Damp and mould problems in rented house... what to do/ not do?

whosthatgirl1989

Hi,

I was wondering whether anyone on here has any advice on what to do (or not to do) regarding the damp and mould problems my partner and I have in our rented house.

Bit of background

Damp area #1
Firstly, we noticed one of the walls (which is mostly covered by cupboards) was damp almost all the way up to the top of the cupboards and the lining paper started to peel. We had been drying washing on an airer in the kitchen near to this wall so we thought we could have caused it. We moved the airer to another room to see if the damp went away. It did not get any drier after a while so we reported it to the letting agents. I've also noticed that sometimes the cupboards can be a bit stinky so there could be damp behind them aswell. The cupboards have a back on so we can't see. The extractor hood in the kitchen does not work and needs replacing, but the landlords have said they will not do it at this time (LA said it never worked for previous tenants either).

Damp area #2


We first noticed the kitchen wall near the back door going a bit mouldy around 10th October. Prior to this, there was no mould that we could recall. We immediately reported this to the letting agents as we weren't sure what was causing it. They arranged for a damp company to come round and inspect on 21st October. They inspected but we never really heard the outcome.

Damp area #3


My Dad first noticed the mould near / on the chimney breast. This was also reported.


We had our tenant inspection on 8th Nov. We asked about the results from the damp co. The letting agent said the company had informed the landlord of a cheap/quick fix or a more expensive permanant fix. LA said landlords were reluctant to pay for the latter, so got their mate in to take a look. He came round about two weeks ago and did a bodge job on the guttering to stop the water coming into the kitchen. This does not appear to have worked as there is still drips on the ceiling and down the wall. I believe either the damp co or landlords mate has said a new roof or guttering is needed on the extension (the kitchen). We think they also need to do work on the chimney to stop the water getting in. We have heard nothing re. damp area #1.

The letting agent did say drying washing indoors won't help, but should not have caused the mould as bad as it is. I am picking up a dehumifier from someone who responsed to my freegle ad tomorrow so will see if it does any good. We are going to move all the airers to the spare room and dry washing in there with the window slightly open. We have the heating on timer to come on morning, when come home from work and before bed (we both work full time). Is there anything more we can/should be doing? Will they blame us for the mould and damp/condensation when we come to move out, thus losing our deposit?

Should we clean the mould? The world health organisation says I'll need goggles, face mask and long sleeve rubber gloves and to use specialist mould remover. Is it really that dangerous? I haven't tried cleaning it yet before not sure what to do!

This is the first time I have ever lived away from home so I'm not used to living in somewhere moudly. Do we have to just put up with it, and wipe the mould away when it appears?


Sorry for the very long post!

rosie383

Someone will be along with more advice shortly but I would suggest to post on the 'In my home diy' board.
I can't give any expert advice but first off get the stuff cleaned. You don't want to be breathing it in more than necessary. Make a paste of lemon juice and bicarb and clean it using that and it won't return as quickly.
Ventilate! Every day once the kids go out to school I get the small windows open and leave them open while I clean.
If there are cupboards up against walls that you can move, even moving them out a couple of inches will help a lot. I will find a good thread and post it in a minute.

rosie383

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=16

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publicati...10103020/30217



Some good info in this link posted on the diy board today.
The first one is the link for that board.

pmlindyloo

whosthatgirl1989 wrote: »

Hi,

I was wondering whether anyone on here has any advice on what to do (or not to do) regarding the damp and mould problems my partner and I have in our rented house.

Bit of background

Damp area #1
Firstly, we noticed one of the walls (which is mostly covered by cupboards) was damp almost all the way up to the top of the cupboards and the lining paper started to peel. We had been drying washing on an airer in the kitchen near to this wall so we thought we could have caused it. We moved the airer to another room to see if the damp went away. It did not get any drier after a while so we reported it to the letting agents. I've also noticed that sometimes the cupboards can be a bit stinky so there could be damp behind them aswell. The cupboards have a back on so we can't see. The extractor hood in the kitchen does not work and needs replacing, but the landlords have said they will not do it at this time (LA said it never worked for previous tenants either).

Damp area #2


We first noticed the kitchen wall near the back door going a bit mouldy around 10th October. Prior to this, there was no mould that we could recall. We immediately reported this to the letting agents as we weren't sure what was causing it. They arranged for a damp company to come round and inspect on 21st October. They inspected but we never really heard the outcome.

