New Build- Mould/damp walls

wrightk

we had a similar problem with a previous rented property which was a new house build.
Unfortunately some of the new house builds are very cheaply built with poor design.
The trickle vents above your window which your talking about arent enough to ventilate the room you need to open the windows every morning to allow condensation to escape.
If you were like us and the bathroom is in close proximity to the bedroom make sure the extractor fans are on and the timer is set to at least 15 mins after you finishing showering, open the bathroom window aswell ideally.
A small dehumidifer would also help on those days you can't open the windows and would vcertainly improve the air quality for your new arrival

Good luck

poppysarah

ironman1 wrote: »

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

Yes.

It is quite plainly stupid to build a property and then have to lay down rules on how to live in it.

Get a dehumidifier to ensure the room is air dry as much as possible - put it on a timer if you don't want it on all the time. Same with the heating...

Where inside the building is the other side of the wall?

Just because a wall is internal doesn't mean it doesn't have a cavity that goes to the roof...

Damp walls can sometimes be caused by something inside the cavity spanning the gap...

sequence

When I last worked on new builds, they had to bleach scrub the walls virtually every week due to the mould, before the viewers came to view the "luxury" flats. These had the heating on all day and no one was living there.... Go figure!

Lifestyle problem though, obviously!;)

David_Aldred

Hi ironman1,
There is a considerable amount of moisture introduced into a building when it is first built that takes time after completion to dry down and with one trade quickly following another this can result in dampness / mould growth within the early stages of occupation. In addition modern construction is often far less tolerant of poor workmanship during construction sometimes resulting in for example penetrating dampness and condensation occurring within the fabric of the building itself especially if warm moist air from rooms is allowed to get within cold areas of construction and condense out.

However the biggest moisture source within a reasonably maintained property is by far the people within it and how they live. For example a wet floor slab to a lounge room will only add a few teaspoons of water to the air compared to on average around 10 litres produced by a person during normal daily activities.

If you are getting mould growth actually upon your own belongings that are close to but not in contact with walls then this correlates with excessive relative humidity within the flat. If the mould growth is concentrated to one specific area that it is feasible may have defective insulation / vapour barrier / be suffering an external defect then the matter obviously may be part structural.

On the occupancy front nobody likes being told their lifestyle may be a primary cause of the mould but the following points may help:

Without open fireplaces it is crucial in avoiding mould that background ventilation is adequate. At the very least trickle vents to windows should be left open 24/7 and opening casements to bedroom / kitchen / bathroom left open for as much as you can tolerate / afford especially first thing in the morning.

Bathe and cook with doors closed to prevent warm moist air moving to colder areas in other parts of the flat and condensing out. This includes reasonable time after cooking / bathing aswell. Open windows to kitchen / bathroom when cooking / bathing. Hopefully extractor fans are fitted to these rooms which should overrun once activated for at least 15 minutes. If these are manually operated it may be preferable to replace them with fans that are humidistat controlled such that they sense excessive humiidty automatically and trip in and hence do not rely on you switching them on and off. The fans to the bathroom are often specified at 100mm diameter 15 litres / second air exchange. This may be inadequate and sometimes 150mm diameter 60 litres / second air exchange improves things considerably.

Heating regimes should not simply be clock regulated allowing heating to go off altogether suring cold periods, for example when you are out at work or at night since condensation is temperature related and might be occuring during night / when you are out if there is no heating on. Preferably thermostat controlled where you set say a minimum temperature of say 15 degC and the boiler trips in and out to maintain this also helps.

Drying clothes on radiators obviously adds to the moisture within the air but with a sensible well balanced heating / ventilation regime this should not result in chronic mould and should have been allowed for within the design of the new flat that such an occurence would not cause chronic mould as a result.

A dehumidifier may help for times when the wind is so severe you cannot tolerate opening a window especially to flats above ground level but small units only tend to be effective within the room they are located and hence the preferance to try and improve things via the other means indicated in the first instance.

If the matter is structural (and it has not been ruled out yet) then photograph with date stamped camera as evidence and put everything in writing should a dispute arise at a later date including damage to clothes / belongings. Remember the products of mould growth are dangerous to health and the mould should be cleaned down as soon as it occurs. This is especially true for yourselves in this case with an expantant mother / baby on the way. Hope this helps, kindest regards David Aldred Independent damp and timber surveyor