Purple mould, rising damp and mould removal advice required.

FreeBear

Debi_m_ said:

The surveyor didn’t specify rising damp, they confirmed it wasn’t caused by me. I understand it could be penetrating damp. There’s a tide mark on the wall. The property is nearly 5 years old. The building looks damp outside but I’m not an expert. I live in a damp area of the UK.

This last image shows a brick that is damp (as evidenced by the green growth), and the courses above are dry. So there is a functioning DPC and no rising damp.

However, the DPC should be 150mm above the surrounding ground to reduce the chance of rain splash back soaking the wall above the DPC. Putting a bit of gravel down will reduce some of the splash back, but not all. The HA needs to look at the landscaping, lower the ground levels, and perhaps pursue the developers for the cost.

km1500

I agree - there is a high chance the dpc is being bridged

tooldle

Just to clarify is the affected wall internal. From your first message, it reads as though the affected wall is internal to the building, mentioning the cold hall being a cause, which ties in with the ventilation / condensation diagnosis.  The photos are of an exterior wall?

Debi_m_

tooldle said:

Just to clarify is the affected wall internal. From your first message, it reads as though the affected wall is internal to the building, mentioning the cold hall being a cause, which ties in with the ventilation / condensation diagnosis.  The photos are of an exterior wall?

It’s an internal wall, other side is the communal hall. The external photos are just outside the entrance to the hall. The property is quite low, the pavement outside is higher than the ground floor the entrance path slopes down.
The HA surveyor said very little, stated it could be the cold (it’s cold all year round) or due to the fact the tiled wall panels seems to be coming off the wall in the communal hall. I’m in no way qualified to make any determination on this but I think it could be more complicated, but I’m rather hypervigilant and over think things. My housing association do take rather a long time to fix things and have a history of cowboying up “big” jobs so I’m asking in case things don’t improve. Added a couple of other pics, the green lines on the path etc is weed killer that’s just been sprayed. 

Mrs_pbradley936

While you are waiting for them to fix it get some Peace lily plants because they absorb moisture and are said to purify the air. Just be careful if you have pets or small children because they can be toxic. If you have either hang the plant from the ceiling.

Four houseplants that can help you remove mould, mildew and condensation (wigwampropertynews.co.uk)