Mould in my rented apartment- With pics...

pnq06

Morning all,

I moved into my rented property 6 weeks ago and since then we've had nothing but problems with the estate agent, a few to name are-

- There was no gas safety check certificate (someone let themselves in the day after I moved :eek: She told us it was done by the previous estate agent)
- She told us the carpets would be steam cleaned (They never were despite her wanting them done on our departure at our cost)
- She told us professional cleaners had been in then also admitted that they hadn't.
- The washer dryer has broken down twice and both times she hasn't had any urgency to get it fixed.
- The bathroom bath/shower area is faulty due to the original curved shower curtain pole being taken down and being replaced by a screen which leaks water underneath also due to this the paint on the wall is peeling because the tiles don't go far enough along the bath.

The previous tenants apparently flooded the bathroom so the carpet in there was removed and that was apparently where the damp smell was coming from so we were told in time that the landlord would be putting in a larger extractor fan... Fair enough- Or so we thought. Yesterday I went sniffing around the bedroom as there is a smell of drugs in there (we were told that she'd get the carpets cleaned for us) and I just so happened to move the drawers and to my horror there are massive damp patches all the way along the entire length of the outside wall!!! According to the internet it is also excessive damp as there are white salts on the carpet...

Finally, my problem is that I emailed the estate agent yesterday with pics, tried to call into the office 3 times, phoned and left messages and have received nothing back from her...
What shall I do now?
I'm really worrying about this as I have a 5 month old and we are also the ground floor apartment with 3 more above us.... The apartments are less than a year old so I'm sure the landlord can resolve this with George Wimpy...

Any help much appreciated..

birduk

Hi, I am afraid I can't offer much help with what to do with your landlord.

However, I can offer my personal experience of damp in a rented house, that we ignored. It just gets worse and eventually can cover all of the walls in all of the house (in small patches), despite our best efforts to clean/bleach etc, basically everything that was in our capability to no avail.

It is something that the landlord will have to get sorted by fiting dampproof etc. He/she will have to investigate properly. Don't be fobbed off with repainting.

The above all assumes that it is not caused by a specific damp patch that could be dried out!

LillyJ

We had that as well, our landlord told us we needed to leave the windows open all day while we were out at work! Really helpful advice! (I am being sarcastic here in case people haven't realised!) When I protested he then told me I had too many belongings in the room and therefore it was my fault as I was stopping the air flow! I am one of the tidiest, cleanest people I know (in fact a bit OCD about it) and I definately did not have too many belongings!

I suggest you get on to them ASAP, it will only get worse. In the meantime suggest they get you a dehumidifier to help with the dampness.

janegresty

Not sure if this may help you, but the property we have just moved from had major damp and mould problems. We mithered the LL for 8 months and he did nothing. In the end we go so peed off that we phoned environmental health. This then set the chain in motion and forced the LL to do something. Unfortunately for us the builders for the LL just cleaned the mould and painted over the damp... so 2 months later it was back.
I'm 6 months pregnant and couldn't be doing with the hassle, so we found somewhere else to live.
BUT I would suggest contacting environmental health as you have a young baby, which means they will act more urgently. As damp and mould can cause asthma problems as far as I am aware. Good luck!

pnq06

Thank you for your replies

I forgot to say that the house was freshly painted when we moved in although we turned our nose up at this too as there were dark patches all over the walls and it didn't smell of paint - now we know why!!!

We wouldn't dare leave the windows open whilst we're out as the area isn't that great (its also ground floor) in fact a car was broken into outside our window on the 3rd night being here!!! And we have put off buying furniture for the bedroom because the carpets are to be cleaned when the new extractor fan in the bathroom gets fitted so we have a bed, chest of drawers and babies cot....

I'm so angry because we failed the credit checks to get here and had to fork out an extra £900 (2 months rent)... We were also told that she doesn't have as many problems with other tenants when we asked for the washer/dryer to be fixed for the 2nd time :eek: so I don't think she likes us...

pnq06

janegresty wrote: »

Not sure if this may help you, but the property we have just moved from had major damp and mould problems. We mithered the LL for 8 months and he did nothing. In the end we go so peed off that we phoned environmental health. This then set the chain in motion and forced the LL to do something. Unfortunately for us the builders for the LL just cleaned the mould and painted over the damp... so 2 months later it was back.
I'm 6 months pregnant and couldn't be doing with the hassle, so we found somewhere else to live.
BUT I would suggest contacting environmental health as you have a young baby, which means they will act more urgently. As damp and mould can cause asthma problems as far as I am aware. Good luck!

