a mould remover. Does anyone have any advice on how else to decrease the likelihood of the mould growing again?

The room has a small single radiator and gets cold very quickly when the heating is off. There's no room to put a double radiator as it'd block the doorway, and we can't put cavity wall installation due to the walls being solid brick (1930s house). Is there anything I can do to prevent the room getting so cold?

thanks in advance

HandyMan

Once you have stripped the wallpaper and cured the mould, try sealing the wall with several coats of diluted PVA glue. Dilute 5-1 for the first few coats, this will enable the PVA to soak in a bit and create a good seal, then use 3-1 to seal the surface of the wall. This should help prevent damp seeping in through the solid wall. As for the radiator, you may not be able to fit a double, but you could fit a taller one to get more heat output, also keep the room door open as much as possible to enable air circulation, and don't stack anything against the problem area.

Chris_Michael

Mould is caused when the relative humidity is above 68%rh, below this point mould does not disappear, it just stops growing, above this point it starts to grow again. It is most common in cold spots because as temperature falls relative humidity rises and therefore a cold spot on a wall, due to poor insulation at that point or the fact that it is north facing and shaded from the sun, is a good spot for mould to grow.

So, heat the room to a level that you want it at because it is not a good use of energy just to heat the air to try and warm a wall and then think about the level of moisture in the house (not just the room). You have to concentrate on the house as a whole because moisture migrates around the house to be in a fairly even state in each room. It does not just stay in the room it was produced (i.e.bathroom and kitchen), if it did you would have a mini fog in those rooms! The mould grows in the study because that is where the cold spot is.

Look at the wall on the outside and remove any soil that is above the damp course and trim back anything that is shading the wall but the majority of moisture issues are not to do with water coming in from outside but the moisture that is produced within the home, and this is most likely in your case.

You can reduce the amount of moisture you produce by drying washing outdoors whenever possible, using an extractor in a bathroom and kitchen and buying a dehumidifier and using it throughout the colder days of the year when you have the windows closed.

Avoid having any furniture touching an outside well in future as well.

Hope this helps.

Chris

sickofusernames

My little one's bedroom had the same problem, it's a box room so not much room to rearrange furniture. We have solid brick walls too and it can be a nightmare but just try to move all large items which impede airflow away from the outside walls - if possible. We moved the chest of drawers away from the wall and not had the mould return now, even a few inches gap can help, it's trial and error.

That's the free solution and so far it's not too bad although the odd small spot can be seen from time to time but should be getting less now the weather's getting better.