Mold :(

As I was putting things away in my son's (17 months) room in our house (we just moved in last weekend, private rental), I opened a top cabinet that's in the corner of the room and got quite a surprise.  A huge, HUGE patch of mold surrounding a crack in the wall.  It's the wall on the back of the house, so the other side of the wall is outside.  What's most concerning is its color-- black.

I immediately started Googling only to find that you can't tell toxic black mold from mold that happens to be black.  Is this something we should contact our landlord about?  I searched on UKY and have seen that many people deal with mold in their house, so is this just something to get used to?  I understand that it's much more damp in England than America in general, but I was just so startled to see this.

Most of the caulking around our windows is black with mold, but I figured that's something I'd just clean on my own, but now that I've seen this, I'm more worried.  I checked another cabinet in a bedroom on the front of the house and found another crack surrounded by mold (but not as much).  Maybe I'm just failing at Google, but I'm having a difficult time finding out about how to proceed.  If it's even worth mentioning to the landlord ... how to get it inspected/tested, etc.  Any help/advice?

Here are a couple pictures:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3004/3108061576_0a6f9e0c8f.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3117/3107263683_fefa17ca34.jpg?v=0
This is the big huge spot in my son's room.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3090/3107232009_1f5ebbd096.jpg?v=0
This is the other crack in a different bedroom but a similarly positioned cabinet, sharing an outside wall.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3184/3107231479_7bf7805cfc.jpg?v=0
This is the caulking on our bedroom window, which you can see is about 90% black with mold.

Contact your landlord. That's far worse that the bit of mould that I have around our non-double-glazed, need-to-be-replaced wood sash windows. That's a very serious damp problem!!!

Yes, a lot of us have to deal with mould - IME, the only thing that kills it is bleach, bleach, and more bleach.  And then you've got to suss out and deal with the cause of the damp, which is what causes the mould.

One thing we learned this year - if you live in a old stone house, air needs to be able to circulate freely on the walls.  We had a bad patch of mould like in your first picture growing behind one of the fitted wardrobes in our bedroom - this was due to condensation damp.  Unfortunately, a previous owner had installed the fitted wardrobes and they were nailed into the corners of our bedroom, with only a tiny narrow space behind them - in which air could not freely circulate, nor could I get back there to clean & wipe it down.  Lesson learned (for us) - no fitted wardrobes in an old stone house like this!  Those bad boys got ripped out, the mould was both treated extensively with bleach and the discolouration all sanded off, the bedroom re-plastered & re-done.

We've had good luck with Polycell 3-in-1 Mould Killer. It works well and doesn't have horrible fumes--I have a bit of asthma, and I'm very sensitive to spray products. But I would definitely contact the landlord first. That's horrific!

We've had a problem with mold in the flat we just moved into.

As Mrs. R says, you  can clean with bleach to get rid of the problem on the surface. But you really need to find the source of the problem. For us, it was a leak in the bathroom, and also general condensation. The leak was fixed, which has obviously solved a lot of the problem. We have a de-humidifier going most of the time, and make a point of getting fresh air by opening the windows (even in this cold), and also wipe down our (single glazed with metal frames) windows every morning to remove condensation. There is also a specific mold cleaner that we have found at Homebase (their own brand), which seems to work well, and is supposed to be preventative.

Definitely start with your landlord, but if you don't get very far, or want to have someone come evaluate the problem you can contact the Environmental Health team with your local council. In my experience they are very responsive.

Aside from Bleach, you can use Dettol Mold & Mildew remover.  It can sting the eyes & you'll probably need to keep a window open, but really you should probably contact your landlord first...   

Good luck & let us know the outcome!

That much damp and mold in a high position is indicative of a pretty bad problem with water ingress, and the settlement cracks will exacerbate it.   You may well have a roof leaking and letting damp get down behind that wall, or possibly guttering leaking and showering that particular part of the outside wall with water all the time.

check your gutters if you can.  they could be blocked or bent and allowing water to seep into the wall.

make sure the outside wall isn't covered in any sort of climbing vine or ivy, which can also hold water against the wall and cause mold and damp.

do you have a de-humidifier?  they're expensive, but they're worth the money.

if you have single-glazed sash windows, make sure you wipe them down, including the sash every day.

Milton's tablets or liquid is great for getting mold off stuff. 

Air the room out every day, too, even if it's cold and you open the window for ten minutes or so.

Thanks everyone, we'll be calling the landlord tomorrow about it.  I'm a little nervous about it because it's a private rental and I'm not sure they're going to want to do anything about it.  I'll post back after we've talked to them!

Sorry to hijack, but this seems like the place to ask:

I don't have a major mold problem (yet, that I know of)  -

but there are a couple of spots on the wall and ceiling where the paint and spackle (sp? and right word?) have bubbled up and flaked off.  The bare concrete is starting to show.  I'm in a Victorian terrace, and it's not an outside wall.  It doesn't feel moist.

They are in areas near cracks or where there probably was a patch/repair.  If I knew how to upload pictures, I'd do that.

Can anyone explain what is going on?

Is the wall damp? Have you noticed any damp in the flat?

I'm hoping you will have luck with your landlord.

But, if your landlord is reluctant or unwilling to do anything, definitely contact your council's Environmental Health team (your council may have a different name for this function, so you may have to dig a bit on the website to figure out who to contact). They can evaluate the problem, and from what I understand, can force your landlord to make improvements/repairs if they deem them necessary.

When we called them them, they said to have our landlord's number ready when they came by. We ended up not having them come, since the leak was located and fixed soon after we contacted them, but they were very responsive when we did call.

We are also in a private rental, by the way. Of course, the downside with a private rental is that your landlord may prefer to terminate the lease, I suppose, rather than do anything.

Thanks for that-- I'd researched a little already and have a couple pages bookmarked with contact numbers in case the landlord is difficult about it.  A lot of them mention the council fixing things, which I wasn't sure how applied since it's a private rental.

I also just realized that I left something really relevant out!  This cabinet is situated directly about the radiator controller thing.  The hot water heater?  You can see in this picture what I mean: it's in the cabinet with the folding-type door
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3201/3108094038_938602337a.jpg?v=0

  A lot of them mention the council fixing things, which I wasn't sure how applied since it's a private rental.

You're right... those things wont apply to you if you are not renting from the council.

Am having the same problems in my old house - from my research the only thing to be done is bleach the hell out of it now and invest in a dehumidifier.