Black Mould...

[blinkybaby]

Does any one else have any experience with this?

I live in a rented flat and I really like living here. The only thing is, the house suffers really badly from black mould. It affects the walls around specific windows in the flat. I left it for a while because I thought that aggravating it would make the spores airborne but it got to the point where I have had to remove it with a wet cloth and bleach. I have told my landlord tonight by text that it is getting to be a problem. I have a dehumidifier which is on practically all day but it eats up my electricity bill! It was a lot better during the summer months and has only become a real problem during the winter.

I'm a natural worrier anyway but I have started feeling a little spaced out at times and have been having minor headaches. Are these black mold poisioning symptoms?

The worst bit is that my little boy has a really chesty cough and has done for about a month - taken him to the doctors about 3 times (paranoid) and they've listened to his chest and said it sounds fine. Can't help but worry though, and I didn't mention the possibility of black mould as it's only just dawned on me tonight that this could be the problem.

Luckily my tenancy agreement comes to an end at the end of March so if need be I will hand my 1 month notice in at the end of this month. I would really like to get it sorted though so we can stay here.

There really does seem to be a ventilation issue in this flat though, the windows in certain rooms always have condensation on them and I can't very well have all the windows open all day in the middle of winter with a one year old. I feel guilty for not realising this sooner - we just moved Louie's cot out from the wall to lower the base last week and there was a massive patch of black mould right near where he sleeps, I feel so bad!

Help!

xxx

 

[babydevil1989]

we have mould in our flat.

it can cause coughs ect but never heard of it causing spaced out feelings.

i use mould and mildew remover (i think its domestos) and you just spray it on and it gets rid of it for a bit! then when you see the first signs again just spray it again.

our windows are awful (were in a council flat and they say they are fine )
they leave puddles on the window sills where the condensation is so bad.

having the windows slightly open seems to help (i dont have a dehumidifier) a bit.

i hope u get it sorted soon xx

 

[xcharx]

If your landlord won't do anything about it I'd ring environmental health & explain everything including health issues. x

 

[Hobbit123]

Hello,
We get black mould in my little girls room and our bathroom. We also get lots of condensation. Our house is quite old and ventilation is poor so there is nowhere for moisture to escape so it just sits on the cold external walls. We have recently bought a dehumidifier and it is really helping but you do need to leave it running all the time until the humidity is under control. I think bleach will kill the mould spores but it does stain the walls and needs to be painted over with an anti-fungal paint.

You probably already know this , but with the dehumidifier make sure you keep your internal doors open and your windows shut while it is running. The dehumidifier is the best thing we have tried so if you can keep it running as much as possible it should stop anymore mould growing.

I'm not sure about the health implications people seem divided but try not to worry too much i know that is hard it always crosses my mind when my daughter has a cough that the mould is making it worse. We have moved her bed away from the cold external wall and since running the dehumidifier she hasn't had the cough she normally gets after a cold. I don't know if these things are related but they could be.

Don't know if this helps any and i hope your landlord helps to try and sort it out.

Take care

Hobbit

 

[Rhi_Rhi1]

The safety feature on the windows in my house have broken! so not a single window opens in the entire house !!! the bathroom is starting to look pretty bad :/ but the final straw for me has been that last week i went to take LO's nets (voiles) down to wash and they had gone mouldy !!!!! disgusting :/ x

 

[blinkybaby]

I'm pretty sure I'm over-reacting with the heacaches, spaced out feelings lol! I'm suffering badly with stress at work so I'm pretty sure it's down to that.

I'm gonna start running the dehumidifier all the time now, hopefully that will help.

Can you get that dettol mould and mildew stuff from the supermarket or do you have to get it from B&Q or somewhere like that?

xx

 

[Kimmy25]

The dettol stuff is really good keeps it away ages, its a green bottle and you can buy it supermarkets. Also try painting affected area with some anti fungal paint as well x

 

[Nats21]

We had mould in the flat we used to live in, it was so bad we had to look for another place to live and moved into the house we're renting now. Most of it was in what was gonna be Callums bedroom and I didn't want him to go in there. Before we'd moved in they'd got some of that anti mould paint and it had worked for a while but started to come back a few months after we moved in. It started on the external walls but after a while we were finding it on the internal walls, when we talked to our neighbours they were all experiencing it too. It was a shame cos apart from the mould it was a really nice flat. Have you talked to your neighbours to see if they've got it too? Opening windows seemed to help and we did get some of that anti mould spray from the supermarket which seemed to help too xx

 

[wilbz]

We live in an old house which suffered really bad with condensation and mould, we got this machine envirovent fit, and it solved the problem more or less overnight no condensation no mould, might be worth mentioning it to your landlord, it's a good investment for him in the long run

 

[blinkybaby]

I do think it's something I'm doing that's causing it as it's only apprearing where there's condensation. I think it's a ventilation issue. I have a dehumidifier but I haven't been running it constantly - I've cleared all the mould and left it running all night and it took about a litre of water out of the air! Thinking I need to have it on all the time. I texted landlord and let him know so they are calling me today but I think I'll just say I've cleared it all now and trying to clear the condensation more and see if that helps.

xxxx

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

We get it in winter months around windows. I just wipe them every other day with the green spray, that gets rid of it x

 

[_laura]

We get it in winter months around windows. I just wipe them every other day with the green spray, that gets rid of it x

We do the same.
And we leave the windows open a crack during the day to keep fresh air circulating.

The green mould stuff is fantastic

 

[Kelly81]

We have a similar issue in our bedrooms, we've moved LO's cot as far away from the affected area as possible (not that far, it's a tiny room!) and treated the mouldy patches with something called HG Fungicidal Wash which OH bought on-line which has cleaned it up really well.

I try and open the bedroom windows for at least an hour or two every day and keep the bedroom doors closed so the cold doesn't spread through the flat as badly, although last week it was really too cold so I couldn't then. We layer up our clothes when it gets chilly, LO is fine if we put a fleece on top of her usual clothes, most of the time she doesn't even need this but I think I have a strange baby who doesn't feel the cold!

I've also started making sure to leave the extractor fan running for half an hour after we've used the shower and use the extractor fan when cooking on the hob as well as having the kitchen window open when we are cooking or running hot water for washing up.

 

[Mynxie]

I lived in a flat like that - we also had a landlord from hell!

Dettol mould and mildew remover is best, but keep the place well vented when using it. It also reduces the chances of it coming back.

Other than that, just the normal things like opening windows etc.

If the landlord refuses to do anything (it's probable that it needs an air vent if it's condensation but not in the normal places that condensation would be!) get environmental health in.

Don't want to scare you though, but check the back of furniture like bookcases, wardrobes, drawers etc. Behind all of mine went mouldy and I had to replace an obscene amount of stuff.

 

[harveydog]

Google 'nhbc mould' and it has guidance notes for condensation in homes. I know it's intended for new build homes but the tips are really good!