Mouldy house!!

oldMcDonald

Does anyone have any advise on how to deal with mould in the house? We get it everywhere and I cannot keep on top of it. Our home is around 9 years old, rented from a HA, and didn't have any mould when we moved in 3 years ago (although it had been gutted and re-painted etc, so it may have been hidden)

We get black mould around the windows, but I wash them down weekly to keep it down, but we also get it growing on the walls behind furniture, in the corners on the ceiling - spreading out along the ceiling and down the walls, on any 'natural' materials around the house (for example, I have several wicker baskets on shelves in our room and they are constantly wearing blue fur coats which I have to wipe off regularly)

I have the heating on in the winter, and open the windows for half an hour every day to air the house - I've been drying washing outside so far this year so haven't had any drying indoors as yet, and have managed to borrow a dehumidfier to see if that helps....but it has already started to grow again. I buy mould cleaner and killer and have to use it every couple of weeks on the ceiling / walls.

Does anyone have any ideas of other ways I could try to deal with it?

tadpoleuk

I had the same problem for years but its not anywhere near as bad as it used to be. We had passive
vents put into the two worst rooms, basically air bricks near the ceiling which slowly pull the moist
air out. We had extractor fans put into the bathroom and kitchen to come on automatically when the
humidity rises.(The HA paid for these after I complained)

I also keep the kitchen door closed when cooking and for a while afterwards to stop the wet air
spreading around the house. Same when using the bathroom. If I have to dry clothes inside I try to hang
them in one room, close the door and open the window slightly. Having windows open a little rather than
wide lets out moisture but you want to do this without making the house cold, you want to find a
balance so the temperature is kinda constant. Condensation gets worse when its hot cold, hot cold all
the time. If you have water running down the windows try to dry each one off every morning. Cook with
lids on pans when possible. I have pulled some furniture away from the walls a little to allow air to
circulate behind them.Try not to over fill cupboards and wardrobes. You also need to check any air
vents and grills are unblocked around the house, its tempting to block them up to stop drafts but a
house needs some ventilation. I find its better to have the heating on long and low rather than coming
on for short bursts. Condenstaion seems to settle at night when the outside temperature goes down. We turn the heating down at night , so we have background heat only.

Mould comes from damp or condensation, yours sounds like the latter. Its good to air the house as you do, I open windows slightly for a little while everyday. I think its when the hot moist air hits a cold surface that you get the black spots around windows and in ceiling corners. When I decorated last, we used slightly foamed textured paper so the walls actually feel warmer to the touch this seems to have helped at the top of the stairwell, around the windows and in the bathroom. The HA people are well used to this problem, mine had leaflets and advice ready. I had someone come out and talk me through how to improve things. I was convinced the house was damp, it used to smell as you entered and I was forever cleaning things especially leather or wicker as you described. Now with a few changes the problem is 95% cured. I hope some of this helps.

EMcG

Dear Tadpole,

Thanks for the advice - I live in a 3 bed end terrace and our North facing bedroom with two outside walls really suffers. This weekend I found the curtains covered in mould and had to throw a couple of items if clothing out as they had mould too. The wall paper is starting to peel in the bedroom too.

I've been using Dettol's mould and mildew remover which seems to be the only thing that works on nasty patches. I also have an Ebac dehumidifier working full time to cut down the problem.

I was thinking of getting the wallpaper removed, replaster the room, paint a coat or two of mould resistant sealant on the plaster and then just paint over that. Forget the paper as it just seems to come away.

Could I ask where you got your passive vents from and how much it cost for them and their installation? I have been considering the option for a while.

I think I'm getting a bit obsessive about mould but when you spend so much time and money getting your place right it's gutting to see it all ruined.

Thanks for any tips.

EMcG

Further to my earlier post, after having a think I may have a plan.

In my front room (which also suffers from mould around the two exterior walls and bay window) I have two large open fire places that are closed off. If I were to unblock the chimney and fit grills at the top and bottom to stop and debris/birds from entering at either end would this act as a vent to take the warm, water carrying air out of the house?

I also have a chimney breast in the bedroom (directly above the front room) - if I were to have a vent in this chimney breast would it do the same?

As the air is warm it would rise and try and find a way out - it would head for the vents and leave the house before hitting the cold surfaces of the windows and exterior facing walls and therefore not condensing and not forming mould.

Can anyone tell me if I have missed something glaring?

xtra_time

I have exactly the same problems with mould. Would having the outside repointed help in this at all? I was thinking maybe the damp was getting through the walls!!!

tadpoleuk

Hey :hello:
my passive vents were fitted by my landlord for free but im sure it wouldnt be to expensive or hard to do it yourself if you were a little handy. They basically drilled small holes on the inside within the space of 2 bricks and glued a plaster vent over the top. The fitter said that you dont need many holes (about 9 finger sized ones).Then outside he chopped out two bricks and fitted a double airbrick. He drilled lots of holes in a square shape then chisseled out the opening. Popped the air brick in and cemented round it.It looks very neat inside and out. If i hold a candle up to the inside the flame leans towards the vent slightly, so it is sucking out. Im sure you can get the vents and airbricks at DIY stores or builders merchants. Fitting both took the chap less than an hour.The surveyor said they are more effective at the top of the wall. Oh and the vents inside seem to be upside down, the slants pointing up. If you did the outside first you can line up the inside straight by drilling a hole in the middle from outside in. Im not an expert so you might need to check what ive said with a builder type but it looked straight forward.
As for chimneys mine are capped off at the top to stop rain coming in but to allow air out and all have had air vents fitted to them inside before i moved here. This could be to help the condensation but may be because blocked chimneys are supposed to be vented anyway ??

P.S dont forget to check for pipes and wires in the wall first, though i doubt there would be any near the ceiling on an external wall . . .

wehavethepower

Clean with fungicide mould cleaner - I use the Homebase mould cleaner - once that's dry - paint generously with Thompsons's "Damp Seal" which you can also get from Homebase. Works a treat for black mould in particular.