Mushrooms sprouting in the bathroom - is this on the landlord or us?

thehamburglerswife

Recently, mushrooms have started sprouting from one corner in the bathroom. We have always had issues with the bathroom since we moved in; first - the window was broken in the bathroom and could not be opened as it was a structural issue. It took the landlord two months to get it fixed after moving in. 

The bathroom was clearly not originally a bathroom and was added in when the house was turned into a maisonette. Without that window, there was little to no ventilation for over two months. The mould was intense, especially as it was during winter. 

Even with the window, we have bought an additional fan and dehumidifier in the bathroom to help this - but it still grows. These mushrooms have recently started; we have already scraped off two before and completely bleached out the area continuously. But they keep on returning. 

Additionally, a plant started sprouting from underneath the tub a while back, which we had to pluck out. It also doesn't help that we only get up to 5 minutes of hot water when we shower. So we are not steaming out the place with a lot of heat.

Is this something I can raise with the landlord? When we moved in, we complained about the hot water and the window; they only fixed the window and the hot water - we were told that it was a small tank and, thus, we could only get up to 5 minutes of hot water.

So, I am not certain even if we tell the landlord that they will do anything about it and not just pin the problem 

theartfullodger

Invite council round for HHSRS survey.

Then write/email landlord with list of repairs.  Calm, polite.

See Shelter's website on reporting repairs to private landlords 

Keep_pedalling

Can you upload an image of these “mushrooms” please?

anselld

Everything suggests a leak somewhere, so yes report it and at least give the Landlord the opportunity to investigate / fix.

thehamburglerswife

Please excuse the photo, this is an older one - I went to take a picture only to find my husband already scraped them off. He thinks we should just leave it and keep removing them when they pop up - which they do, they pop up overnight.

thehamburglerswife

I found a similar photo of what they look like, which I would say is like this:

Keep_pedalling

Well at least it is not wet or dry rot. The timber must contain a lot of moisture though

thehamburglerswife

Keep_pedalling said:

Well at least it is not wet or dry rot. The timber must contain a lot of moisture though

In the area in which they do grow, the small wooden boarding has expanded and has black spots that we physically cannot even scrub away as it is further into and probably behind the boarding. The landlord also probably used the cheapest paint, because it is peeling off across the whole bathroom. I don't really know what more we can do with the window and door open, a big desk fan blowing 24/7 in the bathroom and a dehumidifier. This is why I posted my question, is this just our issue and just have to manage as much as possible?

I can't think of anything more we can do. We had to place a lead extension to the bathroom to get the fan & dehumidifier in there.

RAS

Is this ground floor or first floor? what is the other side of the wall? A room or outside?

thehamburglerswife

RAS said:

Is this ground floor or first floor? what is the other side of the wall? A room or outside?

This is the ground floor, we also had a small plant grow from underneath the bathtub. On the other side of this wall is the cupboard where the water tank, piping and boiler are. However, in that cupboard, there is no appearance of leaking, dampness or mould.

FreeBear

thehamburglerswife said: The landlord also probably used the cheapest paint, because it is peeling off across the whole bathroom.

No paint will stick to a damp or wet surface. It will always peel off, even the expensive stuff.

That you have fungi & plants sprouting would confirm that you have high levels of moisture in the walls. Fans & dehumidifiers will do little to "fix" the problem. The landlord needs to fix the root cause pronto as it will be rotting his investment away and will eventually lead to some very expensive repair bills.

If you involve Environmental Health (which you should do), there may well be enforcement notices issues that he will have to comply with or risk fines.