Delicate situation with tenant

Giraffe76

Hi all,

Last month we paid out about 6k on getting a new damp dehumidifier unit installed along with a new damp course in a property as the 2 renters were complaining that there was a big build up of mould in the property.
They contacted me again yesterday to say that the new skirting that was installed after the damp course was done was coming away from the wall.
The gentleman who installed the skirting has gone round again today to repair the skirting but said that the whole house smells very very damp especially in the bedroom where he repaired the skirting and I suspect they aren't airing the property despite being told by different people including me that they need to leave the windows slightly open.
The last time I spoke with him about this we had a brief falling out
How do I approach this with him and also we suspect there is more than 2 people staying at the property because there is 3 beds in the property whereas the tenancy is only meant to be for 2.
I want to be fair to renters but I also have my suspicions that we are having the Mickey taken out of us with both of these potential situations.
Any suggestions would be appreciated

Kind regards Mark 

jonnydeppiwish!

How did you have a new damp course fitted? Was it a chemical injection? If so, possibly won’t work. And could make the issue worse.

tacpot12

I think that you are going to have to put up with your tenants having three people staying there (three beds equals three people) until you can solve the damp problem.

I would suggest that you need to investigate whether the damp proof course has solved the rising damp prolbem which one hopes you were certain you had before you paid for the DPC to be installed. 

But a bedroom isn't going to have rising damp. The damp would be caused by a fault with the building or due to how the tenants were occupying the building. i.e. not heating it correctly, having too many people inside (three in two bedrooms isn't too many), drying clothes inside, cooking without using the extractor fan in the kitchen, or bathing or showering without using the extractor fan in the bathroom. You need to eliminate everything on this list. If you don't have extractor fans in the bathroom and kitchen, you need to fit them. In the bathroom, I only install ones that have a seperate humidity sensor.

You need to check all the gutters and weather seals around the windows. If the property is really damp inside, it's less likely to be the tenant's fault so you should tread carefully. The more likely cause is a building fault. 

You need to check that the dehumidifier is working, and that it is able to pull air from the whole property - have you got gaps under or over the internal doors? 

Opening the windows isn't going to help except on days when the Relative Humidity outside is lower than it is inside. Tenants don't like doing this as it lets cold air in. Rather than a dehumidifier, I would have fitted a PIV system. This pressurises the house so that warm moist air is forced out through any cracks and gaps - usually trickle vents are fitted over the windows to ensure that the moist air can be exhausted quickly, but do so too quickly and you are wasting the tenants energy.

This video is the best explanation on YouTube of how to stop damp and mould: https://youtu.be/TIDb-pdOnXM?si=7XnwWSTcvgK49XlB

badmemory

I doubt opening any windows would help except in the height of a dry summer or a freezing winter.  My house can get well under 40% humidity in the depth of a snowy/icy winter.  The only time my house has ever had mould was when I had a persistent leak in the bathroom for years.  A totally unnoticed leak that rotted the bathroom floor.  Leak stopped, dodgy part of bathroom floor replace = no mould.

tacpot12

To check whether the DPC has helped you would need to go around the ground floor of the property with a damp meter. If you had the property surveyed to determine that a DPC was needed, it might be better to get the surveyor that did the survey to come back, ideally with the exact same meter and a record of the readings they took. If they aren't available, or won't come, then any damp meter will do, but they are notoriously imprecise. They should show if the walls are damp or not. 

Checking this gives you a chance to check on the tenants. Calling in at around the time they are cooking their tea is a bit intrusive and inconvenient for them, but gives you the option to check if the place is steamed up, and how warm it is. 

The PIV installer should have fitted trickle vents to the window, or satisfied themselves that there were enough gaps around the doors and windows to allow moisture to be forced out. Just relying on gaps though is not ideal because the installer can't foresee whether anyone will go around on a draught excluding mission and block all the escape routes. Trickle vents are a relaible solution, especially if you remove the feature that allows the tenant to close them!    

tacpot12

I fitted these trickle vents to a rental property that was having a condensation problem in the bathroom and the problem went away:

uPVC Trickle Vents For uPVC Windows | GB DIY Store

They are quite neat and have a good quality feel to them. Best of all the closing mechanism just unclips so you can remove the tenants ability to stop the ventilation that is needed. 

_Penny_Dreadful

Giraffe76 said:

Hi all,

Last month we paid out about 6k on getting a new damp dehumidifier unit installed along with a new damp course in a property as the 2 renters were complaining that there was a big build up of mould in the property.
They contacted me again yesterday to say that the new skirting that was installed after the damp course was done was coming away from the wall.
The gentleman who installed the skirting has gone round again today to repair the skirting but said that the whole house smells very very damp especially in the bedroom where he repaired the skirting and I suspect they aren't airing the property despite being told by different people including me that they need to leave the windows slightly open.
The last time I spoke with him about this we had a brief falling out
How do I approach this with him and also we suspect there is more than 2 people staying at the property because there is 3 beds in the property whereas the tenancy is only meant to be for 2.
I want to be fair to renters but I also have my suspicions that we are having the Mickey taken out of us with both of these potential situations.
Any suggestions would be appreciated

Kind regards Mark 

You need to get to the bottom of what is causing the mould. Is it condensation building up in the property or is it damp? Did you have a survey carried out prior to have the damp course done to determine that there was a damp issue with the property? 

Giraffe76

The reason why I think it's the tenants that are causing the mould issue is because we lived at the property for a few years and didn't have any issues plus several workmen have said to me that they have seen the tenants cooking without no ventilation used or windows open.
I will check what you have suggested tacpot12

NameUnavailable

A timely thread for me as I have noticed some mould in a couple of spots in my home, behind my sofa which is on an outside wall below a window and in a corner where two outside walls meet. I'm sure it's not damp as I'm in a upper floor flat with cavity walls.

I'm assuming a combination of lack of air circulation in those spots and humidity although that can only really come from my cooking (I don't have an extractor fan in the kitchen but I do open the window when boiling pasta or vegetables) or maybe not having windows open enough as it's winter.

The Youtube video above was very interesting.

Veteransaver

It has been an exceptionally damp winter so far, ie ground is very damp so it's not out of the question there is a damp issue and something is wrong with the property.
If so it might be seen as pretty unreasonable to try to insist the tenants use a dehumidifier which they will pay for via their electric bill (dehumidifiers can use a serious amount of electric). Equally installing tamper proof trickle vents or air circulation systems also increase their energy bill would be pretty unreasonable if it's a problem with the property.
Also, if skirting boards are mouldy it suggests its more likely a rising damp issue, is the bedroom on the ground floor?

jonnydeppiwish!

Giraffe76 said:

The reason why I think it's the tenants that are causing the mould issue is because we lived at the property for a few years and didn't have any issues plus several workmen have said to me that they have seen the tenants cooking without no ventilation used or windows open.
I will check what you have suggested tacpot12

What dpc did you have fitted? Really important question op. Chemical dpc aren’t know for very much except for wasting a lot of money.