Went to flip mattress over & it's covered in mold!

-taff

You'd have had a thriving ecosystem under there with a couple of lost tribal populations if it had been growing for 7 months.

kizzie_nikita

-taff wrote: »

You'd have had a thriving ecosystem under there with a couple of lost tribal populations if it had been growing for 7 months.

You never know, it's one of the explanations, as to why it's suddenly so moldy when nothing else fabric in the room was (here). Everything in the old house was.

& Thank you Pastures, ill try that.

I'm going to give it a couple days of airing before we sleep on the ok side, then check in a couple weeks, if the mold comes back/i can smell it/gets worse i will have to throw it

GwylimT

You need to get rid of the mattress, getting rid of surface mold is a complete waste of time, you need to find out if the damp problem that has caused the mold is from your previous home or your current home.

Is your bedroom cold?

mandragora_2

Look in your local paper - really good quality, practically unused mattresses come up quite often in ours - older people, like my mum, for example, downsize or have a change of mind about furniture and decide that they want rid of the 'old' mattress in the spare room. My mum's got rid of a couple over the years this way, and in the end was so disappointed with the price she got, she now just contacts a local charity who will come and pick it up for re-sale through their shop as a donated item.

kizzie_nikita

GwylimT wrote: »

You need to get rid of the mattress, getting rid of surface mold is a complete waste of time, you need to find out if the damp problem that has caused the mold is from your previous home or your current home.

Is your bedroom cold?

Yes the bedroom is cold when the heating isn't on, the bed (on top which isn't moldy) is often damp at night because it was against the damp wall, we've now moved it to another inside wall which is fine.

Cannyquine

I suggest you take a photo of your mattress so that you have proof for any insurance claims.

dandy-candy

Seriously get it out of the house now. Some strains of mould spore are highly toxic and cleaning the surface will be of no use.
I regularly see mattresses and futons on freecycle. Don't put your health st risk!

julie777

Definitely check your home contents policy and join Freecycle quick via http://uk.freecycle.org/

If you tell us which town you are in someone reading might have a spare mattress?

Damp flats are a nightmare - we know!
Sometimes caused or increased by lack of ventilation though?

green_as_grass

Unfortunately you will never get rid of the mould until you get rid of the damp problem. However much you clean it will keep coming back. The same thing will happen to the next mattress.

Try to find out what is making your wall damp. It's not always easy though.

It could be a hidden leak, as you suggest, if there are pipes nearby. Or it could be faulty guttering causing wetting of the wall outside, which makes it's way inside. Or, if it is a cavity wall, the cavity may be bridged allowing moisture to travel from the outside to the inside. These are things your landlord needs to fix. Suggest he provides a de-humidifier until he gets these sorted if this is the case.

I'd suggest, though, that you make sure you are not the cause first. Many people unwittingly create damp problems themselves without realising it. Showers, baths, boiling pans (especially with lids off) and worst of all drying laundry indoors all introduce moisture into the house. Some of this can't be avoided but drying laundry needs to be done outdoors if at all possible or through a tumble drier (hate them personally - waste of energy and money) which is either a condenser-type or vented outside. After showers/ baths close the bathroom door and open the window to allow moisture to escape. If you've got extractor fans in the bathroom/ kitchen use them instead. If you get condensation on your windows (most people do in the winter - you certainly will if your house is damp) dry them thoroughly, and don't leave the damp cloths lying indoors.

Adequate ventilation is key. But some people are put off by the cold draughts caused by having windows open. Just be aware of the consequences. In our bathroom we use one of those rubber blades on a handle to wipe down the walls and bath after showers, which means the bathroom dries faster and the window can be closed sooner. It's amazing how much water can be wiped off the tiles.

The ideal is Heat-Recovery-Ventilation, which gets rid of the cold draughts and minimises wasting the heat in your house but your landlord would need a lot of persuasion I reckon to pay for this.

The other possible cause of the damp wall is lack of insulation there. Condensation always happens on the coldest surfaces - which is why you often see it on windows. If other walls/ ceilings are well insulated but this wall is not then it will be colder and condensation will appear there making it damp.

So you can see it is a complex issue. If you can make sure you are not the cause first then this is evidence that it is the landlord's responsibility and he/she needs to find out what the problem is and sort it.

The current situation is a risk to your health and is unacceptable. I would give your landlord a deadline and if he doesn't meet it threaten that you will withhold rent so that you can get the problem fixed yourself, pay for it, and give him/her the receipts as rent. Maybe consult Citizen's Advice first - they'll know better than me.

Hope that helps.

hobbitfancier

Put it in writing to your landlord too, so you have documentary evidence of the complaint and he can't say otherwise.