4yr old bedroom carpet smells of cat urine and is soaking

sexystaig

i have been on at the council for over a yr now about damp in my daughters room. the estate manager came out twice said its condensation and the building inspector once said it was condensation. when they did this no damp meter in site.
i would not mind but i ventilate well and 4wk ago i bought 2 damp catching boxes and gone through them emptiying them every 5 days. the problem is that bad now i have had to throw out her first bed a bookshelf half her toys a mattress of new bed and need to throw her carpet to.
the carpet squeaks down 1 wall and is covered in big black mould patches underneith and the concreat floor is wet/damp to touch and the carpet is pealing away from the backing in 1 corner and in the layers it is covered in green mould where it is coming away. i moved her new bed to have a clean and hoover under bed and the smell that come when i did that smelled like 50 tom cats had been spraying in her room and the smell is in the mattress and i found little yellow spore things on the underside of mattress. i have since moved her in to my room and her night time coughing has calmed down. also before i noticed the smell and wet carpet my neice came to stay over night and ended up with an asthma atack and put on steroids. what can i do now ? thanks dawn x

HappyMJ

Remove the carpet yourself and stick it in the shed or somewhere else dry. Open window and aerate the room constantly. I'd remove all the contents of the room and put them in the yard in direct sunlight that'll dry everything out. This time of year there really shouldn't be damp. Call the landlord out to remove the carpet from the shed and fix the damp problem in the room.

Lube

Something wrong with the property you live in condensation shouldn't be a problem this time of year even if it was Winter it shouldn't be that bad something must be wrong with the property

You need to get the council back or ask for environmental health

WLM21

If you have been on to the Council for over a year as you said, then speak to your local Councillor or even the MP for your area. Also visit the local Citizens Advice Bureau

Koicarp

You mention your child had a nocturnal cough- if she has visited her GP or a paediatrician for this it is often worth asking them to send a supporting letter to the housing dept in order to hurry them along (I'm a childrens nurse and regularly see this done).
You do have to convince the council to actually deal with the cause when they send staff along rather than just fob you off or take actions which treat symptoms rather than solve the problem. You mention a concrete floor- is this on the ground floor of a house or an upper floor in a flat? Have you recently had insertion of cavity wall insulation? (moisture often runs along joists and comes up under carpets in this case). Is the damp proof course on external walls breached? (ground above damp proof course). Could a pipe be leaking (drips build up into pools).
ps I was a bricky before I was a nurse.

irnbru_2

sexystaig wrote: »

the concreat floor is wet/damp to touch

Is this a ground-floor property?

tony6403

I would register a complaint with the Local Government Ombudsman(LGO).
If the Council is at fault you should be able to get it sorted by the LGO and you might even be awarded compensation.

auntymabel

A letter to your local paper wouldn't hurt

sexystaig

hi thanks all x yes am on the ground floor no gerden or shed and the council building inspector should have been out today. and guess what he did come out but didnt knock or use the intercom system as a neighbour saw him come to the door then just left. i rang council and asked where he was and they said he had been and no answer and cant give me an appointment for another 2wk. so i went mental down the fone and even got my sis to take me to the inspectors office, which is different to council office where you go to complain in general. i dont think they were expecting that. and i got hold of the manager of the inspector and said. i was sat in all day waiting for the inspector to come i was over road with the dog and saw him go to the door looked at it and walked away. i have had them him come out 3 times to be told its condensation so i got 2 builders i know to come have a look and they said they will wright a letter each to say it is damp not condensation. and also my neice comes to stop 1 night a wk before i noticed it was that bad and keeps getting chest infections as she got really bad asthma. and she not stayed for 3 wks and is loads better come to stop again and ended up on steroids the next day. i moved all daughters room to give good spring clean to find carpet soaked and half her toys covered in mould and a bookshelf so mouldie at the back it dropped to bits when i moved it and i 0only had that 6mth. to lift the carpet for it to peal away in the corner where i pulled it to find the concreat looking like its just been put down n still drying out. am so !!!!ed off at inspector that if i dont get owt done today am going straight to the paper (visitor) from here and get them to do a story on it. he said give me a min come bk and said will get an out side contractor to come with a soverign meter i will ring you by the end of the day or tomoz with a date there coming round. a small result but still got to wait. now can i sue them when it comes bk as damp for all the stuff it has ruined and the trouble i have gone through over the last yr or so with this ? xx