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Topic: Mold and moisture  (Read 1732 times)

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Mold and moisture
« on: April 27, 2009, 05:06:56 PM »
Right, so we have a small amount of green mold growing around the base of the wall in one of our rooms. This completely grosses me out. I touched the wall and it's also damp. I will spray the wall down with bleach to treat the mold. I have cracked the window open, but as we live on the ground floor we can't leave it open at all times. Would a dehumidifier help with the moisture? Should I expect the landlord to pay for this? Dehumidifiers aren't cheap, but neither is moving which we're not prepared to do right now.


Re: Mold and moisture
« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2009, 05:19:41 PM »
We got a dehumidifier from LittlewoodsDiirect for about £99 during the middle of winter because we had a damp patch pop up right next to DD's cot. So we did what you did, sprayed it with bleach and tried to keep the windows open, but with a small child windows can't be open all the time. Then a patch appeared on the ceiling and spread halfway across the room, so we did the same...bleached it and then bought the dehumidifier...we've had no damp problems since. It took about a week to get all the moisture out of the walls so it ran constantly during the daytime, now I just make sure it runs when I have laundry to dry. It raised our quarterly electric bill by about £35.

It is in our lease that we have to keep the residence free of damp so we couldn't get reimbursed for the cost, but best thing to do is check your lease and if its not specified you could ask for reimbursement.


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Re: Mold and moisture
« Reply #2 on: April 27, 2009, 05:22:12 PM »
Thanks WebyJ. I knew someone had posted about mold previously and I believe it was you! We'll have a look at the lease and see what we can figure out. It doesn't help that we dry our clothes in there, but we really have no choice. I'm glad to hear the dehumidifier has helped.


Re: Mold and moisture
« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2009, 05:27:15 PM »
You're most welcome...the model that we ended up getting was because it was the only one available anywhere in the middle of winter that wouldn't break the bank. But considering winter is over I'd suggest starting at Argos  & out of curiosity I just checked and they have one for just under £50.


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Re: Mold and moisture
« Reply #4 on: April 27, 2009, 07:08:20 PM »
We had a dehumidifier in our flat in Exmouth as we had mold pop up everywhere. Vile stuff. Our landlady bought it for us and it worked really well.
When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. ~ John Lennon


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Re: Mold and moisture
« Reply #5 on: April 27, 2009, 07:14:31 PM »
I checked Argos and there was one for 97 euro. It's crazy how expensive some of them are! Hopefully I can get it tomorrow.  :-\\\\


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Re: Mold and moisture
« Reply #6 on: April 27, 2009, 09:15:38 PM »
Have you had a look outside to see if you can figure out the source of the dampness? There might be a blocked drain or something.
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Re: Mold and moisture
« Reply #7 on: April 27, 2009, 09:33:05 PM »
We live in a Georgian apartment building. I have zero access to the drains, unfortunately. All I can do is go out there and stare at the building!


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Re: Mold and moisture
« Reply #8 on: April 27, 2009, 09:36:32 PM »
We live in a Georgian apartment building. I have zero access to the drains, unfortunately. All I can do is go out there and stare at the building!

Is your landlord the owner of the whole building? Perhaps he/she ought to take a look at what's going on. Not that that helps you now, of course, but it might prevent the dampness form getting worse.
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Re: Mold and moisture
« Reply #9 on: April 28, 2009, 09:16:25 AM »
No, it's a huge complex and he only owns a couple of flats in it. We'll be sure to mention it to him, but I'm not holding up any hope! I'm fairly sure he knows about it. It certainly explains why that room has new carpet in it and the rest of the flat doesn't.


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Re: Mold and moisture
« Reply #10 on: April 28, 2009, 12:11:16 PM »
Someone probably owns the freehold to the building.

Vicky


Re: Mold and moisture
« Reply #11 on: April 28, 2009, 12:19:40 PM »
No, it's a huge complex and he only owns a couple of flats in it. We'll be sure to mention it to him, but I'm not holding up any hope! I'm fairly sure he knows about it. It certainly explains why that room has new carpet in it and the rest of the flat doesn't.
The building we live in has 97 flats each individually owned and the building itself is owned by another company. Our damp problem didn't start until our landlord had double glazing installed in Sept 07, that winter we had a bit of condensation appear on the windows and then a couple of small spots of mold appeared on the ceiling above the window in the bedroom. This past winter with my daughter as well the condensation was that much worse and the mold became unmanageable without the dehumidifier.
So, the energy we had been saving with the double glazing is now being used by the dehumidifier, but DH said in the previous winters before I arrived in 2007 he ran all the electric heaters in the flat and would sleep in his clothes and balaclava because it was so cold. Now we just run the heat for a few minutes in the morning and the chill is gone all day long. And even a day like today where it's rainy outside I've not run the heat only the dehumidifier and it's perfectly comfortable.
But our landlord knows about it and basically stated that since the flats are 1 bed and not really designed for more than 2 people that the condensation is the result of there being 3 people in the flat...but that he has no problem and that it is our responsibility to keep the mold & condensation clear. Oh well.


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Re: Mold and moisture
« Reply #12 on: April 28, 2009, 01:04:35 PM »
The building we live in has 97 flats each individually owned and the building itself is owned by another company.

That's what I think is going on here. It's actually a huge complex with various modern (ca. 1990) blocks. Then we're in the only block that is an old Georgian building that has been converted into 6 or so flats. We'll be paying the rent in a couple of weeks, so we'll be sure to mention it to him.

But our landlord knows about it and basically stated that since the flats are 1 bed and not really designed for more than 2 people that the condensation is the result of there being 3 people in the flat...but that he has no problem and that it is our responsibility to keep the mold & condensation clear. Oh well.

Lovely.  ::)  I really don't mind running a dehumidifier because it will help with drying the laundry!



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Re: Mold and moisture
« Reply #13 on: April 28, 2009, 07:22:44 PM »
We live in a Georgian apartment building. I have zero access to the drains, unfortunately. All I can do is go out there and stare at the building!

It might not be the drains - we, unknowingly, had a steady long-term leak from underneath the bath in our old place and the mould was horrendous!

Which wall is the mould originating on? Is it an internal or external wall?

Best of luck in sorting it out.


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