Help! Whole side of my house has gone mouldy!

Arewethereyet

We rent a dorma bungalow, but only live downstairs, upstairs is just storage. There's damp in our bedroom (leave anything on the floor and it goes moudly within a few days) and also the bathroom.

We've just had a big sort out upstairs and found the whole of one wall is covered in mould and all of the furniture against it has gone mouldy. :eek: It's an exterior wall and also on the same side of the house as our bedroom and bathroom.

We've lived here for 6 years, noticed damp downstairs a year or two ago but this is the first time we've noticed anything upstairs - it's happend very quickly

Any idea's what's causing it?

House is brick built, cavity wall with insulation and built around 1964 if that makes any difference.

Any help much appreciatied!

BargainGalore

Could be condensation and lack of heat/insulation especially as you said its outside wall water condenses on cold surfaces so is more acute on outside walls. One solution is using a dehumidify at around £200+ dont costs a lot to run around 200-300w but they not usually on all time. Other than that drying clothes on rads/ bathing all make problem worse if you dont have adequate ventilation

Leif

Does the kitchen have an extractor fan? Does the bathroom have an extractor fan? Do you air laundry indoors? Do you grow plants indoors? Do you have an indoor swimming pool?

tony6403

Assuming you have them , are your upstairs radiators working and turned on (low)? Heating the rooms will help.

G_M

Damp comes form either inside, or outside.

If inside, the questions are good starters. You cook you create warm damp air. You wash/dry clothes you create warm damp air. You shower you..... etc.

And warm damp air will condense on cold surfaces eg external walls.

Outside:
could be coming from above - gutters leak? Downpipes blocked?
could be penetrating - what condition is the pointing (cement between the bricks)?
could be 'rising' - has damp proof course failed? or more commonly, is it breached eg by pile of earth against the external wall or a raised driveway/patio against the wall
could be floor - is the floor solid? concrete? how is it sealed? Or is it a suspended floor (wood on raised pillars with a space beteen the ground and the floorboards? If so, is it well ventilated? Are the ventilation bricks in the wall blocked?

Have you reported the problems to your landlord? In writing? What has he said/done?

Arewethereyet

Thanks for your replies. In answer to your questions ...

No extractor fan in the kitchen (but we don't cook on the hob much, mostly oven or microwave). But wouldn't we see mould in the kitchen?

No extractor fan in the bathroom - we've asked the landlord several times but nothing has happened. Also the children have long baths most days.

Yes, we often dry clothes indoors

No houseplants - many years ago I had some on the kitchen windowsill and my husband refered to it as death row! Would plants help or hinder?

No, the windows are rarely opened. On the rare occasion I do open them my husband follows me around closing them again "not heating the house to let it all out the windows" etc!

No indoor swimming pool. I'll ask the landlord for one - if I start the haggling high I might end up with the extractor fan I want!

Upstairs had been used as an office regulary until last November when we moved the office downstairs and ... turned off the heating upstairs. Could this be why upstairs has been affected by mould for the first time?

One thing confuses me though - one of the upstairs rooms with the most mould has a working extractor fan - the only room in the house with good ventilation!

My son's room has no ventilation and has no mould, but it's on the other side of the house. Wouldn't this room be affected too?

Not sure about the condition of outside - I'll brave the snow later and report back.

Thanks again for all your help!

ariba10

Have read of these two sites.

http://www.harfordsonline.com/downloads/condensation%20info.pdf

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ageng/structu/ae1204w.htm

BargainGalore

It could be clothes you need adequate ventilation in house the moisture from drying, cooking, bathing even yes breathing has to go some where

Yorkie1

It sounds as though it's the combination of: a) external (and therefore colder) wall, b) turning off the heating, c) drying clothes there, d) no extractor fan in the bathroom, e) no other ventilation, f) moisture from downstairs rising with the warmer air (heat rises).

Put the heating back on, keep the bathroom door shut and open the window until it has dried out after bathing, perhaps spinning clothes more in the washing machine before drying them, etc. Consider getting a dehumidifier.