Mold everywhere

[tabbi]

Right this is prob a big rant.

I thought well OH has the kids i'd do a spring clean, gone into our room...there is mold on henry's cot,
on his mattress
on our mattress
on our bed base
on the carpet
on our desk
on our bookshelves
on henrys new clothes that are in plastic storage boxes
its everywhere...

its also in my daughters room on her mattress curtains bedding teddys all of it

now i clean the rooms every other day and never seen it before it smells fowl now...i know i got chuck it all...Now i no why henry had breathing problems last week and its all my fault...but i don't no what do. when i spoke to my landlord they blew me off saying it was normal and i had no proof it wasnt there before....i'm crying like mad as i dont have the money to replace any of it...

I don't know what to do apart from cry x x x help please x x x

 

[MelissaLindley]

I imagine all this rain may be the culprit.
It is your landlords responsibility to sort it really.
I'd open all your windows hun and maybe just buy some of those cheap dehumidifier things for £1 in asda.
Make sure you give your landlords a mouthful if he tries to get out of it and make it known you have a baby who can't be breathing it in, they will have to sort it.
Xxx

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[tiaflame]

We get this in my bedroom on the external wall, especially if there is furniture infront. We wash the wall down with bleach every week, open the window every day for a few hours and also have a dehumidifier in there just the cheap ones. Since doing all this it's much better. We applied for cavity wall insulation but as its pure brick wall in an old house we can't have it.
Don't worry about it, it's not your fault it's the weather and time of year as its warmer inside than out. Try my tips works for us xx

 

[wifeywifey]

I had it only mine was due to bad repair unfortunately in winter it's really common and not the landlords fault (unless you have leaky guttering like we did) as suggested open windows and bleach down the walls. You could contact environmental help who I think may check if its the landlords fault (I think)

 

[mirime]

Before Christmas I used the Polycell 3 in 1 mold killer in my bathroom, should work better than bleach and doesn't smell as much. You paint it on then wipe it off right away and it's safe once it's dry - you can't use it with bleach though, (or vinegar) so pick one or the other.

I do have a dehumidifier, which has helped loads and really cuts down on condensation as well as drying the washing quicker. I also always have a window open all night or if we're all out - usually the bathroom, and try and leave one open upstairs as well.

I do think your landlord should look into it, as even with all the rain that seems like a lot of mold to spring up so quickly. Do you have a local tenants association you could get in touch with?

 

[tabbi]

Thank you ladies, the estate agents have come out and left about half hour ago, they accept all the fault and due to us been quite full (4 people in 2 bed flat) they are moving us to a 3 bed house closer to my inlaws which is brilliant and they knocking the rent down so we dont have pay any extra than what we do now, which is brilliant.

They are going to replace everything including the cot bed which is amazing, they are also paying for us to move and paying all the costs of the other move, Can't fault them they have been brilliant. They have also put us in a hotel until the new place is ready which will be tuesday. Cant wait as it has a garden and drive and loft space so we dont have pay for storage anymore either. quite lucky with these estate agents...they are worth their money x x x

 

[tiaflame]

That's brilliant news xx


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[BabysMomma]

OMG hunnie! I know how you feel!

I had to bin a huge amount of stuff when I moved in April. Last property was horrendous for mould! Absolutely gorgeous when I moved in, then months later it all started showing up.

I'd to bin LOs mattress, my mattress, heaps of clothes, wardrobes, drawers, bookcases, units etc etc

7 months on I still need to buy replacement clothes, wardrobes, drawers, units etc etc. Our clothes are in plastic storage containers until I can buy wardrobes, books/DVDs/CDs are stored away in Pampers nappy boxes as are any display ornaments, photo frames etc etc until I can fully replace what I had to chuck.

I was so depressed when I lived there due to the mould as I was so scared that it would affect my LOs health. It started appearing on the walls, then I smelt a really horrible mushroom/fungi (only way I can describe it) in the main bedroom and my LO slept in same room, and OMG when I lifted the mattress, the base of it was covered in mould!

Got totally fobbed off by the landlord saying it was our fault for not opening the windows and drying washing on the radiators! I'm sorry but I'm not fricking opening windows all day long when the house was hard to heat at the best of times (old house and oil heating) and with a young baby, plus everyone else I know dries their washing on radiators and their houses don't get mouldy!

We took photos of the stuff we had to chuck out in case landlord started any crap about not giving our full deposit back, but we got it back. He knew righty because when we were moving out, he had painters coming in and painting over the mould that WE had cleaned off! And they cut off pieces of the wallpaper and patched them up!

