condensation and mold in bedroom were baby is supposed to sleep

[leahtaba]

hi ladies dont know if anyone will have any suggestions and this is a little OT (I guess?) but worth a try. A while back i posted that i moved into a rented house that has no vents on the double glazed windows so the house is stuffy and i was worried about the baby in an uncomfortable atmosphere. Well things just got worse!

I am decorating and when i changed the bedrooms curtains i noticed the long things they had hanging up were concealing mold in the carpet and wall caused by condensation, the wall and windows are soaking wet. my wardrobe is in this room and my clothes now smell like damp. all of upstairs is very hot and although we try and keep flowing through by opening windows this wont do in winter when the central heating is meeting the cold air from outside.

Now i'm panicking as i don't want the damp to get on baby's chest and we cant afford a dehumidifier when we are about to have a baby, and I feel a bit tricked by the landlord as there are lots of problems like this they had concealed when i viewed it. The rent is expensive and I just feel they should of sorted out any problems before we moved in not tried to hide them. We actually requested they take the curtains down as we have our own and they left them up, now we know why! Been trying to phone them all day to ask their advice but cant get through they are a nightmare to get hold of and its like squeezing blood from a stone getting any assistance from them. Feel trapped in a 6 month lease and now i am weary of spending any money on decor. so much for being settled before baby arrives

Any advice or input appreciated if not oh well felt good to have a little rant about it haha.

 

[Shineystar]

We had a similar problem, but found bleaching got rid of a lot of it and didn't come back, luckily our landlord is very good though. there was a leak a few years ago before we moved in it seemed to get things damp, however seems much better since we scrubbed it.

My advice would be to discuss this with citizen's advice, if the landlord has been concealing this from you and the house isnt safe or clean enough to be living in then there are responsibiities in the tenancy agreement for the landlord to obey, there might be something in that? either way CAB are great with this sort of thing.

Hope you get it sorted

 

[itwasntme]

As far as the mold on the wall goes b&q do an excellent product for getting rid of it not to sure of the name but have used it on a wall in the house and worked perfect. Ive since painted over it and you wouldnt think the wall had been touched up

 

[bitethebullet]

I remember your post. It seems really strange that the carpet is wet upstairs- your landlord really needs to sort this out for you. I agree the cab may be the best people to offer advice on making sure this is done. In the meantime- is your own room any less damp? You could have baby in with you Until
Its sorted. Or is this the room you're talking about?
You shouldn't be tied to 6 months- I thought you could
quit at any time if you give month's notice? And certainly you would be within your rights (check with cab!) to quit at any time if the landlord doesn't take steps to make the house habitable. Can you appeal to your landlord with your worries that this may be detrimental to your newborns health? If they have any conscience they'll have it sorted for you and the carpets and Walls professionally cleaned if they are mouldy.

 

[Ktothema]

Are you in an older property? I'm in 1930s housing and this is really common with double glazing as the properties were designed to breathe through the windows, which double glazing doesnt allow.

Make sure you scrub it all off using some mould killing product (or get someone else to if you're worried about bubs).

This is the most important thing: open the windows every day for as long as possible.

We spent 18 months trying to constantly demould our house till I saw that on homes under the hammer. We're 6 months mould free now. Next door neighbours spent a fortune on getting professional mould removal, redecorating then having it all come back 3 months later. They've now managed 2 months mould free when we told them about the window thing.

 

[ttc_lolly]

Your landlord really needs to get this sorted for you hun. Try and keep the room as warm as possible and open a window slightly too to let out any condensation.

Mould particles can be bad for your health, babies too so I wouldn't put baby in there until the mould is all gone x

 

[bitethebullet]

As far as the mold on the wall goes b&q do an excellent product for getting rid of it not to sure of the name but have used it on a wall in the house and worked perfect. Ive since painted over it and you wouldnt think the wall had been touched up

The problem is that if the source of the mould isn't remedied then it'll just grow back

 

[leahtaba]

I remember your post. It seems really strange that the carpet is wet upstairs- your landlord really needs to sort this out for you. I agree the cab may be the best people to offer advice on making sure this is done. In the meantime- is your own room any less damp? You could have baby in with you Until
Its sorted. Or is this the room you're talking about?
You shouldn't be tied to 6 months- I thought you could
quit at any time if you give month's notice? And certainly you would be within your rights (check with cab!) to quit at any time if the landlord doesn't take steps to make the house habitable. Can you appeal to your landlord with your worries that this may be detrimental to your newborns health? If they have any conscience they'll have it sorted for you and the carpets and Walls professionally cleaned if they are mouldy.

Hiya yes this is our bedroom unfortunately, the baby will be in with us in her moses basket. The carpets wet as there is that much condensation running down the walls its crazy. I blame myself for not inspecting properly when I viewed but the house looks immaculate you would never of guessed them curtains were hiding mold! I am going to speak to CAB definitely, really annoyed the landlords are so hard to get hold of been trying for days! Thanks for advice everyone x

 

[jessicaR4bbit]

I know you say you can't afford a dehumidifier, but is there any chance you could even go for one that isn't too expensive? I was looking at some on Amazon you can get good quality ones for around £50-£60. Just small ones that would be good to use for where your baby sleeps.

 

[JKT123]

WE are having the exact same problem in all our rooms..we have had drawers full of clothes (ours not bubs' luckily) go completely mouldy with one chest of drawers completely ruined. At the moment we are managing it by cleaning everything thoroughly with bleach/antibac and hot water etc. We keep the windows open as much as we can. WE have got a dehumidifier but it only works to keep down the humidity while it is on and the humidity zooms straight back up after- we can't afford to keep it on 24/7 (we bought a humidity meter cheaply from amazon to check how bad it was). Our landlord is being nice about it and I think we should be having some ventilation installed but if not we will be getting the environmental housing people round to have a look and see how bad the problem is- and maybe try and get our contract cancelled and move. My advice is to take pictures of everything you find before you clean it, ventilate your house as much as possible while trying to get your landlord to do something and if this fails go to the environmental housing people and get them round. If the place is deemed unfit to live in then you should be able to cancel your contract etc.

