Mouldy walls!!!!!!

WestonDave

At the risk of stating the obvious, have you tried to cut off the root cause rather than just cleaning up the symptoms? By this I mean that mould grows on damp surfaces which in turn are caused by moisture in the air depositing when it cools due to contact with a cold surface - e.g. a cold window pane or wall.

Firstly if the air in the flat is too cold (or is ever allowed to get cold) it will not hold as much water so the cycle starts (ending with mould). Try to keep the flat warm at all times (not very money saving but perhaps constantly warm rather than fluctuating from hot to cold). The classic example is spending the night with no heating on - you may be nice and warm under the duvet and saving money because the heating is off, but the air temperature is dropping and with it water is literally dropping out of the air!

The other end is not to put moisture into the air in the first place - or at least when you do, direct it outside rather than keeping it in the flat. Having adequate ventilation especially on dry days will help, but other things may also be possible to cut this down.

Try not to dry clothes on radiators around the flat - if you can't use a vented tumble dryer or a launderette dryer, and have to dry them in the flat, then choose one room, put them on an airer with a heater on and a window open. All that moisture in the fabric needs to go outside not into the rest of your living space. The same applies to your drip strips - if they soak up water and you then use the radiator to dry them in the same room, all you are doing is putting the moisture back into the air ready to condensate again!

When you shower etc, have a window open and the door shut and keep it that way after you've finished. Again you want the moist air to go outside not into the flat. Following the same when cooking might help.

What these will do is go some way to avoiding the need for the dehumidifier - that takes the moisture out of the air, these ideas may avoid putting so much in, in the first place.

I realise with little money and a small child some or all of these might be impractical or irrelevant so I hope something at least is helpful!

sammy_kaye18

carrie- got your link to work by typing in the word myself when i t was in the browser - in your pic 12 - window frame one - it si liek that on every window frame and ugly lumpy bits of mould on the sealent in the windows.

My bathroom is minging though - i will see if i can get a picture of it for you.

carrieparkinson

niiiiice! mine's the same. just about every window's manky, its yuk. gonna try the moisture soakerupperers i think as suggested on this thread... it could at least give me a bit extra feet up time on a day instead of soaking it all up with a sponge, wiping down etc. when i get through to the cab, do you want me to let you know what they tell me?

Mrs_Pepperpot_2

definitely contact local mp - in my experience they get things moving pretty quickly - especially if children could be at risk!

Good luck!

Mrs_Pepperpot_2

Actually, thinking about it - if your child is at nursery see if the person who is in charge of the nursery will write to MP and say that they are worried about it. Might add a bit of weight!

angelavdavis

When I was growing up, we lived in a Council house which had an issue on one outside wall with horrific black mould growth. Regardless of the love pored over the house with decor, cleaning, etc, nothing changed the situation and eventually my Mum lost heart.

Mum went to the GP and described the issue and he wrote a letter to the Council saying the mould was affected my Dad's health (brochitis sufferer) and causing my Mum to suffer from depression.

We were rehoused elsewhere.

They got their refurb cowboys in and passed the house on - within a couple of years, the problem was as bad as ever.

That particular house was a 60's concrete construction with aluminium windows - renowned for poor air circulation issues.

Definitely get a de-humidifier from freecycle if poss and take your pictures along to the GP saying you are seriously concerned about the health of your child in such circumstances. Ask him for support in sending a letter to the Council complaining about health issues and send to Env Health (cc'ing your MP as they HAVE to reply to MP raised issues).

tr3mor

Another thought!

What do you do with the towels that you mop up the damp with? If you're leaving them to dry in the house then you're not removing any damp.

chardonnay_2

our council sorted the mould problem in our flat within days. your councils are a disgrace - you pay them rent and council tax - they should be sorting it.

kaya

milton sterilising fluid kills the mould spores off, only a temporary fix but pretty harmless to people and animals

want2bmortgage3

westondave has some very good advice here... do as much as you can to prevent the cause of the mould, instead of just trying to clean it up!