Mould on carpet underneath sofa

theartfullodger

If someone sleeps in a sofa-bed every night in a hardly-ventilated room and the gap underneath is small it's quite possible that's the cause. Has that been happening, please?

pinkshoes

faithlehane wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies! I don't have any pets but the previous tenant did and I am 100% sure they didn't clean that carpet properly on the way out based on some smells...

Is it possible the previous tenant used a carpet washer, but the carpet wasn’t sufficiently dry when you moved in, so when you put your sofa on top it caused mould to build up?

seven-day-weekend

DoaM wrote: »

They usually are ... however maybe they weren't in the early 1900s when OP's property was built.

Neither were they as well insulated. If you put double glazing in an old property, you can often get mould because the windows are not as draughty Make sure you have trickle vents.

faithlehane

Completely understand about people not wanting windows open, I usually do a blast in the morning so I’ve got fresh air. Appreciate the continued discussion, all good points

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Neither were they as well insulated. If you put double glazing in an old property, you can often get mould because the windows are not as draughty Make sure you have trickle vents.

Just as a follow up to this bit of discussion - I actually appear to have the original windows. They are wooden frames, single glazed. Painted ten thousand times. There’s no secondary glazing of any kind. They are draughty as hell, and I do get condensation every day! I’m careful and I wipe them down.

theartfullodger wrote: »

If someone sleeps in a sofa-bed every night in a hardly-ventilated room and the gap underneath is small it's quite possible that's the cause. Has that been happening, please?

No one sleeps on the sofa bed every night. I got it out because someone was staying for one night. The last time someone stayed was October, I didn’t notice the mould then, but I wasn't the one who put the sofa bed away and wouldn't have seen it. The living room is actuall,y the least used room in the house.

pinkshoes wrote: »

Is it possible the previous tenant used a carpet washer, but the carpet wasn’t sufficiently dry when you moved in, so when you put your sofa on top it caused mould to build up?

This is an interesting theory. I didn’t think they’d washed the carpet because my bare feet kept going black after a very short period of time, but I thought a) they hadn’t cleaned it, b) it was dust as the property was empty for a month and a half between tenancies, c) the kitchen lino was grubby. That said the carpet always felt cold to me and I even stood on kitchen towel once to see if moisture came out. The only thing that makes me doubt it is that the house was empty for so long after they moved out, in the hottest part of summer. It is a north facing room but surely it would have dried?

And to follow up - the dehumidifier is running right now, I’ve got the heating on full blast to maximise its moisture pick up, and apparently the moisture in the living room is already 50% so… Still leaving it running to a minimum of 30% just to see what happens in there.

Waiting on my landlord to make a decision about the leaking gutter that is damaging the upstairs wall (a whole other issue), and getting a bit cheesed off that no one is coming to check for leaks and other issues in the living room. Wary of putting the sofa back so there are bits of it all over the downstairs And I have cleaned the sofa with anti-mould stuff. I’m not worried about the underneath being a bit bleached or de-fluffed.

Thank you all for your comments and helpful notes!