This mold (?) appeared on my wall!!

shayabrown

This, what I think is, mold has appeared on my wall in the last couple of days. I rent a flat and I'm wondering if it's my issue to sort out or the landlord. Is it dangerous?
Thanks!
(Sorry that the picture isn't the best)

neilmcl

All mould has potential health issues, especially black mould. It's more than likely down to condensation on your walls and lack of ventilation. You need to clean it down with an anti-mould spray or a strong bleach solution and then keep the area ventilated.

Jeepers_Creepers

Who is responsible? Depends on the cause - is it a cold, damp flat that's very hard to heat, or is it down to poor living arrangements such as low heating, lack of ventilation, drying clothes inside etc.

Where is that wall?

shayabrown

Jeepers_Creepers said:

is it a cold, damp flat that's very hard to heat,

That's how I would describe it. There's drafts by most of the windows and condensation in between the double glazing. I don't know if those issues are related to the mold!
The mold is in the bedroom near the ceiling, just to the right of the picture is a big window. The flat is in the middle of the building with flats above and below.

donemedosh

It looks like condensation. which occurs when warm air hits a cold surface in this case a cold wall. Clean it off with mould cleaner which will stop the mould reappearing, To prevent this coming back you need to keep the moisture level in the flat as low as possible but also allow fresh air in ( sounds silly but thats what I have been doing,so far its been ok). Have a word with the landlord they should get the windows fixed as condensation in between the glazing means the seals have gone which make the room colder. Do your windows have trickle vents fitted if not ask the landlord to have them retro fitted. Last thing get a good mains powered dehumidifier this will really help.

Jeepers_Creepers

shayabrown said:

Jeepers_Creepers said:

is it a cold, damp flat that's very hard to heat,

That's how I would describe it. There's drafts by most of the windows and condensation in between the double glazing. I don't know if those issues are related to the mold!
The mold is in the bedroom near the ceiling, just to the right of the picture is a big window. The flat is in the middle of the building with flats above and below.

It might seem counter-intuitive, but ventilation - draughts by another name! - help to keep your flat dry. Condensation in the DG units indicate the seal has broken down. This is an eyesore, but actually has very little effect on its insulation value.

The mould does seem to form a distinctive pattern - it's almost a well-defined square? Any chance of a photo of the outside of the property of that area?

If it's condensation, then try and keep that bedroom door closed during the day so the warm moist air from the flat (cooking, cleaning, showers, drying clothes etc) doesn't head in there to find the coldest surface in the home. Keep the window cracked open during the day too - no need to have heating on in there (unless you spend time in it). Then turn on the heating before you go to bed so's it's welcoming.

If you can, tho', try and keep a window on 'vent' throughout the night; it might make the room cold, but it will 'air' it too*. As soon as you wake up (to hopefully warm rads) push the other 'alf out of bed to shut the window, and don't let them back in until they've also made you a cuppa.

*(overnight is probably the worst time for condensation to form. The heating goes off or down and the warm moist air cools and can't hold on to the water. It therefore finds surfaces to condense out on. Bodies give out moisture overnight. Folks usually shut their windows tightly closed, etc.)