Damp area #3


My Dad first noticed the mould near / on the chimney breast. This was also reported.


We had our tenant inspection on 8th Nov. We asked about the results from the damp co. The letting agent said the company had informed the landlord of a cheap/quick fix or a more expensive permanant fix. LA said landlords were reluctant to pay for the latter, so got their mate in to take a look. He came round about two weeks ago and did a bodge job on the guttering to stop the water coming into the kitchen. This does not appear to have worked as there is still drips on the ceiling and down the wall. I believe either the damp co or landlords mate has said a new roof or guttering is needed on the extension (the kitchen). We think they also need to do work on the chimney to stop the water getting in. We have heard nothing re. damp area #1.

The letting agent did say drying washing indoors won't help, but should not have caused the mould as bad as it is. I am picking up a dehumifier from someone who responsed to my freegle ad tomorrow so will see if it does any good. We are going to move all the airers to the spare room and dry washing in there with the window slightly open. We have the heating on timer to come on morning, when come home from work and before bed (we both work full time). Is there anything more we can/should be doing? Will they blame us for the mould and damp/condensation when we come to move out, thus losing our deposit?

Should we clean the mould? The world health organisation says I'll need goggles, face mask and long sleeve rubber gloves and to use specialist mould remover. Is it really that dangerous? I haven't tried cleaning it yet before not sure what to do!

This is the first time I have ever lived away from home so I'm not used to living in somewhere moudly. Do we have to just put up with it, and wipe the mould away when it appears?


Sorry for the very long post!

Damp problems are notoriously difficult to work out who is responsible for the problems.

In your case it seems that this may be a structural problem which the landlord is definitely responsible.

So it does seem imperative that you ask for the report from the company that looked at the problem so that you can ascertain where the fault is. It is possible that the LA will not give this to you. However, from what you say that there are structural faults causing the problem.

if you are certain that there are structural faults then you need to write to the landlord asking that the problems are fixed, reminding him of his responsibilities and enclosing the pictures to show the extent of the problems. End by saying that if you do not receive a reply in 7 days then you will be asking Environmental Health to send someone to look at the damp and mould.

A link for you

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/responsibility_for_repairs/responsibility_for_repairs

to show how you need to be certain that the landlord is responsible.

Of course raising this matter may put your tenancy at risk but if the LL does not do anything then you would want to move out anyway.

Plus, getting evidence and keeping evidence it vital for getting a dispute settled as regards your deposit so do start a file with everything done the proper way (not just phone calls ) and keep photographs and a timeline of events.

whosthatgirl1989

rosie383 wrote: »

Someone will be along with more advice shortly but I would suggest to post on the 'In my home diy' board.
I can't give any expert advice but first off get the stuff cleaned. You don't want to be breathing it in more than necessary. Make a paste of lemon juice and bicarb and clean it using that and it won't return as quickly.
Ventilate! Every day once the kids go out to school I get the small windows open and leave them open while I clean.
If there are cupboards up against walls that you can move, even moving them out a couple of inches will help a lot. I will find a good thread and post it in a minute.

Thanks. How long do you have the windows open for? In the week we're both up and about for about half an hour / 45 mins before work (is this long enough?), then it's dark when we get back so might be a bit chilly to do in the evening? I have been opening the windows at the weekend as the windows also can be dripping wet sometimes with condensation. They are only single glazed.

The cupboards are fixed so we can't move them. We don't know if there is damp behind as we don't want to take off the back panel in case we can't get it back together again. Ideally, we don't want to lose our deposit

stator

Buy one or two proper dehumidifiers and it should solve your problem. Don't waste time trying to get your slumlord to fix it, they never do.

The proper dehumidifiers cost about £100 new from Argos and will remove about 2L a day from a seriously damp room. The only downside is annoying hum/rattle sound a bit like an old fridge.

I wouldn't bother with ventilation, you clearly have serious damp problems and it won't make a bit of difference to have a little bit of air blowing in or out. This time of year the humidity outside is too high anyway.

fairy_lights

HG mould spray is brilliant for killing off black mould, it's about a tenner a bottle and you can buy it in hardware shops. You spray it on, leave for half an hour and then wipe it off. You won't need goggles or a face mask and the mould in itself shouldn't cause any health problems for you unless you're asthmatic or have any other serious health issues.
However that damp looks far to severe to have been caused by anything you're doing like drying laundry, if water is actually dripping down your walls and leaving huge damp patched on the paintwork then I think it's a reasonable assumption that it's a structural issue.

whosthatgirl1989

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Damp problems are notoriously difficult to work out who is responsible for the problems.

