Rented New House - damp

dynamiccoins

Hi,

We've just moved into a new house which we are renting (can I just add that moving is a nightmare!!!).

The house is a bungalow and the main bedroom has fitted wardrobes against the outside wall. Whilst we were moving in, one if the wardrobes had some mold in it - we only discovered this whilst moving in.

The place had smelled slightly musty when we viewed it, but we put this down to the fact it was still to be cleaned after the last tenant had moved out. The placve was cleaned and the mold removed.

So, we checked the other cupboards and the wall itself looked fine....until, yesterday, we looked down the side of the fitted wardrobes and there is mold on the wall where they have obviously not cleaned.

I'll be calling the landlord today, but wondered if anyone had any advice on what the landlord should do - to my untrained eye, it would seem that the fitted wardrobes would need to be removed to see how bad the situation is behind them.

Also, should the landlord get the builders in or anyone else for that matter. Or is there a health and saftey team at the council who would be useful in this situation.

The main thing I'm worried about (aside from the fact its our bedroom) is that we have a 15 month old and my girlfriend is pregnant. What affect could damp have on them?

Questions, questions - thanks alot for any help/advice.

davebelushi

this is most probably a condensation problem. increase the ventilation in the room if possible. opening windows and any vents should help. the mould can be killed off witha mild bleach solution (bit of bleach mixed with warm water) but it will keep returning unless you can change the local atmospheric conditions within the house. with regards to health issues. mould can aggravate certain breathing difficulties. if you google mould you will find some more info. however quite a lot of the info on the net is fairly extreme as the web sites are usually trying to sell you a remedy.

olly300

Like davebelushi said it is probably a condensation problem. Lots of bedrooms and bathrooms have it.

Easiest steps to combat it is:
1. Demand the landlord cleans up the mould, and then you remove it if it comes back as suggested.
2. Don't dry any clothes in that room because you can't wipe down the walls/wardrobes.
3. Open all air bricks and trickle vents in the room and keep them open at all times.
4. Sleep with a window open even in winter
( Get a dehumitifier if you can't cope with sleeping with an open window in winter.)
5. Don't put any of your belongs near the wall on that side of the room.

Removing the wardrobes would help but if the room has a ventilation problem the condensation will just collect on the walls and window on that side rather than the wardrobes.

I rented a place years ago with no fitted wardrobes where the previous person had trouble with condensation. I didn't simply because I sleep with my window open all year. (Yes I had trouble getting out of bed when it was less than 0 degrees which is why one of my housemates used a dehumitifier. )

BTW one landlord I use to rent from got so fed up with another tenant who wouldn't open the windows and put any heating on so causing a condensation problem and then complaining about it, he went around his properties checking that all tenants opened their windows and left leaflets for them.

clutton_2

i am writing to all my tenants telling them that if they do not maintain an airflow in the property that i will be deducting redecoration from their deposit - i have spent hundreds and hundreds on redecorations cos tenants wont open windows - this is the most likely cause.

Meatballs

As for cleaning off mould, you can get some proper anti-mould cleaners from B&Q which keep the mould at bay a lot longer than normal detergents.

Have landlords tried paint with anti mould properties? In our shower room, even with extractor fan and window wide open mould still appears on the ceiling.

davebelushi

Meatballs wrote: »

As for cleaning off mould, you can get some proper anti-mould cleaners from B&Q which keep the mould at bay a lot longer than normal detergents.

Have landlords tried paint with anti mould properties? In our shower room, even with extractor fan and window wide open mould still appears on the ceiling.

they are a waste of money, trust me. check the active ingredient and you'll find it is common bleach. as are anti mould paints etc.....

lynzpower

i love the way everyone can say this is a condensation problem without seeing the property!

Would condensation really gather inside fitted wardrobes on an exterior wall?

OP where else in the property was the black situated?

dynamiccoins

Nowhere apart from the single cupboard and the wall - but remeber the only bit of wall is a gap of about a couple of inches so whats behind the cupboards could be the interesting thing. And I don;t know if it was anywhere else, but has been cleaned before we moved in.

If it were condensation, would I expect to see it on the windows as well? Saying that we've only been there a couple of days.

I didn't get time to speak to the landlord yesterday, but my initial thought is damp rather than condensation.

olly300

On windows the condensation will either drip on the sill or evaporate. Dripping on the sill is more noticable in winter especially if you are not in a double glazed property.

On the wall the condensation would evaporate except if a cupboard is fitted in front of it that wasn't build with the property. The cupboard restricts air flow so there is no where for the condensation to go.

Property built with fitted cupboards normally have them built so this doesn't happen i.e. there is a recess in the wall and doors are fitted over the recess.

However property where cupboards are fitted later especially on external walls commonly have this problem because the cupboards are not normally built into a brick recess i.e. they are given wooden backs and wooden sides. This means there is a gap between the back/side of the cupboard and the wall where air can't flow.

olly300

lynzpower wrote: »

i love the way everyone can say this is a condensation problem without seeing the property!

Would condensation really gather inside fitted wardrobes on an exterior wall?

OP where else in the property was the black situated?

When you have experienced it 3 times and done research to find out the cause/solution you know when someone else has a similar problem what it is likely to be.

olly300

clutton wrote: »

i am writing to all my tenants telling them that if they do not maintain an airflow in the property that i will be deducting redecoration from their deposit - i have spent hundreds and hundreds on redecorations cos tenants wont open windows - this is the most likely cause.

Lots of councils produce leaflets-

http://www.liverpool.gov.uk/Images/tcm21-28579.pdf