What a *BEEP* your landlord was :mad:

Glad your out of there and good luck with your baby boy- if its your first then enjoy every second of it... I blinked and my baby girl is 5 months already!!!!

pnq06

So can I get a dehumidifier and keep the receipt for the landlord to cover the costs?

birduk

Trust me on this one, windows wide open and radiators on full blast, we tried it. It really didn't have that much effect on the damp, it certainly needs more than you can throw at it! Plus, not too helpful advice for winter methinks...

LillyJ

No I definately wouldn't leave my windows open either! It was a stupid thing of my LL to say! Even in the nicest area in the world I wouldn't do that!

The council can definately help, and I don't mean to scare you (didn't put it in my other post but now it has been mentioned....) I developed asthma within 3 months of moving in to the house in question, at the age of 19. The doctors thought this was very unusual and it turns out I have a special type of fungus in my lungs (aspergillus) which has damaged my lungs and put a stop to my hopes of joining the army.

If you have a baby you should get your GP involved if you develop a cough or anything, they are usually pretty good in situations like this and can write letters to the council if they think your health could be affected.

pnq06

Right so I will not leave the windows open and put up the radiators as its tried and tested and a failure ;-)

Lilly I'm actually quite worried now that you've said that as my baby has developed a cough since being here (taken her to the drs twice) told my partner last night and he thought I was being worried over nothing but I thought it was strange as she didn't get any bug that everyone else she has been in contact with has had... :-(

barnaby-bear

pnq06 wrote: »

Morning all,

I moved into my rented property 6 weeks ago and since then we've had nothing but problems with the estate agent, a few to name are-

- There was no gas safety check certificate (someone let themselves in the day after I moved :eek: She told us it was done by the previous estate agent)
- She told us the carpets would be steam cleaned (They never were despite her wanting them done on our departure at our cost)
- She told us professional cleaners had been in then also admitted that they hadn't.
- The washer dryer has broken down twice and both times she hasn't had any urgency to get it fixed.
- The bathroom bath/shower area is faulty due to the original curved shower curtain pole being taken down and being replaced by a screen which leaks water underneath also due to this the paint on the wall is peeling because the tiles don't go far enough along the bath.

The previous tenants apparently flooded the bathroom so the carpet in there was removed and that was apparently where the damp smell was coming from so we were told in time that the landlord would be putting in a larger extractor fan... Fair enough- Or so we thought. Yesterday I went sniffing around the bedroom as there is a smell of drugs in there (we were told that she'd get the carpets cleaned for us) and I just so happened to move the drawers and to my horror there are massive damp patches all the way along the entire length of the outside wall!!! According to the internet it is also excessive damp as there are white salts on the carpet...

Finally, my problem is that I emailed the estate agent yesterday with pics, tried to call into the office 3 times, phoned and left messages and have received nothing back from her...
What shall I do now?
I'm really worrying about this as I have a 5 month old and we are also the ground floor apartment with 3 more above us.... The apartments are less than a year old so I'm sure the landlord can resolve this with George Wimpy...

Any help much appreciated..

Looks like black spot mould, it isn't particularly harmful and often a result of condensation probably on an outside wall if your house is quite warm and humid. Once you have a reservoir of spores it can be quite persistent - wiping it down with a fungicide such as Dettox mould & mildew will be more effective than bleach and doing it regularly will help. Basically older properties used to have single glazing so moisture would condense on the windows now it goes on the single skin brick walls. It's a really grey area as ventilating well will get rid of it so LLs can argue if you slam the heating on and keep the windows shut it's inevitable, if you don't want to open the windows try a dehumidifier. It's probably condensation based so a damp course probably isn't appropriate the moisture is probably coming from your breath. http://www.advicefrom.co.uk/Condensation.htm
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=howTo&p=Improve/MoldHome.html