In your case it seems that this may be a structural problem which the landlord is definitely responsible.

So it does seem imperative that you ask for the report from the company that looked at the problem so that you can ascertain where the fault is. It is possible that the LA will not give this to you. However, from what you say that there are structural faults causing the problem.

if you are certain that there are structural faults then you need to write to the landlord asking that the problems are fixed, reminding him of his responsibilities and enclosing the pictures to show the extent of the problems. End by saying that if you do not receive a reply in 7 days then you will be asking Environmental Health to send someone to look at the damp and mould.

A link for you

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/responsibility_for_repairs/responsibility_for_repairs

to show how you need to be certain that the landlord is responsible.

Of course raising this matter may put your tenancy at risk but if the LL does not do anything then you would want to move out anyway.

Plus, getting evidence and keeping evidence it vital for getting a dispute settled as regards your deposit so do start a file with everything done the proper way (not just phone calls ) and keep photographs and a timeline of events.

By the kitchen door, we're 99.9% sure that the damp is structural caused by broken roof tiles and leaky guttering. It's dripping wet all of the time. The other damp wall in the kitchen looks like rising damp. It is an external wall (although next door is built 2 inches away so only a small gap). The chimney damp looks like it's either rising damp as there are tide marks on the wall (about 2/3 foot and 4/5 foot up) or water coming down the chimney.

The landlord said they will send someone to look this or next week, but they don't seem in that much of a rush about it. I guess its all unwanted expense for them at Christmas time!

I will give them until next week and if nothing happens, then we will follow your advice and write to them.

Should we clean the mould in the mean time, or what until landlord or environmental health see in person how bad it is?

curious_badger

Your first and second picture (of the white walls with mould/moisture) is definitely a ventilation issue - I just dealt with the exact same thing 3 days ago in my own room, and blasting radiators/heat doesn't help, "clean air" from an open window definitely will.

The problem was that I hadn't opened the window for a matter of days (due to the cold weather) and the build up of humidity in the air causes the condensation on the wall. (I spend a lot of time in the room as I work at home, and you mentioned you used to put wet clothes near the wall - humidity, as we breathe the air takes on moisture and eventually it appears on the wall if poor/no ventilation is in place).

I wiped down the walls and left the window open for an hour that same evening and the wall had significantly dried (it was wet to the touch an hour before hand, and before wiping down it had the same water droplets as seen in your pictures). I haven't had an issue ever since, and opening the window once/twice during the day/evening has fully remedied the problem.

Do not underestimate the power of "clean air" by having an open window/external door! I know that it's cold! But you don't need the window/door wide open by any means but do make sure enough fresh air is getting in, a couple of times during the day/evening for up to an hour at a time will help significantly.

whosthatgirl1989

stator wrote: »

Buy one or two proper dehumidifiers and it should solve your problem. Don't waste time trying to get your slumlord to fix it, they never do.

The proper dehumidifiers cost about £100 new from Argos and will remove about 2L a day from a seriously damp room. The only downside is annoying hum/rattle sound a bit like an old fridge.

I wouldn't bother with ventilation, you clearly have serious damp problems and it won't make a bit of difference to have a little bit of air blowing in or out. This time of year the humidity outside is too high anyway.

A kind person from freegle is gifting me a dehumidifier so I'm hoping its a good one, as I haven't really got the money to buy one. If I was a homeowner I would expect these sorts of unexpected expenses, but when renting, I thought the rent covers any repairs (naive I suppose having not rented before!).

If it's damp outside, then could it have the opposit effect and bring more damp in? That wouldn't be good.

whosthatgirl1989

fairy_lights wrote: »

HG mould spray is brilliant for killing off black mould, it's about a tenner a bottle and you can buy it in hardware shops. You spray it on, leave for half an hour and then wipe it off. You won't need goggles or a face mask and the mould in itself shouldn't cause any health problems for you unless you're asthmatic or have any other serious health issues.
However that damp looks far to severe to have been caused by anything you're doing like drying laundry, if water is actually dripping down your walls and leaving huge damp patched on the paintwork then I think it's a reasonable assumption that it's a structural issue.

Thanks. I'd wondered what would be good to use as I'd read online that bleach doesn't work. I'm guessing I would need to use it quite regularly if the water doesn't stop dripping?