Btw from our research we found that bacteria grows at humidities of 60%+. We are having readings of 70-80% when windows are closed.

Good luck!

 

[ttc_lolly]

It's proven that mould spores are detrimental to your health (especially those most vulnerable, like babies, pregnant women and the elderly) so if your landlord doesn't agree or won't help I think you'd have a good case to get out of your lease early x

 

[leahtaba]

Now i'm paranoid wandering if its safe for me to even sleep in there?

 

[MiniBump]

Are you sure the curtains weren't damp when they were hung up and the moisture has just been trapped there since?

If not, it's probably still just trapped moisture (are the curtains drawn regularly or do they just hang there?) but you need to ensure that the windows are opened every day (even in winter but not when it's more humid outside than in), all rooms need to be heated equally and well ventilated. When you carry out any moisture-producing activities (cooking, washing, bathing, showering, etc.) you must keep the door closed to that room and vent the moisture outside (with extractor fans or windows). Fans are good also to keep stagnant dry air moving around.

Buy some Dettol Mould & Mildew Remover (in a green bottle - lethal stuff) to clean the mould or use a white vinegar/water mix, throw the curtains away and wash all your clothes but add white vinegar at some point during the cycle (can't remember when or what quantity so you might want to google it). You could clean the carpet with water/vinegar too but it would be better to get the landlord to have it professionally cleaned.

You can buy moisture traps at DIY stores to remove excess moisture from the air. Move furniture away from walls (and try not to have furniture against an external wall) so that air can circulate.

Make sure there isn't a leak around/over the window (check around/under the window frame, in the brickwork, the roof, the guttering) also as this would cause penetrating damp. Is it a bay window by any chance as these are well known for attracting damp as the wall beneath the window is thinner than everywhere else and colder thus attracting all the moist air? Don't assume either that the source of the mould is the bedroom, the moist air could still be coming from the kitchen but gravitates towards the coldest part of the house.

There are lots of hints and tips on the internet and damp in an upstairs room is nearly always caused by condensation which is due to the inhabitants' lifestyle (except where there is a leak). Most importantly, DON'T dry clothing in the house as this is the worst thing you can do!! If it's only in the one place then you should be able to eliminate it if you can find out what's causing it.

Hope that helps!

 

[leahtaba]

thanks so much to everyone who's taken the time to offer me advice will be following up on it all asap. Mini bump its in the main bedroom because the house isnt properly ventilated and yep your totally right bay windows! I have recently done a lot of washing all dried inside as well as we havent got a tumble dryer and the weathers been rubbish!

going to try and get the landlords to have the carpet cleaned and the mold removed but will do the best we can to clean it for now. Im pretty sure they had the curtains hung there to hide the mold as we requested them to take them down and they left them up. sneaky!!!

 

[Sproglet]

If you really can't afford a dehumidifier you could try leaving bowls of salt out to try to soak up the moisture, my inlaws do this when they shut their caravan up for the winter and they swear by it!

 

[Charlie5]

I agree with a pp that if it is an older house it may be difficult for the landlord to manage and control due to the build of the property but that doesn't mean they shouldn't try and help to do what they can to ease it - can they provide a dehumidifer?

You cannot end you lease early just by giving a months notice in usual circumstances, the earlier you can give notice is month 5 which would terminate at month 6 - its a minimum 6 month term. That said if the property is uninhabitable and the landlord will not/cannot resolve to suitable standard then I would say you may have grounds to terminate early - CAB will be able to help, but what you find acceptable and what is acceptable in terms of enviro health etc may be different

 

[bitethebullet]

I guess if environmental health are getting high spore readings in the house then you should have no issues in terminating your contract. I think airborne spores would be my main concern here- not good for you or the baby.

 

[MiniBump]

its in the main bedroom because the house isnt properly ventilated and yep your totally right bay windows! I have recently done a lot of washing all dried inside as well as we havent got a tumble dryer and the weathers been rubbish!

That's probably the main cause then (if there isn't a leak in the flat roof of the bay window) - all the moist air is moving towards the lower part of the bay window which won't be properly insulated (it is probably just a single skin, wooden framed 'wall') and is the coldest point in the house and is then getting trapped behind the curtains. Having read your other thread, please don't cover the airbricks to stop spiders as this will make the problem much worse! Maybe put some mesh or voile over them or something so the air can still circulate? You say the house isn't properly ventilated but these airbricks are just as efficient as a trickle vent in the window.

Mould doesn't take long to grow (starts in 24-48 hours) where there's a nice dark, cold, moist place so it's possible that it has all started since you moved in - not sticking up for the landlord but don't assume they knew!!

Make sure you restrict any moisture producing activities to the one room (especially the clothes drying if you really must do it indoors) by closing the door and opening a window - you might find this helps with the stuffy feeling also which may just be a result of the excess humidity floating around the house.

You can hire dehumidifiers if you wanted to try one for a few days just to see if it helps and if it does, see if you can get the landlord to provide one.

 

[leahtaba]

yeah we do have brick holes (which i have only covered with mesh dont worry haha!) but there is only two upstairs out of 5 rooms maybe i am wrong i am obviously no expert but i thought that doesnt count as proper ventilation? I don't know?? theres a third air vent in the kitchen but none in the lounge or dining room so they are also stuffy.

Ive just never had any problems like this in my old place with air vented windows so never had to deal with all this and its stressing me out. will deffo follow your advice and see how it goes. thanks again