New Build- Mould/damp walls

ironman1

Just after a bit of advice, hopefully this is the right forum for this sort of thing?

Quick details- me and my girlfriend moved into a new build two bed flat on a shared ownership scheme just over two years ago. In and up to the first year, our Housing people take care of all faults defects. Within a few months we noticed in the spare room that mould was forming in patches. We told the HA about this...

Since we told them the problem they have been out twice in the last year but only sprayed over these patches. To me it looks as though the problem is deeper into the wall rather than the outside plasterboard.

We are both getting really annoyed as we want to decorate the room as we are due a baby in a couple of months. During the latest call to them they told me they may not be able to do anything and it must be a condensation issue and we should not put furniture too near to the wall, nor hang any pictures/clocks in this room. To me this sounds ridiculous. The room has air vents above the window which we leave open.

Could anyone tell me where we stand with this? I mean we don't want to decorate only for mould to keep returning, plus we don't want anything affecting the baby.

Any advice would be great, or if anyone needs more info please ask. Thanks

BornAtTheRightTime

It either will be condensation or penetrating damp.

Are there any water pipes likely to be routed near there to a bathroom or kitchen? Take a look outside - are there any downpipes in the area? Any blocked guttering above? Slipped tiles directly above? If there are absolutely no possible sources of water, then it is condensation.

I have assumed that you are not on the ground floor. if you are, is the damp low down on the wall? If so it could be a bridged damp course. Is the damp course at least 150mm higher than the ground level (some people may suggest rising damp but the latest thinking is that rising damp is incredibly rare - virtually all cases of damp are caused by condensation or penetrating damp)?

If you've ruled out sources of leaks/water as being possible then the HA are most likely correct in assessing it as condensation. Do you use a tumble dryer in the flat? As it is a spare room, have you turned the radiator off in there to save money?

Rooms needs to be Heated, Insulated and Ventilated to keep condensation at bay.

ironman1

You sound very clued up! Yeah we are the middle floor of three. The outside to the wall mainly affected leads to the outside of the flat (but still inside the building). The patches are low but are now rising. We hung a mirror up on the main wall and took that down and it was smoothered in black marks.

To be fair I don't think the radiator is on in the room too often, I'll see to that from now on. I want to paint the room etc soon for the baby's arrival but will wait until the next visit from the Housing !!!... Will and can they get out of this by saying we haven't had windows open /radiators on?

Thanks for your advice

BornAtTheRightTime

I'd like to think* they'll take a sensible viewpoint, ie try to find potential sources of penetrating damp and failing that, suggest you keep the room warmer and well aired for a month and to monitor whether that helps things. If you do these things and it gets worse then they should have to take it more seriously. Good luck with the visit.

*However, I can't tell you how they'll respond as I have no experience of HAs.

Jowo_2

ironman1 wrote: »

...Will and can they get out of this by saying we haven't had windows open /radiators on?

The onus is on the occupiers to adequately heat and ventilate their properties and take steps to prevent mould/damp caused by their behaviour (for example, drying clothes indoors, not using lids on pans, etc).

A landlord is only responsible when there is a defect that is causing the damp (leaking pipe/guttering, etc).

Although some building designs don't help matters, if there is no actual maintenance issue causing the mould/damp and it is identified as resulting from your lifestyle, then yes, they will rightly 'get out of it'.

This leaflet is aimed at landlords but is very helpful to tenants, too.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/pdf/Mould.pdf

ironman1

They did mention lifestyle on the phone. Fair enough if it is down to us but to be told we can't hang pictures or put furniture too close to the wall seems mad to me. Why is it only in this room aswell? We have family/friends staying in there a few times a month, it's not like its an empty room thats just left their with the door shut.

To be honest new build properties are built so cheaply it's hardly suprising we are having issues. Was told to avoid shared ownership aswell.

Jowo_2

The areas affected are often away from the source of the vapour/condensation as it tends to migrate towards cold spots.

I had a council flat that became completely mouldy on one side of the property, towards exterior walls, north facing and single glazed on that side, aggravated by leaving the property unheated during a long winter holiday. The actual source of the problem was traced back to a previous tenant stuffing a duster behind the bathroom ventilation grille so everytime I had a bath, the condensation had nowhere to escape and settled towards the colder part of the property.

By the sounds of your earlier comments, as this room is largely empty apart from occasional visitors, it is probably the heated room. The temptation to turn off the heater in an empty room is understandable but can aggravate matters. Is this what has happened in your case?

ironman1

We have turned off the radiator in the room quite alot, but then again APPARENTLY the builder told my gf to do this as having the radiator on too much could have been affecting the walls!

By the way I just want to say I am not someone who complains about everything and making life hell for my 'landlord' as the landlord is a big firm who like others seem to think owning half of a property means owning all of it. They don't want to know about their side of things. In the first year they take care of any damage or issues and this mould first occurred a few months after we moved in. So they know the problem is down to them as our complaint is on their system.

Telling us not to hang things on the wall and not to put furniture to close to it is ridiculous surely?!

CLAPTON

condensation is caused by warm moist air coming in contact with a cold surface

modern flats tend to have very good insulation (double glazed windows etc.) so there is little opportunity for warm damp air to escape

so are there extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom? if so do you leave them on for several HOURS after cooking/showering?
otherwise you need to open windows to allow the damp air to escape and to make sure all the rooms are heated
if you have things very close to outside (cold) walls then yea you need to leave a space between them and the wall... you can easily have mirrors or picture on the wall with a gap between the object and the wall

Jowo_2

ironman1 wrote: »

..
Telling us not to hang things on the wall and not to put furniture to close to it is ridiculous surely?!

I imagine part of this advice is to protect these items from being permanently damaged from the mould you have created and partly to ensure better air circulation in that area, perhaps also to keep the area free from obstructions for the landlords inspection.

If you want your belongings to be damaged, just ignore the advice.

bristol_pilot

The biggest single 'lifestyle' factor is drying laundry in the house (e.g. on airers or radiators) - don't do it, use a tumble drier. Having eliminated all indoor laundry - and I assume you use the extractor fan in the bathroom to remove moisture during and after showering - the next step if you are still getting condensation could be to get a dehumidifier. A cheap one from Argos will suffice for a flat.

The advice not to put furniture close to walls is because condensation often forms preferentially behind wardrobes etc. However it is better to eliminate the moisture source, e.g. through the above measures, IMO.