Mould

[Takara]

Long story short, my flat is riddled with mould. It is (slowly) being delt with but I am being exposed to the spores as much as I clean and treat them myself the entire place smells of damp.

How much if any damage is being done? I have nowhere else to stay so I just want to try and minimise the damage.

Xx

 

[JessPape]

Depends on the type of mold age of mold lots of stuff, personally I wont live in a home with mold because we used to live in a trailer, that was mold infested and I was ridiculously sick all the time.

 

[littleANDlost]

I am not an expert so this is all just from personal experience, my OH is a microbiologist and our old flat was covered in mould as well, he would not allow me to do any packing or moving as the spores can cause chest infections and things and as i was pregnant he didn’t want me getting anything like that. As far as I’m aware though it doesn’t directly effect the unborn baby. From what he was saying though disturbing the spores is the worst thing to do.
is there no one who could do the cleaning and treatments for you? And have you mentioned it to your midwife to see what advise they give?

 

[joanna1980]

Do u own ur property or is it rented ? If u own it you need to bleach it all down and ideally dry the room or rooms out even get a damp expert round cos maybe ur outer walls need treating , but if u are rented ur landlord or council should sort it out as it can in time effect ur health !!!! Hope u get it sorted x

 

[Laucu]

Maybe you could try keeping the room well ventilated when you're cleaning it - open all the doors and windows. Also use a damp cloth rather than a dry one when you are wiping it.

Do you have mould killer spray? That will completely kill it and stop it growing back as quickly.... Not a solution but it will help.

We have a bit of mould in our flat - the walls, floors and ceilings are concrete so they are cold in winter and not breathable. I usually leave the windows slightly open and am hoping it will help...only time will tell.

 

[Takara]

My landlord is dragging his heels and saying it's my fault as I don't have the heating on high 24/7 so ive gone above him and I'm just waiting on the letter confirming it's his job.

I'm being as careful as I can concerning cleaning doing all the obvious basics like opening windows and wearing gloves and things.

Thank you for the help.

Xx

 

[joanna1980]

If he is dragging his heals I would suggest getting enviomental health at the local council , they might be able to help with ur landlord , x

 

[Mrs HM]

If he is dragging his heals I would suggest getting enviomental health at the local council , they might be able to help with ur landlord , x

I think that's a really great idea. He needs to pull his finger out! Alos when you are cleaning the mould it might be an idea to wear a dust mask just to be sure you aren't breathing in any spores.

 

[Clara cluck]

If he is dragging his heals I would suggest getting enviomental health at the local council , they might be able to help with ur landlord , x

Definitely do this! I had this situation in a house I rented with friends. The black mould made me and a friend very ill with chest infections. The mould wouldn't go no matter how much we cleaned it and even when we left the (very expensive) heating on. Our landlord said it was our fault because we dried things on the radiators and would not let us out of our lease. I called the council who got some people to come and assess it. It was deemed uninhabitable and hazardous to health and they forced the landlord to release us from our 6 month agreement. Definitely tell them you're pregnant too, your immune system is lower and this should spur them into action more quickly.

Good luck x

 

[joanna1980]

I would also take pictures for refference x

 

[Tigerlilyb]

I'm also really concerned about this - my heating is almost always on and I even bought a dehumidifier but the flat still gets covered with mould. The landlady's solution is to open the windows and doors for a few minutes every day to vent the place. This does nothing but suck out all the nice warm air and leave me freezing in winter! It gets so bloody cold where I am. It wasn't this bad 3 years ago, until she put double glazing in. I could deal with drafts from old style windows, but not this mould. There is no way I'm cleaning it this year. Every time I do I get very sick afterwards.

Fortunately we are moving soon, I can't wait to get away from this tiny, damp hellhole. Our agreement says we have to give her 3 months notice before we move, but does anyone think I might have a case if we explain I'm pregnant and the mould is getting worse?

 

[Reno]

We moved out of our last rented place before i got pregnant so I wouldnt be at risk! Luckily we had a month to month contrat as we had been there over a year! It got rapidly worse over the month or two before we left and we even had to leave furniture behind cos it was covered in mould (backs of bookshelves, kitchen appliances that were sitting in cupboards etc)! The landlord refused to deal with it as the whole house needed a damp proof course which would cost thousands! We left the house super tidy, but didnt clean the mould as we didnt want to disturb the spores!

Moving house was such a good idea, now in a mould free house and in better health!

Hope you can get the problem resolved soon!

 

[KittieB]

I had this problem as well. We moved house when I was 10 weeks pregnant because I was worried about living with the horrible mould. We did everything we could to get rid of the mould and cleaned it when we left... now my landlord is taking money out of our deposit to pay for redecorating (he is going to paint back over the mould!). I think I'm going to claim against it though!

I'm sure you're doing all the obvious things, like making sure you heat the property well, using extractor fans in the bathroom and airing out the property. If I were you I would try and find somewhere else to live. I feel so much better now I'm living in a dry house