tenant in my flat - condensation issues

Angela

Captainmouse wrote: »

Bit confused here, I am a tenant, moved in sept, house is double glazed, well insulated with central heating, I have a cat so leave the small top window open in the back hall during the day. There are hooks on the back of the back door which I have hung my coats on. I was shocked today to find condensation and mould on the door beneath the coats, this cannot be due to lack of ventilation as the window is open a minimum of 12 hours a day:huh::huh::huh:

But there is no ventilation between the coat and the door hence the problem, the door is cold the inside is warm this causes damp and as no ventilation between the coat and door you get mould as the damp hasnt been able to escape hth

getzls

If the tenant pays wholly for the new wooden floor, it would be hers to take with her if she moves.

Judith_W

Yep she would be able to take the flooring, but so what? She would also be responsible for replacing it with carpet to the original colour and standard as when she moved in when she leaves...

budgetdiyer

rentergirl wrote: »

I am afraid that most Environmental Health Officers agree. Condesnation occurs where landlords have inadequate venting, no or poor heating (as here) and then expect tenants to keep the windows open in winter. During the day. When the tenant is at work, even. Making sure condensation can be prevented is in the landlords best interest.

Not in my experience, i take great delight in informing tenants (after i've inspected the problem and advised on how to minimise condensation) to contact environmental health about their 'damp' problems, you know what 99% of times i never hear about their damp problems again...

BTW you know over ventilating can cause condensation too? I wouldn't ask any of my tenants to leave windows open all day during the winter, but they should ventilate humid rooms after use (Ie bathrooms, kitchen etc).

I once had a tenant who caused all sorts of fuss about damp in a flat (that had been tenanted for 10 years with no previous problems.) - When she moved out, the gas readings showed she'd used less than 30 units of gas during a 6 month tenancy in a COLD winter!

getzls

Judith_W wrote: »

Yep she would be able to take the flooring, but so what? She would also be responsible for replacing it with carpet to the original colour and standard as when she moved in when she leaves...

Yes, if it was me i would keep it and then put the carpet back down again.

dizziblonde

There is the usual eagerness to blame the tenants on here for condensation. I lived in one flat where every single one had problems with condensation and mould - I know because the landlord was around and was chatting about how he'd had to fit vents to one of the others in the block... granted they didn't run the heating or open windows - but even my flat, where I did all those things, had extractor fans going, heating on sensible levels (as cooperative as you could get with the storage heaters from the bowels of hell), windows open as much as possible when I was in (sorry but wasn't leaving ground floor windows open when I went out) and dried clothes outside on the airers... still had some much lesser damp issues. Short of stopping breathing - which I draw the line at when it comes to protecting a rented property - there was little more I could do.

Mnetioned it at the end of the tenancy - not in a massive "OMG DAMP EVIL EVIL EVIL" way - but in a "you've fitted vents to the other windows - can you let the LL know he might want to do the same to this one while it's empty and awaiting new tenants as well as there's a few issues with condensation that it's hard to stay on top of" way... and thankfully I got thanked for flagging it up, rather than the usual "you breathed in the house - it's your fault" blamestorm that goes on on here.

Some buildings get more condensationey than others - hell our current bathroom's dreadful for it - external solid (we don't have cavity walls because of the age of the building) wall, with tiles that get really cold in the winter - it's inevitable that we get the odd issue - keep on top of it with wiping and opening windows - but the whole school of "you mustn't have showers, or dry clothes, or breathe or live" because you're a tenant - is a bit much sometimes.

BitterAndTwisted

You may have experienced problems in the past but the OP has lived in this particular property and experienced no problems, so if there is condensation and mould it is obviously being caused by the tenant's lifestyle.

Anyone who dries laundry indoors in the winter without adequate heating and ventilation is just asking for trouble. And will most likely find it.

My own property is quite cold in the winter: top floor, three external walls, hardly any heating on due to extreme penury and drying laundry indoors through lack of choice. The last three winters? A bit of condensation on the bedroom windows from time to time. And that's it.

dizziblonde

Eton_Rifle wrote: »

Perhaps you should read the original post again before rushing in with your prejudices and anecdotes!

Perhaps you should get a refund off the charm school you went to?

It's the common go-to response on here I'm challenging... and I actually said that in the post :P

Werdnal

Captainmouse wrote: »

Bit confused here, I am a tenant, moved in sept, house is double glazed, well insulated with central heating, I have a cat so leave the small top window open in the back hall during the day. There are hooks on the back of the back door which I have hung my coats on. I was shocked today to find condensation and mould on the door beneath the coats, this cannot be due to lack of ventilation as the window is open a minimum of 12 hours a day:huh::huh::huh:

The fact that you leave "a window" open 12 hours a day, is not really enough to ventilate the property adequately. You need to provide a through flow of air, so a small window/trickle vents open upstairs at the back of the house, then the same open downstairs at the front - or vice versa. Leaving open 1 window in 1 room on 1 floor, only allows a small amount of fresh air into the room immediately inside the window and does not create any air movement inside the house.

However, as Angela says, the damp from your coat against the cold door is a totally different issue and no amount of room ventilation would make any difference to it anyway.

Yorkie1

dizziblonde wrote: »

Perhaps you should get a refund off the charm school you went to?

It's the common go-to response on here I'm challenging... and I actually said that in the post :P

Actually, what you said was

There is the usual eagerness to blame the tenants on here for condensation

Everyone's response on here to blame the T has been based on the specific facts given by the OP in their first post and not on what you said was standard eagerness to blame the T without reference to anything else.

Fact 1. The OP lived there for some time without any condensation problems.

Fact 2. A specialist survey has been done and ruled out any structural issues.

Fact 3. The only difference in factors betweeen when the OP lived there and the current T, is the change in person living there. Eliminate all the common factors and the only factor left is the change in occupier.

Given fact number 1, it is clearly possible to live in this particular property without having to compromise on lifestyle.

T chose not to accept the advice given by OP and therefore condensation has resulted.

Yes, there are sometimes structural issues which cause condensation but they have been clearly ruled out in this case.