I really feel for you hunnie. x

ETA: that's awesome news about what they're doing for you! Sorry about my reply, I've been in mid-post for ages due to feeding my LO her bedtime milk and toast and she's being a turd messing me around haha so I didn't see your update until I'd posted my previous bit. x

 

[MelissaLindley]

That's amazing news! Xxx

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[mirime]

That's really good news

BabysMomma - About the clothes on radiators, I've read in a number of places that you shouldn't do that, that it is a major contributor to damp in British houses, but no-one seems to have a sensible solution. I try and stick everything on the clothes horse for a bit before moving it on to the radiators, but it really depends on how much there is. I refuse to get a dryer as they're pretty bad environmentally and I have nowhere to put one if I did want one. My washing machine is already in the old outside loo!

 

[STP]

We currently have mould growing on the walls and other places in the house. Our housing association won't do anything and we have also had Environmental health out who said it's due to washing drying on the radiators and having a tumble dryer. They said only thing they can do is advise bleach and water to scrub it off ourselves. It's disgusting. Try your local mp or Citizen Advice Bureau x

 

[mirime]

How on earth do they suggest you dry them?

My mum dried everything on radiators in the winter - straight on as well usually, not like me and my clothes horse and dehumidifier. The only mold in my parents house then was a bit in the dining room where the wall was damp because that side of the house was effectively underground as its end of terrace and built into the side of a hill.

Drying clothes indoors might exacerbate other problems, but I just don't believe its the only cause.

Just curious, are you all in old houses with double glazing? I know that can cause problems in older properties as it can seriously reduce ventilation allowing a build up of condensation.

 

[tiaflame]

How on earth do they suggest you dry them?

My mum dried everything on radiators in the winter - straight on as well usually, not like me and my clothes horse and dehumidifier. The only mold in my parents house then was a bit in the dining room where the wall was damp because that side of the house was effectively underground as its end of terrace and built into the side of a hill.

Drying clothes indoors might exacerbate other problems, but I just don't believe its the only cause.

Just curious, are you all in old houses with double glazing? I know that can cause problems in older properties as it can seriously reduce ventilation allowing a build up of condensation.

Yep old house with double glazing here, we only get it on external walls xx

 

[LikeJohnnYoko]

That's really good news

BabysMomma - About the clothes on radiators, I've read in a number of places that you shouldn't do that, that it is a major contributor to damp in British houses, but no-one seems to have a sensible solution. I try and stick everything on the clothes horse for a bit before moving it on to the radiators, but it really depends on how much there is. I refuse to get a dryer as they're pretty bad environmentally and I have nowhere to put one if I did want one. My washing machine is already in the old outside loo!

Yes, not only that but Landlords can object to you doing it outright, the amount of water that comes into the air from drying washing is a lot more than most people realise and contributes both to the damage of the home and respiratory problems in the inhabitants.

Dryers aren't as bad environmentally as you would think, there are increasingly more environmentally friendly ones and I don't see any rise in electricity costs when we use it.

 

[Pudds86]

They need to do something. Especially if its black mould as highly dangerous. Try E.H even if they didn't help above Xx

Sent from my shit hot phone! Fo shizzle home girls.

 

[BabysMomma]

How on earth do they suggest you dry them?

My mum dried everything on radiators in the winter - straight on as well usually, not like me and my clothes horse and dehumidifier. The only mold in my parents house then was a bit in the dining room where the wall was damp because that side of the house was effectively underground as its end of terrace and built into the side of a hill.

Drying clothes indoors might exacerbate other problems, but I just don't believe its the only cause.

Just curious, are you all in old houses with double glazing? I know that can cause problems in older properties as it can seriously reduce ventilation allowing a build up of condensation.

Yes hun, it was an old house and the landlord had got double glazing windows put in a day before we moved in. Thing is, it even ended up in rooms that we didn't dry clothes in. It was a nightmare. My mum used to dry her washing on radiators and never got that problem in any house that I can remember.

There was some report on bbc news website recently though about building utility rooms in new housing and it mentioned the whole moisture, breathing issues etc...I'll see if I can find it...

 

[BabysMomma]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-20176376

 

[mirime]

Dryers aren't as bad environmentally as you would think, there are increasingly more environmentally friendly ones and I don't see any rise in electricity costs when we use it.

I did look into it a few years back, and as I have no room for a dryer, no extractor fan in the bathroom and the hood over the cooker doesn't vent outside (do NOT get me started on the previous owners of the house ) the dehumidifier seemed the best way to go. Next to no condensation now, bathroom is warmer as before we just had to leave the window open 24/7 and clothes dry in a day or two without going on radiators instead of up to a week. It should also make our heating bill slightly lower as a damp house is harder to heat.

It still was not the most exciting Christmas present though, the other option of a laptop would have been better from that point of view just a lot less practical.

 

[Iwant3]

very lucky to have the estate agents on your side etc! hope the move goes well

We had that in our old place, it was stressful and very hard to manage. WE had a dehumidifier running almost 24/7 which did help a bit with things........

 

[Froslass]

I have a condenser drier, and deliberately spent more money on an energy efficient one. The amount of water that comes out one washing is astounding - and to think if it was on the radiators it would all be in the air!

The only stuff I dry on the radiators are certain shirts of OHs that would shrink in the drier.