Mould on ceiling rented house

amalis

well, U cant do much if she said she checked and did not find a problem. I haven;t been in the flat myself, as we let via agency, but the check in inventory noted "strong musky smell"

amalis

HappyMJ wrote: »

Usually the LL's responsibility. You could try and claim it from the tenant's deposit and no harm in trying but if they defend then it's likely you might have to pay.

Tenant may have to contribute something especially if you repainted using paint suitable for the purpose only 12 months ago. It's debatable how long paintwork should last but I would expect to repaint a wall using cheap paint after 3 years of normal wear and tear.

Saying that though many of the anti-mould paints have an expected life span of 6 years so 5/6th's of the cost could be recovered from the tenants if you painted just before they started the tenancy. Do you have all the receipts and invoices from the time the bathroom was renovated? That would help your case.

We renovated hte bathroom fully (including new ceiling) 15 month before we let hte flat. It was a special bathroom pain, all done expensively as we did not plan to move out.
I am not too worried about hte costs of hte paint, it the labor i am concerned

xylophone

It should not cost a fortune to do it yourself as above - if the problem returns or the odour remains, I think that you are going to have to approach the neighbour again.

Do you know whether the floor in your neighbour's property is wood or concrete?
Is there pipework over your bathroom ceiling in the flat above?

If there is a bath with a panel concealing the outlet, or a basin with a pedestal concealing the flexible hoses, a slow leak could pass unnoticed.

amalis

xylophone wrote: »

It should not cost a fortune to do it yourself as above - if the problem returns or the odour remains, I think that you are going to have to approach the neighbour again.

Do you know whether the floor in your neighbour's property is wood or concrete?
Is there pipework over your bathroom ceiling in the flat above?

If there is a bath with a panel concealing the outlet, or a basin with a pedestal concealing the flexible hoses, a slow leak could pass unnoticed.

It's a wood floor. And it's the kitchen above us, so very possible to have a lot of pipework.

DaftyDuck

I would strongly consider, while the ceiling is in such a state, making a hole large enough for an inspection of the joists between you and the kitchen above. I would strongly suggest there is, or has been, a leak. "A small yellow spot", that you initially spotted, sounds so, so much more like a leak.

If there's pipework below her floor, how would she know there isn't a leak?

I would not be looking towards my tenants paying, and certainly not until I had investigated this probability.... possibility!

xylophone

It would be in your neighbour's interests as well as yours to investigate the possibility of a leak because of the possibility that rot will develop/has developed in the underfloor timbers.

flora48

Have the tenants acted in a 'tenant like manner'? That is should they have reported an increasing growth of mould under their tenant responsibility, then you could have nipped the problem in the bud.

xylophone

Re the

strong musky smell

wet rot has a strong earthy smell........

anna42hmr

Is the property leasehold? If so is there a managenent company in place. If so they may be able to act as a go between for you and neighbour if they refuse to check for leaks properly.