Mould In Loft - Advice Please

propertyman

But he has been told that the loft is there for him to use and therefore it is part of his tenancy and part of the rent he is paying- a house with a loft.

Your best bet is that if you cannot see any eaves or soffit ventilation, as GM indicates or there is no roof peak vents, then he will end up with rot and woodworm in the damp conditions.

In most cases its no more than a morningss work and £20 on a few baffles to get air moving, or putting a thick board down and with gloves and masks and goggles puling back insulation from around any eaves or soffit vents.

DRP

propertyman wrote: »

But he has been told that the loft is there for him to use and therefore it is part of his tenancy and part of the rent he is paying- a house with a loft.

Your best bet is that if you cannot see any eaves or soffit ventilation, as GM indicates or there is no roof peak vents, then he will end up with rot and woodworm in the damp conditions.

In most cases its no more than a morningss work and £20 on a few baffles to get air moving, or putting a thick board down and with gloves and masks and goggles puling back insulation from around any eaves or soffit vents.

OP has got the use of the loft that he paid for, but whether or not it is suitable for long-term storage of unprotected items is another matter...

This winter, in my kitchen and bathroom I have had items of furniture with mold growing on them. Both rooms are heated & well ventilated.

Agree with the advice on ventilation - OP, how much moisture is visible within the loft?

Scootymad

19lottie82 - EH have a responsibility to investigate issues with mould/damp/moisture if you have no luck with your landlord.

DRP - There is visible moisture along the length of the house on one side of the loft space.

I have had my Landlord out this morning to inspect it, and he has turned round to me and said 'what do you expect me to do?'and then told me himself that I should call EH and get them to come and inspect it and he will act on their instruction.

The part which is getting me at the moment is, he stated that the previous tenants never had a problem with damp/mould/moisture in the loft space, so he doesn't know why we have.

Guess I will just have to wait and see what EH have to say about it!

xoAmyox

You are well within your rights to contact EH - but when I spoke to them about issues in a previous house - they said they didn't look at anywhere that wasn't considered living space.

If they do look and produce a report it is likely that they will then charge the landlord for doing so.

At this rate you could quite quickly find yourself being evicted by the landlord for causing him such grief.

I wouldn't want be forced to move home with a newborn...

19lottie82

Scootymad wrote: »

19lottie82 - EH have a responsibility to investigate issues with mould/damp/moisture if you have no luck with your landlord.

Only if it is causing health issues or making your home inhabitable.

As someone else has mentioned, all the EH will so is tell you to stay out of the loft.

Scootymad

xoAmyox wrote: »

You are well within your rights to contact EH - but when I spoke to them about issues in a previous house - they said they didn't look at anywhere that wasn't considered living space.

If they do look and produce a report it is likely that they will then charge the landlord for doing so.

At this rate you could quite quickly find yourself being evicted by the landlord for causing him such grief.

I wouldn't want be forced to move home with a newborn...

As I appreciate what you're saying, my main concern is the health of my family. If it is left untreated, it has the potential to cause mould within the ceiling which is then a health hazard to my family, especially a newborn child.

My LL also has no grounds to evict me if the house isn't correctly maintained. Even if he tries, I plan on moving within the next 4 months as this property has caused nothing but problems since moving in.

I pay quite a premium for a relatively small property, so I expect it to be well maintained, which its turning out not to be.

londonlydia

Mould spores could make your kids quite ill so I wouldnt let them near them when they're still alive as it were.

But, have you tried killing the mould and cleaning it? All you need to do is spray or dab on some distilled (white) vinegar. Vinegar will be harmless. Use it neat, and leave it a few hours at least. Then gently rub off. Repeat if needed. This will kill it off and most marking will vanish. Any stains left, you can stain treat with vanish or whatever you feel comfortable with. You may not even need to. Google' vinegar spray fabric mould' and you should come up with more detilae dinstructions.

Honestly I reckon they wil be recoverable, my partner's car was unused in a cold damp snap last year, and his lovely interior got covered in mould (including that alicantra/ fake suede stuff and the leather!!). He was selling it, and he is very, very, fussy about his cars. He used vinegar, worked a treat. Got rid of all of it. Smell dies down after a week, gone completely in 2. Only word of caution is don't use too much water if washing any part as that can stain certain fabrics (such as suedes).

londonlydia

Infact, here's a link to your exact problem, getting mould off a pram!:

http://www.ehow.com/how_6103991_remove-mold-stroller.html

Scootymad

I will pick up some white vinegar and give this a go!

We've managed to save most things, bar the car seats which may need the white vinegar trick on the straps. Most stuff has stripped down and been washed on a high temp to kill the spores.

Scootymad

Little update on the scenario, EH are coming to inspect the property this coming Tuesday