Dampness/Condensation issue in my living room

TriggerCut92

Hey everyone,

I have a rental property I've rented to the same girl now for over 2 years. She's great and everything goes really smoothly. She was recently in hospital for around 3 weeks and when she came back the living room had started to develop mould at the top of all four walls, but it stops around halfway down the wall. I l've had two different builders out to look at it who have advised its not a dampness issue but a condensation issue. There's not enough ventilation apparently

I've ordered a dehumidifier and got some dettol mould and mildew remover and asked her to keep the extractor fan in the bathroom running

Will her being away for a few weeks have been a factor for this? Is there anything I can do to get rid of this or rectify it? A link below with a few photos

https://imgur.com/a/1Hpwqll

Thanks for any help

[Deleted User]

Sounds like there's been no air flow with doors and windows being opened. Do the windows have trickle vents? If so open them all.

The tenant should also get into the habit of:
- opening windows daily to let in fresh air
- dry clothes outside. If not possible then open doors / windows wherever the clothes are being dried
- showering with the extractor fan on and windows open, and bathroom door closed
- cover saucepans whilst cooking and turn on extractor fan hood / open windows

Essentially anything that causes damp air should be considered a cause and the fix is fresh air from outside.

TriggerCut92

Deleted_User wrote: »

Sounds like there's been no air flow with doors and windows being opened. Do the windows have trickle vents? If so open them all.

The tenant should also get into the habit of:
- opening windows daily to let in fresh air
- dry clothes outside. If not possible then open doors / windows wherever the clothes are being dried
- showering with the extractor fan on and windows open, and bathroom door closed
- cover saucepans whilst cooking and turn on extractor fan hood / open windows

Essentially anything that causes damp air should be considered a cause and the fix is fresh air from outside.

Thanks very much for the advice. The windows are actually single glazing with no trickle vent on them. Would a trickle vent make a big difference?

Yeah I'll get her to do what you suggested. She lives in a groud floor property so it's impossible to leave the windows open when she's not home

[Deleted User]

TriggerCut92 wrote: »

Thanks very much for the advice. The windows are actually single glazing with no trickle vent on them. Would a trickle vent make a big difference?

I'd have thought single glazing would mean less good at insulation so air flow would be increased compared to double glazing, but even still, if you're getting mould then you need more fresh air to keep the property ventilated. In addition to my suggestions it'd be worthwhile reading up on other common sources and some general advice on remedying these.

TriggerCut92 wrote: »

Yeah I'll get her to do what you suggested. She lives in a groud floor property so it's impossible to leave the windows open when she's not home

Maybe see if she's okay with keeping the windows on a night latch whilst she's there?

I'd try and get as much mould removed from the walls then repaint with anti mould paint. Doing this will give her more inclination to follow all the recommended steps, as she'll hopefully see you've made an effort, so she'll make an effort. It's also for her own health and well-being too.

TriggerCut92

Deleted_User wrote: »

I'd have thought single glazing would mean less good at insulation so air flow would be increased compared to double glazing, but even still, if you're getting mould then you need more fresh air to keep the property ventilated. In addition to my suggestions it'd be worthwhile reading up on other common sources and some general advice on remedying these.


Maybe see if she's okay with keeping the windows on a night latch whilst she's there?

I'd try and get as much mould removed from the walls then repaint with anti mould paint. Doing this will give her more inclination to follow all the recommended steps, as she'll hopefully see you've made an effort, so she'll make an effort. It's also for her own health and well-being too.

Will say to her regarding the night. I also did not know anti mould paint was a thing so I'll definitely be reading up on that. I may also get new windows put in the property now I think of it. Thanks for the help, really appreciate it

[Deleted User]

You're welcome. Trickle vents are both good and bad in my opinion. Good for bathrooms, ensuites, kitchens etc and should always be left open. Bad, for some, in say living rooms / bedrooms if there's a noticeable noise increase from having them. Then you start looking into filling them up which defeats their purpose. Maybe consider this when considering new windows / trickle vents. Of course if the property is in the countryside then who wouldn't want a bit of nature as a nice background noise, it's just if you're in the city centre next to an underpass say, then it may be more problematic.

Doozergirl

The advice you've been given so far is completely dud.

Too tired to address this properly right now, but there is a wider problem here to be addressed and it isn't dealt with by sleeping with windows open when you have single glazing, which is like having a window open already.

Is this a listed building, having single glazing?

Fire_Fox

TriggerCut92 wrote: »

Hey everyone,

I have a rental property I've rented to the same girl now for over 2 years. She's great and everything goes really smoothly. She was recently in hospital for around 3 weeks and when she came back the living room had started to develop mould at the top of all four walls, but it stops around halfway down the wall. I l've had two different builders out to look at it who have advised its not a dampness issue but a condensation issue. There's not enough ventilation apparently.

Cold air holds less water than warm, so the water can settle on cool surfaces. I wonder why the walls were cooler than the single-glazed window panes though .... or are wet window panes an issue?

IMO anti-mould paint is an attempt to hide an ongoing problem. Some combination of inadequate ventilation, inadequate heating, inadequate insulation, resident lifestyle.

TriggerCut92 wrote: »

I've ordered a dehumidifier and got some dettol mould and mildew remover and asked her to keep the extractor fan in the bathroom running

Will her being away for a few weeks have been a factor for this? Is there anything I can do to get rid of this or rectify it? A link below with a few photos

Thanks for any help

Could just be circumstances.

The flat will have cooled down naturally over the last three weeks. The season changing, little or no heating used, not even the air movement of a person moving from room to room.

Are the kitchen and bathroom extractor fans decent models/ maintained as in the user manuals/ correctly ducted outside? Noise =/= effective!

Nice to read of a decent landlord with a decent tenant.

Kim_kim

Deleted_User wrote: »

You're welcome. Trickle vents are both good and bad in my opinion. Good for bathrooms, ensuites, kitchens etc and should always be left open. Bad, for some, in say living rooms / bedrooms if there's a noticeable noise increase from having them. Then you start looking into filling them up which defeats their purpose. Maybe consider this when considering new windows / trickle vents. Of course if the property is in the countryside then who wouldn't want a bit of nature as a nice background noise, it's just if you're in the city centre next to an underpass say, then it may be more problematic.

I actually ripped off the covers on my trickle vents to allow greater flow and to ensure they don’t get accidentally closed.
I was married then with a daughter at home, i didn’t want anyone closing them & me not realising. I’m divorced now and she’s flown the nest.
It’s my home I’m not a landlord - btw.

tacpot12

Ventilation and heating are the answer. If the property is properly heated, this warms the surfaces of the walls so that water vapour in the air does not condense onto them. This is turn allows more time for the ventilation to remove the damp air from the property.

CakeCrusader

I live in a house with single glaze sash windows, condensation and cold isn't really an issue if they are well looked after. The problem here has been that the tenant hasn't been able to air the flat as she's been in hospital and we've had a summer of rain/sunshine/rain/sunshine. Try leaving any property in these conditions for a while and the humidity builds up really quickly. I open my windows regularly and I don't dry clothes on the radiators, have the heating on as required and have had no issues with damp. I use humidity traps in the rooms too, they are £1 from the pound shop and trap excess moisture in the air. Your tenant just needs to open the windows when she's there. Mould is a health hazard though so you do need to get rid of this. Depending on how far down into the plaster work it's gone you can either repaint with anti mould paint, or you'll have to remove the affected plaster and then re plaster. Using products like detol won't work, the spores will be in the plaster and it'll just keep coming back, even if your tenant is airing the flat out. If she was in hospital with respiratory issues any damp could make this worse too, so it's best to get this sorted ASAP.