Desperately need advice ref mould in the house

Tempest501

We are having a Mould issue in a house we bought. The weird thing is it doe not always appear on walls it can appear on ramdom items. For example, It started growing on my wifes back but no where else near it it, on a box that we kept our wedding photos in. We have had it on some walls as well but it seems to appear on random items as well. I just orderded a TRUE HEPA purifier and I bought some dehumidifiers to help. We have our heating on timer and comes on about 4-5 times a day and house is quite toasty most of the time.

A fried of ours has an old victorian house and she has to clean her walls every few days and ours is not that bad but its the fact its growing on random things which is driving us crazy.

Can anyone offer any advice?

savemoney

Mould is usually a result of high humidity, poor insulation and poor circulation in a house. This is why you often get it on windows, outside walls (internally) and hidden areas like back of wardrobes

If you can improve air flow ie open windows occasionally especially when cooking or bathing that may help . Having a fan to remove the air in kitchen or bathroom can do trick.

I have two dehumidifiers at home one in a single skin porch which gets very cold and damp seems to effect the window sills and another upstairs on my landing which removes bedroom moisture breathing and bathroom.

If would remove mould with diluted mould killer or bleach would do but obviously cant be used on anything delicate

I also have some humidity meters around the house currently one shows 62% humidity @ 19.2c I dont have any heating on at mow since last night.

Tempest501

savemoney wrote: »

Mould is usually a result of high humidity, poor insulation and poor circulation in a house. This is why you often get it on windows, outside walls (internally) and hidden areas like back of wardrobes

If you can improve air flow ie open windows occasionally especially when cooking or bathing that may help . Having a fan to remove the air in kitchen or bathroom can do trick.

I have two dehumidifiers at home one in a single skin porch which gets very cold and damp seems to effect the window sills and another upstairs on my landing which removes bedroom moisture breathing and bathroom.

If would remove mould with diluted mould killer or bleach would do but obviously cant be used on anything delicate

I also have some humidity meters around the house currently one shows 62% humidity @ 19.2c I dont have any heating on at mow since last night.

Sounds like we are doing the right things, the weird thing is when the mould seems to jump to other items like my wifes bag also had a coat of mine get mould on it yet nothing around it had anything on it.

butterflymum

Something worth considering in addition to the other measures you have taken/are taking, is 'Positive Input Ventilation'. Google and have a read about same. Units such as Nuaire's Drimaster range can be fitted by a competent DIYer, but depending on experience and method, might need a qualified electrician too.

Tempest501

butterflymum wrote: »

Something worth considering in addition to the other measures you have taken/are taking, is 'Positive Input Ventilation'. Google and have a read about same. Units such as Nuaire's Drimaster range can be fitted by a competent DIYer, but depending on experience and method, might need a qualified electrician too.

THis is the first I have heard of this have you had experience of this working ?

TheCyclingProgrammer

If there is mould growing on your wife's back, that sounds like a serious problem. Have you considered taking her to see your GP?

trotter09

What sort of dehumidifiers have you got, and how much water do they remove each day?

We have just bought one of these which removes damp and also filters the air. Maybe you already have something like this? If not, this could be an easier solution than having a hole knocked through the wall for a Drimaster.

Tempest501

trotter09 wrote: »

What sort of dehumidifiers have you got, and how much water do they remove each day?

We have just bought one of these which removes damp and also filters the air. Maybe you already have something like this? If not, this could be an easier solution than having a hole knocked through the wall for a Drimaster.

We are using those unibond dehumidifiers that take the tablets at the moment. I just ordered an True HEPA air purifier in the hope it will help remove spores in the air. Do you think we need a proper de humidifier ? The tablets are supposed to last 2-3 months but only last 1 month.

HappyMJ

Tempest501 wrote: »

We are using those unibond dehumidifiers that take the tablets at the moment. I just ordered an True HEPA air purifier in the hope it will help remove spores in the air. Do you think we need a proper de humidifier ? The tablets are supposed to last 2-3 months but only last 1 month.

If they're only lasting 1 month then you really should consider a proper dehumidifier. It's been said earlier on another thread today that they are expensive to run but they aren't really. They add a little heat to the air so you use the central heating less so save a small amount of money on the heating. Once you've had one running for a few weeks they don't need to be emptied quite so often and will run less in the future. They will only run when the humidity levels are high so do everything you can to reduce the humidity naturally and it will cost less to run.

PlymouthMaid

If I forget to put the dehum on for a few days, I find that mould starts to form on the sides of my leather sofa. I suspect leather must be vulnerable to this as in an old flat all my shoes went mouldy but nothing else.

trotter09

Tempest501 wrote: »

We are using those unibond dehumidifiers that take the tablets at the moment. I just ordered an True HEPA air purifier in the hope it will help remove spores in the air. Do you think we need a proper de humidifier ? The tablets are supposed to last 2-3 months but only last 1 month.

I agree with Happy.

We did have a tablet type dehumidifier a few years ago but it was useless.

If you don't have a huge amount of damp, then the desiccant type (such as the one we bought) should do the job.