Rental House - Extractor Fan Kitchen

northwest1965

Tenant has advised that there is mould behind the kitchen units on the wall. 
The house is 1910 terrace. It is the exterior wall of kitchen that wall units are on. The kitchen is approx 6x6 with large window and extractor in cooker hood.
Agent has had someone take a look and have quoted us for a humidity fan £312 and then to make good and paint with stain blocker and mould remover for another £240.
As it's a large expenditure we want to make sure the fan is really needed! Would an air brick be better? Trickle vents? 

MovingForwards

Probably better off asking "in my home and DIY" section.

macman

Probably better off not accepting a quote from an LA who is almost certainly taking a bung from his preferred contractor. 
You could probably get that done for half that price yourself. By 'humidity fan', do you mean an extractor fan? Why is the current one inadequate in such a small kitchen? Is the tenant using it when cooking?
£240 for mould removal, a coat of stain blocker and emulsion is just absurd.

davidmcn

macman said:

By 'humidity fan', do you mean an extractor fan? Why is the current one inadequate in such a small kitchen?

I wonder if the cooker hood is actually extracting anything? Often they're just filtering and chucking the moisture back into the room.

greatcrested

Windows double glazed? Do they open? (not that tenant will want to in winter....)

Is the hood a real extractor, or a  filter that circulates air internally?

Has anyone looked outside at the external wall? Might it be penetrating damp from eg a damaged downpipe, poor pointing etc?

By 'humidity fan' do you mean an extractor fan with a humidity sensor that switches it on automatically? Quite a good idea though a cheaper option wuld be a bog-standard extractor linked to the light (turn light on, fan comes on).

"stain blocker and mould remover for another £240." I'm no expert but seems pricey. Can't cost much to buy and labour to slap it on...? Plus it's behind cupboards so 'slap it on' would suffice!

Found this via duckduckgo....

https://sparksdirect.blog/why-a-timer-fan-is-more-recommended-than-a-fan-with-humidistat-module/

northwest1965

davidmcn said:

macman said:

By 'humidity fan', do you mean an extractor fan? Why is the current one inadequate in such a small kitchen?

I wonder if the cooker hood is actually extracting anything? Often they're just filtering and chucking the moisture back into the room.

Yes, I doubt it does much apart from absorb smells.
Sorry I meant extractor fan.
The price for the decorating is steep, there's very little wall space and a small ceiling. I presumed the mould removal spray and stain paint was expensive

[Deleted User]

I would look at the external wall, as already suggested.  When I had a mould problem everyone was blaming 'tenant lifestyle' no matter what I said about keeping windows open and having a top of the range condenser dryer.  I put insulating wallpaper on the walls, room was instantly warmer and damp/mould never came back so cold external walls was definitely my problem.   I'm not saying its the same with your property but it could easily be another wall problem.

FreeBear

A 1910 property will probably have solid brick walls and originally have a lime plaster finish internally. Slapping a stain blocker on followed by a layer of modern paint will trap moisture in the walls and cause further problems - A damp wall is a cold wall. And a cold wall will suffer from condensation which will lead to further mold. Ventilation and warmth during the colder months will help to reduce the problem.

Although, if the kitchen has been "renovated" with modern gypsum plaster and synthetic paints, the damage will already have been done. So another coat of stain blocker & emulsion isn't going to make things any worse. The damp & mold will return before too long..

anselld

You say the mould is "behind the kitchen units".
Why does that matter?
How are they proposing to treat/paint behind the units?   Units are not always straightforward to remove in a fitted kitchen.
It would still be a good idea to improve ventilation but I would not be inclined to spend money on redecoration of an inaccessible/non-visible area.

collectors

I  can only recommend an extractor that vents to outside, the recycling type are not much good. " have fitted at least 40 different types" On the mold side, it depends on the type. I get black spot mold in areas of my house & have used just about everything to get rid of it with no luck. But a good clean once a year keeps it back. If it left, i will get a lot worse.

northwest1965

Having lived in the house myself for many years, I just used to clean once a year, it's an old house! A cold wall! but I feel like we should remedy the situation as it is our tenant without being ripped off by the agent