A little vent about my horrible house

MamaMoo_2

So, despite being alerted to the damp and mould in my house on 16/12/11, the council have decided to do nothing until 31/01/12.!
My hubby and I are so fed up with this house now that we just want to move, but I'm being told that it will take 10 weeks plus to carry out a medical assessment.

Basically, the damp and mould is making my kids (3 months and 19 months) myself & my husband sick.
My sons have both developed asthma, my asthma has come back with a vengeance after 11 years, and I've a cough so bad I'm on steroids to treat it as the antibiotics didn't touch it.!

My husband has been itching like a madman for weeks, especially in his sleep when he can scratch until he bleeds.
I was under the impression that the council had to fix these issues quickly, but 6 weeks seems like a lifetime.!

In their own words, any house with a damp or mould problem which has a detrimental effect on the health of the occupants will be deemed to be unfit for human habitation. However, they have refused to provide any temporary accommodation.!

We've been ill for months (since about the beginning of October) but we tried all kinds of things to try and remove the damp ourselves (dehumidifiers, windows & vents open/closed, temperature control etc) but it didn't work.

We had a damp inspector out on 3/01/12, who said that it was clearly a problem that couldn't be rectified by us, and wasn't down to anything we were doing wrong. There're problems with the windows, and there were some small patches of damp on some of the outside walls at the back of the house.

However, tonight has just taken the biscuit.!
3 months ago (about a week before my son was born) my hubby rearranged the bedroom.!
Tonight, he dropped something down the back of his bedside table (which is in the corner of the bedroom, up against an outside wall.) He moved the table to get behind it, and we almost screamed. This is what we were faced with.



This is the bedroom my baby sleeps in. This is what is contributing to us all being so ill. This is what is deemed acceptable to leave a family of 4 in!

I'm so disgusted and at the end of my tether that after 28 months medication-free, I'm now back on tablets for my bi-polar disorder, as the depression part has become so overwhelming having to deal with a sick family. Being vomited on by my 3 month old because his cough's so bad he throws up. Waking up to deal with a choking 19 month old 2-3 times a night. Waking up to stop my husband scratching his skin off when I hear him clawing at himself during the night.

I honestly can't cope anymore. I wish there was something I could do.

I know some people will probably have a go saying I'm lucky I have a roof over my head, and I should be grateful that I'm entitled to social housing etc etc, and I know that in a way I am. But at the same time, this house is poisoning my kids, and I can't deal with that.

Gah.

</vent>

coldcazzie

Picture doesn't work hun.

I can empathise with what you're going through. We moved out of our old house after having years and years of damp problems, mould on the walls, no heating to speak of... while it wasn't making the kids ill it was making me ill: I actually woke up one night with such a bad asthma attack that I actually thought I was going to die and tried to wake my hubby up so I could say goodbye to him, and I also ended up on the steroids. I can't offer any nuggets of wisdom I'm afraid, our landlord wouldn't/couldn't do anything about it as he is essentially on his death bed and his wife's lost a few marbles. We solved it by moving out and buying our own house with help from my parents. I haven't had an asthma attack since, except when we went back to clean.

The council really do take the !!!! with how long it takes them to assess things, and the even longer amount of time it takes to fix them. I hope it's sorted for you soon x

Badger_Lady

Here's the image (I found it by clicking on the icon in the OP):

aliasojo

I feel for you OP. We have just found black mould in our daughter's room too. No wonder she has felt ill for weeks. We are keeping it at bay presently with constant cleaning, a dehumidifier on all day and also an electric radiator to supplement the poor central heating. No doubt the resulting electricity bills will kill us but we don't have any other choice at the moment.

I have no suggestions for you with regards to the council, I have read many similar complaints and in each case the council has been slow acting and not terribly efficient in dealing with it. It's a real problem.

peter_the_piper

Glad to see that they are going to start work on Tuesday. As far as councils go they are doing this pretty quickly, hope all is resolved soon.

MamaMoo_2

peter_the_piper wrote: »

Glad to see that they are going to start work on Tuesday. As far as councils go they are doing this pretty quickly, hope all is resolved soon.

I suppose it's fairly quick now, but it feels like a lifetime from when we first told them (back in December)

My dad used to do maintenance for the council, and he has basically said that what they'll do will stop the mould in that particular spot, however the likelihood is that mould will grow around the spot, as they only put the membrane where there was mould in the first place, not over all the walls
I've also been told that the fungicidal wash I've been using to try and keep it at bay (that isn't working!) is the same stuff the council use to treat it.
I'm just hoping that something works soon because I'm at my wits end

LisaB85

Have you called environmental health? the HA previously refused to help with the damp/mould in this house until the environmental health officer came round Dec 09 and then sent the HA a list of jobs that need to be done.

But it was a long process, they replaced facia boards round the house as the wooden ones had rotten, new central heating (old heaters had rusted inside!) but there is still more that needs to be done.

MamaMoo_2

LisaB85 wrote: »

Have you called environmental health? the HA previously refused to help with the damp/mould in this house until the environmental health officer came round Dec 09 and then sent the HA a list of jobs that need to be done.

But it was a long process, they replaced facia boards round the house as the wooden ones had rotten, new central heating (old heaters had rusted inside!) but there is still more that needs to be done.

EH won't get involved until/unless the council's treatment doesn't work.
Tbh, I just want out of this house, now. It's one thing after another.

arcon5

Is moving house not an option for you?

MamaMoo_2

arcon5 wrote: »

Is moving house not an option for you?

To private rent I'd need about £1750 upfront (deposit, rent in advance And agency fees) and I just don't have that kind of money. Plus, private renting in this area would at least double my rent.
We're saving up for a deposit in the long run, but it won't be an immediate solution.

MamaMoo_2

winterfellspoon wrote: »

could the asthma not be related to the smoking?

I don't smoke.
The cigarettes in the picture are my husbands. When he smokes at home he has to wash his hands & face, brush his teeth, change into his indoor clothes, and deodorise himself before he comes back around me or the kids. (I'm rather anti-smoke as I had asthma originally due to being brought up in a smoky house, so I do my best to protect the kids from hubby's habit)