Hey, I’m /u/leopatto. My dad has his own construction company in London, and I wanted to share with you a tip that my dad tells his clients all the time. Up to 6.5 million households in the UK (around 28%) could have mould problems.
Post was inspired by someone who couple of weeks ago posted about a 100-day cough – this is not normal, unless you have chronic cough, pet allergy, or something else. I’m a victim of mould, I developed asthma because of it🙃.
***
Essentially London is old, damp and wet – most of the houses, are poorly-insulated, have poor foundations, are poorly maintained, have leakages, rotten wood, all kinds of things where for mould it is a perfect environment to thrive in.
How to check for signs if your house has mould;
– A damp musty smell: a very common sign of damp that may not be solely down to black mould.
– Mould growth that typically looks like black specks on walls, window sills, the ceiling, or inside cupboards.
– Signs of condensed water vapour on windows, window sills, and walls.
Mould removal is expensive if you own your property. If you rent, your landlord/lady has a duty to help you out as stated [here](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/damp-and-mould-understanding-and-addressing-the-health-risks-for-rented-housing-providers/understanding-and-addressing-the-health-risks-of-damp-and-mould-in-the-home–2).
How to reduce/eliminate the risk of mould appearing in your place:
– Ventilate, ventilate, ventilate: I can’t stress this enough, open your windows whenever you can, let the moisture out whenever you have a shower, make tea, cook etc. Yea, it’ll be cold, but you, your kids won’t have health problems.
– Maintain your property: insulate your windows, check if your walls or floor have condensation in them. Essentially, if you think something is wrong, see if you can fix it. If your household items have mould on them – carpets, wooden furniture – throw that shit away.
– Call an expert (not an advertisement, my dad doesn’t do that) and see whether the damp is penetrative (water from outside going inside your house, from rain for example), rising (rises through capillaries in masonry to saturate it, that is due to old construction) or caused by excess condensation (what I’ve written about).
How to kill the fungus:
– Bleach with water.
If it’s inside walls/floor;
– Call company that specialises in removals/possible renovations if it’s bad enough. Unless you’re a skilled tradesman who can do that job solo, call an expert.
Health is important. Don’t waste it on something that can be prevented.
by Leopatto
9 comments
The 100 day cough is whooping cough. It’s not caused by mould.
I also recommend getting some dehumidifiers!
Yeah that would be deposit gone, Landlords would just blame tenants they didn’t maintain the property and it’s their fault
*”Yea, it’ll be cold, but you, your kids won’t have health problems”.*
A dehumidifier is a great solution. Make sure it’s a modern *compressor* dehumidifier which are cheap to run and relatively quiet. It will regulate the RH without the need for constant ventilation, so you won’t lose the heat.
A heat exchange fan is another solution, although these can still cause rooms to be humid when the humidity is high outside. And unlike a dehumidifier, they require fitting.
The ‘Meaco Arete One Dehumidifier & Air Purifier, 12L’ is the current one I recommend.
I have asthma developed from living in a mouldy rented house. We ventilate thoroughly. Doesn’t make a damn bit of difference. When I first moved in my old flatmate would leave the bathroom window open 24/7 and we still had to bleach the ceiling every couple of weeks.
We informed our LL about the mould. They told us to ventilate, which we are already doing. And they’re not going to do anything about it, because they don’t have to. I’ll hopefully be making more money by the time the lease is up and maybe can move somewhere better.
Dehumidifiers work brilliantly too. Militant use of extractor fans in the bathroom & kitchen will go a long way, as will not letting water after a shower ‘sit’ and attempting to let it air dry – a window vac will remove the water allowing you to actually pour it away (I remove over 50 liters a year doing this).
So nearly a third of the housing stock in London. So it’s kind of a ‘thing’ that just is? I know this is not the right question or provide an answer, but damp and mould is indemic in brick built terraced houses of a certain vintage. It’s a huge housing stock issue.
I’m dealing with those problems currently. I cleared out my hallway cupboard and there’s a large area of mould growth in the back (moved in 2 years ago and hadn’t checked it since)
£650 to treat/remove it ☹️
You don’t kill mould with bleach. It will take off the bit on the surface and the stuff that’s got into the paint and plaster will survive and come back. You need to use a proper fungicidal cleaner, you can get a spray from HG or Cillit Bang or something in any decent sized supermarket.