Mould In Loft - Advice Please

Scootymad

Hello all.

I have been storing some things in the loft in preparation for the arrival of my second child, which includes an expensive double pram, car seat and other personal possessions. All of them have been up there for a max of 3 months as thats when we moved in.

Well, I've gone up today to bring things down and everything is covered in mould and stained too.

Where will I stand about this as I an worried about health conditions and also there is a lot of moneys worth been damaged up there.

Will my landlord be responsible to cover the costs of replacing things as my contents ins wont cover it?

Im at a loss and my other half is stressing which isnt good for her!

Thanks

Hump

Your landlord won't be liable - essentially lofts should not be used to store anything

neas

If we store anything in the loft we usually wrap a black binliner around it as it will be cold up there.

ess0two

How and why would a landlord be liable?

G_M

Although agreeing with the comments above, items stored in a loft should not get mouldy in 3 months.

Either there is a damp problem (water ingress) and/or lack of ventilation. Either way the LL should be told so he can at least investigate.

Often when insulation is laid in a loft, it is placed too tightly up into the eaves, cutting out the ventilation completely. If no air circulates, any moisture in the air cannot escape.

Scootymad

Thank you for the replies.

I personally believe they should be liable. When first viewing the property he said the loft space was perfectly usable! And not only that, there is nothing in my tenancy agreemeny etc that says we should not use the loft space for storage.

Will see what they say when they call me back on Monday.

dodger1

Scootymad wrote: »

Thank you for the replies.

I personally believe they should be liable. When first viewing the property he said the loft space was perfectly usable!

Well if you've got that in writing then he may pay for the damage.

Scootymad

Once again, I have spoken to him this morning and he has said that the loft space is usable.

He has also stated that they had done the insulation himself. Its quite obvious the venting in the loft isn't up to the new insulation.

I have now put this is writing and am informing the Environmental Health as he doesn't seem to want to do anything about this.

Are EH usually very helpful?

19lottie82

Scootymad wrote: »

I have now put this is writing and am informing the Environmental Health as he doesn't seem to want to do anything about this.

Are EH usually very helpful?

I can't see them being bothered with this TBH.

EH will only get involved if your property is not habitable, but yours sounds like it is.

WestonDave

The obvious answer for EH to resolve the potential health issues (which is their remit not damage to possessions) is to tell you to stay out of the loft. Regardless of common use and the landlords comments, lofts are not designed for access or storage - they are simply a void which occurs by virtue of creating a sloping roof. Often the ceiling joists are not designed for extra weight on them.

You are going to have a hard job pinning anyone else down on this - the landlord probably made his comments in good faith, his insurers won't roll over and pay out, which leaves you with a choice as to whether you pursue this, upset the landlord and end up moving house. If the rest of the deal is basically a good one, it might be a case of learning that when putting fabric stuff in a loft, you need to protect it from damp.

DRP

WestonDave wrote: »

The obvious answer for EH to resolve the potential health issues (which is their remit not damage to possessions) is to tell you to stay out of the loft. Regardless of common use and the landlords comments, lofts are not designed for access or storage - they are simply a void which occurs by virtue of creating a sloping roof. Often the ceiling joists are not designed for extra weight on them.

You are going to have a hard job pinning anyone else down on this - the landlord probably made his comments in good faith, his insurers won't roll over and pay out, which leaves you with a choice as to whether you pursue this, upset the landlord and end up moving house. If the rest of the deal is basically a good one, it might be a case of learning that when putting fabric stuff in a loft, you need to protect it from damp.

agree with this. ^^

I'm sorry but you are really unlikely to get anyone else to carry the can on this one as it is essentially your own responsibility.

If you're going to put expensive and personal stuff in the loft it should have been wrapped in something protective and you should have been regularly checking its condition for deterioration. A loft is an unheated space and isn't designed for storage, especially of the kind you're talking about - upholstered items - during a very wet winter.