Awful damp smell

glicky

I have an awful damp/musty smell in my flat and do not know where it's coming from. I've looked everywhere and cannot see any leaks etc.

Any ideas of what tradesperson I call? Plumber, builder?

Your help would be appreciated

phil24_7

It has been very humid. This coupled with living in a flat can have humidity levels quite high, especially if you dry your clothes in your flat.

Air your house out thoroughly for a few days and get a dehumidifier in there if possible. See how things are after this has been done.

choille

Do you have any mould? Black spots on walls?

If you run a lot of baths, showers you need to get the moisture out of the house, by a fan or open a window to let steam out. If you dry clothes inside that can cause moisture to settle on surfaces & can cause damp.

glicky

choille wrote: »

Do you have any mould? Black spots on walls?

If you run a lot of baths, showers you need to get the moisture out of the house, by a fan or open a window to let steam out. If you dry clothes inside that can cause moisture to settle on surfaces & can cause damp.

No mould, moisture or black spots, just this awful musty smell.

I have windows open continuously because O have COPD and need fresh air. Bathroom window is always open too.

This is why I'm flummoxed as to what it is and who I can call in to fix it.

phil24_7

Get yourself a decent ioniser dehumidifier. This will remove moisture from the air (with the aim of getting it down to 40-50% humidity) and also remove dust from the air.

Heat the house when it starts to get cold so that walls don't get cold and attract condensation.

Make sure you use kitchen and bathroom extraction when creating any steam and make sure these are rated high enough for the volume of the rooms.

Dry washing outside until the problem is solved, if this is impossible then put them in a room with a dehumidifier on a washing drying mode and close the door.

You basically need to limit the amount of moisture you release into the house, remove as much as possible and make sure any moisture in the air doesn't want to settle on your walls.

I realise your condition may affect the way you heat and vent your house but try to do what you can.

choille

Moisture does condense on cold surfaces. Is there metal framed windows?

Did you inherit carpets? Curtains that may hold the smell? Can you track down where it's coming from? Is the washing machine leaking?

Could you track it to a room? And then possibly track it down to a corner - be a bit of a bloodhound?

If your O has COPD then I would consider getting the Council involved as it could well be a health issue as far as they are concerned & you do need to eliminate it & before that can occur you do need to find out where it comes from - obviously that is why you are on here asking this, but you could spend a lot getting trades involved without finding out the root cause.
Possibly contact socail services & / or the council - local authority or landlord if you have one - sorry not to be more helpful.

Tipsntreats

I would like to direct you to the tenants voice. Go to the section on Your Home, look for the section on mould. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there.
We have Environmental Health involved as our flat is covered in mould. We contacted the people from that posting, and are preparing a court case. The dangers are unbelievable, even Environmental Health are totally untrained!!! Our agent came today and told the odd job man to go and buy some biochemicals and spray all the mould! He told the agent that he didn;t even know where to buy some. Luckily for us we had done our research, and knew full well that ONLY a specialist can carry out this. Apart from that, the chemicals are highly dangerous. Imagine trying to live here with that, the landlord will have to find us temporary accommodation. I suppose we will be evicted now, just because we refused treatment by an unqualified handy man.
Read the mould specialists advice, and most of all protect yourself from the silent airbourne killers from damp and mould spores.

elsien

Could there be a leak coming in from another flat? When my kitchen cupboard smelled truly disgusting it was because next door's shower was leaking and soaking through the walls. It wasn't initially obvious because it was soaking into the bricks and plaster so there was no puddle on my side plus the wet wall was behind the kitchen cupboards and tiles so you couldn't see that the plaster was wet until it started coming away.
Is there any one spot where the smell is more noticeable.