I know for a fact this was not here end of December as I took down Christmas decorations and cleaned before the new year. I see where it was previously patched before we moved in, but I also see water stains. I took down a box to do some dusting and saw this. I am concerned, but unsure. The apartment is all woodchip wallpaper. We had a problem in our room above the basement, but fixed that- however, did notice as the wallpaper there “fell off” there and saw the cement beneath it was evident there has already been mold there before.
We plan on moving when our lease is up, and therefore don’t want to invest heavily here, but I can not let this go. I accept the other room may have been partly our fault, that room was treated and remedied but since it’s naturally a more difficult temperature and humidity to regulate even with properly luften-ing (sorry). We have two hygrometers in that room and at least one in every room.
The kitchen one never indicated a humidity problem which is why I’m the thinking it must be a leak.
by MermaidGlitterKitty
19 comments
Looking at the extra wallpaper in the corner – I guess your landlord knows about the problem.
Looks like mold, probably caused by high humidity over the Chrsitmas period. You can get a specific anti-mold spray (“shimmel”) in any hardware store. Leave the windows open after you do it and either don’t sleep in the room that night or do it first thing in the morning and leave the room empty during the day.
After that, air the room out regularly to stop it coming back.
That is black mold
You can see where they’ve papered/painted over that corner. Looks like they’ve been hiding the problem. Do not accept any liability for this, regardless of how you proceed.
Hey, yeah it seems like this is a known problem and has been “fixed” before. You should be fine to use chemicals or any other means to remedy the situation on your own, if thats what you want to do.
But I’d be inclined to agree that there is some kind of leak causing this, so it should be an easy case to argue that its the landlords problem, not yours.
While you are responsible for issues caused by “improper use” (not lüften, etc), this could well be a building maintenance issue.
Is this an outside corner? Or are there rooms on the other side?
Get some Chloreine (some bigger grocery stores habe it) it’s cheap, and put it on the mold. It costs like 1€ and the visible mold is gone in 10 minutes.
You can use the “Anti Schimmel” Sprays from the store, but most of them are made out of chlorine anyway and cost way more.
For me (not a carpenter) it doesn’t look like a leak, because the whole wall would be wet by now. Its likely caused by high humidity.
The patch of Wallpaper looks like your’e not the first one to have trouble with mold in the room.
Try the anti mold spray from dm. It costs 2€ and is effective. If you want a permanent fix you will have to search for the reason.
This is actually in the kitchen. Ceiling above our cupboards above the sink, which would be right below the sink upstairs. I just went outside to see if there is any indication on exterior walls but don’t see anything.
Mold due to some combination of cold outer wall, insufficient ventilation and insufficient heating
It looks to me that it could be due to not enough Frischluft.
You can get a humidity sensor and keep track of the humidity level. If it is higher than ~60% it will create the conditions for mold, we open the window to keep it below that. This is based on experience, I’m sure chatgpt has something to say about that.
I have been thinking about getting a smart sensor so that it notifies me but at the moment it is just a 1 euro sensor.
We open the windows more regularly since getting the sensor. It is also more prone to get mouldy if it is an exterior wall and you live in Altbau (due to crappy insulation on the wall, condensation (humidity) is more likely so those rooms need to be aired more than others.
Chlorine clearner works just perfectly.
Try to “Stoßlüften” to avoid mold in the future
The patch on the wall suggests that a part of the paint already had to be renewed before. Very likely the mold is already deep in the wall.
The best lasting solution, which was recommended to me by an architect & site manager who has done a lot of renovation of old buildings, is using this
[https://www.geiger-chemie.de/produkt/schimmel-sanierloesung/](https://www.geiger-chemie.de/produkt/schimmel-sanierloesung/)
to destroy the underlying mold deep inside the wall, in combination with
[https://www.geiger-chemie.de/produkt/stop-gegen-schimmel/](https://www.geiger-chemie.de/produkt/stop-gegen-schimmel/)
to remove superficia mold l and disinfect the room.
It’s a little bit more expensive than your average supermarket mold remover, but they are used by professionals and far more effective. Make sure to wear a mask and gloves while using them and keep the window open.
Is this particular corner on an outside facing wall? Or is it a wall where all the sides have rooms around?
If the former, we have the same problem. Sometimes the building is not perfectly built, resulting in “cold bridges”. So the outside facing wall’s corner is 1-2 C colder than the other part of the wall. Moisture from the air will decide to manifest itself as water in these corners, which then grows you these lovely molds.
As others said, lüften (which you already do), mold spray and heating. Get some humidity sensors, try to keep the humidity under 50% and the temperature above 18C.
That so far helped us. (We also had to get a dehumidifier, as one of the rooms is really tricky to air out)
If it’s your first winter in this flat, I’m afraid that’ll be a continuous issue. Your flat doesn’t have proper ventilation and can’t maintain a proper humidity/temperature balance. I don’t know if it’s any consolation, but it’s a very common issue in Northern Europe, especially if your house wasn’t built in the last 10 years.
If you contact your landlord, I suspect they will try to put the blame on you, claiming that you don’t open the windows frequently enough. In my contract, there’s a special page about how often I must air out the flat.
If you don’t have health issues, that amount of mold can be fought off with either bleach or hydrogen peroxide. I’d recommend chlorine-based mixtures. Using it a couple of times during the winter should be enough to keep it under control. But make sure you don’t have a bigger issue under the wallpaper.
Another approach I’ve seen people recommend is special heaters for the walls. They look like panels you attach to the wall where you have mold, and they’ll keep that part of the wall at a temperature that prevents mold growth. Something like this: https://amzn.eu/d/9xAmy83
Never tried it myself, though.
We told our landlord and they’re gonna fix it for free of cost to us. So inform your landlord and let me inspect.
That’s mold bruh
Spray with white vinegar, leave to sit 5-10 minutes then wipe with warm soapy water. This is the best killer of mould, and you dont need chemicals. Also if you keep in a bottle 50/50 water to vinegar and spray regularly around areas that are mould prone will prevent it forming.
Thank you for my daily reminder to Stoßlüften
If your landlord is nice, call him.
We had the same problem in a corner in the bedroom, and he brought a ladder and some chemicals and treated it. We were to Lüften more often please. But it can happen and the house has poor circulation in those corners.
Comments are closed.