Tips to stop mould growth in home?

LunaNytshade

Hi, I know this subject comes up a lot but I'm slightly freaked out and I would really appreciate advice/ tips. I moved up to the grim north-east just over two weeks ago and I'm already having problems with mould and condensation.

The problems are mainly in the spare bedroom - I'm sleeping on a sofa bed in there until I order a proper bed for the main bedroom. I believe the room faces north and I started seeing condensation on the outside walls after a few days staying in there. After a google search and began to open the windows when I was in, putting the heating on more and bought one of those disposable dehumidifiers - and after a week or so the wall dried out.

In the mean time I'd bought a small electric dehumidifier just to run in the kitchen to help with steam and for when it's too wet to dry clothes outside. Some other windows are showing condensation but nothing like the spare bedroom was.

Today I've noticed that the sofa bed I was sleeping on is covered in mould which has really freaked me out as I've had a hideous chesty cough over the past couple of days. And I now I think I'll have to sleep on the floor.

I've washed the sofa with a solution of water/vinegar/tea-tree oil and I've closed the door with the heating and dehumidifier on. There's no way I'd be able to move it outside for a clean.

I don't know what else to do... should I bleach the walls and the whole sofa? What should I do in case the carpets are carrying spores? I live on my own and I'm at work all day during the week so I don't feel safe leaving the windows open when I'm out or asleep. Should I just deal with it and have to leave them open? I have the heating on for an hour in the morning and 3 hours in the evening, is it really feasible to afford to run the heating all the time? At what stage should I involve the landlord?

Any help would be really appreciated. Sorry for the long message.

thomasfox

Hiya,

Sorry to hear that!

You need to let your landlord know that you're facing these problems asap as they can blame you for neglect. Take some photos for your reference as well in case you need them later on.

It's in their best interest to provide you with damp & mould free accommodation. Keep the receipts for the products you had spent your money on and deduct it from rent. If they refuse to resolve these issues, get your local council involved. The assessment is free of charge and they will get things going.

Do you have any air-bricks in the house? That's the cheapest option for your landlord to take care of, and you don't have to worry about leaving your windows open. Bleaching the walls is only a temporary solution, and if the air circulation isn't addressed, it will pop up again.

Hope this helps.

dbriggs

Drying clothes inside in winter is usually a main cause of damp. Do you spin them at top speed in the washing machine before you hang them out? I assume you don't have a dryer?

prosaver

there must be water running down the outside walls, agutter might be blocked.
.when it rains heavy , go outside and look

prosaver

and old housewife's tip is have a bag of bbq charcoal in the room open a bit..it worked for me (put it under the stairs cupboard).

rice works too,
but youll get rid of mould
but have loads of mice instead...lol

Baby_Angel

When we were drying clothes inside the house, the windows (of living room and bedrooms) were weeping every single day, even with heating and ventilations. We got ourselves a dryer, it stopped almost immediately. You can even smell the dryness in the air now. We also have air-bricks in every room to aid to the circulation when we are not in the house. We do not have those small windows to leave it open when we go out.

LunaNytshade

Thank you all for your replies.

thomasfox wrote: »

You need to let your landlord know that you're facing these problems asap as they can blame you for neglect. Take some photos for your reference as well in case you need them later on.

It's in their best interest to provide you with damp & mould free accommodation. Keep the receipts for the products you had spent your money on and deduct it from rent. If they refuse to resolve these issues, get your local council involved. The assessment is free of charge and they will get things going.

Do you have any air-bricks in the house? That's the cheapest option for your landlord to take care of, and you don't have to worry about leaving your windows open. Bleaching the walls is only a temporary solution, and if the air circulation isn't addressed, it will pop up again.

I haven't taken any pictures yet so I'll get on to that and thanks for the tip about the council. The cellar has air bricks but that's the only place.

dbriggs wrote:

Do you spin them at top speed in the washing machine before you hang them out? I assume you don't have a dryer?

No dryer or space for dryer, but I haven't been putting in on additional spins so I'll give that a go!

prosaver wrote:

there must be water running down the outside walls, agutter might be blocked.
.when it rains heavy , go outside and look

and old housewife's tip is have a bag of bbq charcoal in the room open a bit..it worked for me (put it under the stairs cupboard).
rice works too,
but youll get rid of mould
but have loads of mice instead...lol

I'm sure the North-east won't keep me waiting on the rain front. The charcoal sounds worth a try (as much as I love mice)

Baby_Angel wrote:

When we were drying clothes inside the house, the windows (of living room and bedrooms) were weeping every single day, even with heating and ventilations. We got ourselves a dryer, it stopped almost immediately.

I'm glad that your problem got sorted. I really miss having a tumble drier. I could perhaps hang laundry in the cellar with a dehumidifier on as it has airbricks in there.

dbriggs

LunaNytshade wrote: »

Thank you all for your replies.
No dryer or space for dryer, but I haven't been putting in on additional spins so I'll give that a go!

It is better to half the load for additional spins. So do a wash, take half the load out and put that on the quickest spin your machine will do. Then do the other half. I find that method gets rid of a lot of moisture from the clothes.

I still use this trick even though I now own a dryer as it reduces the drying time by about 1/3 - and I'm sure that saves me money on energy use by spinning them first.

I've seen these things as well (but never used one myself): http://www.lakeland.co.uk/24671/Dry%3ASoon-3-Tier-Heated-Airer-Cover - having a cover it might keep most of the moist air inside. I'm not sure, but maybe worth some research!

phil24_7

It wont be your landlords responsibility to stop condensation. Penetrating damp yes, condensation no! It is up to you to adjust what you are doing in order to stop/minimise the condensation.

Make sure there is plenty of airflow to the rooms affected, air the house when you can and heat it as much as you can. Dry your clothes in a closed room with a dehumidifier on to stop too much moisture spreading to the rest of the house.

By all means get the landlord out to make sure there are no problems with the building that may be causing damp but it is likely to be how you are using the house that is causing it.

phil24_7

A small oil filled radiator in the room you are currently occupying to keep it warm will also help until you move into your main bedroom. It may come in handy if that rooms suffers with condensation once you move in to it too.

dominoman

You need to get the humidity down. All the problems start there.

Just sleeping in a room creates a huge amount of moisture, so if you then go out during the day and the room gets cold that moisture will condense (the relative humidity will increase as the room gets colder).

A decent dehumidifier, with a large tank (5 litres or more) will keep the humidity down and stop mould. How much did you pay for yours? If it was under £100 then very unlikely to be much use.

You don't have to have it on all the time, or set to maximum. If you have it turned to around 1/3 power it will kick on and off when you need it. Aim to keep the humidity below 60% and you will not have any mould problems.

Dehumidifiers are not quiet, so you won't want it running while you're sleeping. Buy a cheapo timer switch and have it come on at 10am - 6pm say. It's worth it.