Is mould in the winter just a thing?

[MikeyFuckinWay]

I live in rented accommodation with a great land lady.
This is our second winter here. The bedroom walls have mould on them which I wipe off every couple of weeks. I have a dehumidifier on during the day and we leave the window cracked open at night but we still have soaking wet windows in the morning and mould which comes back after a couple of weeks.
Is this what happens in winter to most people with the damper weather?
I have noticed a couple of cracks in the plaster near the windows so I guess this is where the damps coming through but I don’t want to bother my land lady for a non-issue.
thanks in advance

But the landlady is not responsible. The tenant is responsible for keeping the property free from condensation and therefore needs to ventilate and heat the property adequately. It’s certainly worth thinking about a dehumidifier but that isn’t the landlady’s responsibility. The tenant needs to do it to ensure they are not damaging the property

I'd vote for a dehumidifier as well, if you can afford it or the landlady is generous with one (after notifying the landlady so she can rectify any probs caused by penetrating water rather than condensation).

They do cost money to run, but they slightly warm the dry air they blow out, so a small room can get quite toasty.

The room will also feel less clammily cold after you've removed the moisture.

Win-win.

NB Desiccant dehumidifiers perform well at all temperatures; compressor dehumidifiers are usually less efficient below 16 degrees C.

blog.meaco.com/dehumidifier-advice-for-first-timers/

blog.meaco.com/why-desiccant-dehumidifiers-are-not-always-better-at-low-temperature/

No. We don't have mould and we've had issues with roof leaks.

Sounds like she needs new windows.

Oh I've just seen you never heat the house. That could be the issue too :/

It will be because you don’t heat your house, plus opening a window a tiny crack is not enough. We have a window open in each room all year round.

We used to have terrible problems with condensation damp in the front bedrooms (the back are south facing, which I presume keeps the external wall warmer?). It is still there if left to grow, but how I have solved it for now is...

• move as much furniture away from the external wall as possible
• I only dry washing downstairs (where there is a vent)
• make sure the bathroom door is shut when you shower
• dry off windows each morning
• keep a window open as much as possible (for me, i leave it on the latch overnight and then open it wide in the day

I used to have an issue with the heating where it was either on (and boiling) or off (and freezing), but I now have new thermostats. How much this contributed to fixing my mould problem we will see this winter - as I have not put the heating on at all yet...

If you do not adequately ventilate and heat a property in the UK over the autumn and winter you are likely to get damp from condensation

I'm sorry to say it but it's this and its not the landlady's fault if you choose not to or can't afford to heat the property. The landlady should however be providing some sort of heating for the upstairs.

Op I know this is an old thread but I'd take photos of the cracks in the render and send them to your landlord.

If water is getting in from outside no amount of ventilation is going to stop it.

Not normal.
Try opening all windows in the house for 15mins to blast the air through and then shut and heat. Window condensation in the morning needs to be manually removed each day by wiping or a window vac. If you leave it it has to go into the atmosphere in the room. I would have to move with mould. Try moving your furniture a few inches in to the room as behind wardrobes etc can be terrible for it

@MikeyFuckinWay

Did you have any luck with the landlady?

OP already runs a dehumidifier during the day, window open a crack overnight (it would be freezing to have open full overnight). The lack of heating provided upstairs will be part of the problem.

I'd also recommend windows wiped/dried a couple of times daily.

There's lots of tips in the newspapers at the moment, possibly after the boy died after mould exposure I think.

This is because the property is not heated. Unheated properties are bad for health and also damaging to properties, they damp moisture gets into the fabric of rhe building. If you can’t afford to heat it I am not sure what you can do, if you alert the landlord they may not wish you staying any more as the property will get damp.

I would expect a landlord to be very unhappy with this I’m afraid. The property is being damaged because it is not being heated and ventilated. It’s essential in this country. Our climate is too damp not to heat and ventilate,

I would expect a landlord to be very unhappy with this I’m afraid.

Then they should provide upstairs heating. It can't come as any surprise surely.

OP is already running a dehumidifier and even opening the window overnight, which must be bloody freezing, quite frankly.

They have heaters but they’re not running them

There's no heating upstairs.

Microbiologist here 👋 mould season is actually from July to October time. That’s when fungal spores are most common. But obviously given the correct conditions then mould is technically a year round occurrence.

The lie that it is always the tenants' fault has been soundly dismissed this week with the ruling in the case of Awaab Ishak: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-63689579

If you are living in a rented property, it is the landlord's responsibility to fix a mould problem if it is caused by poor maintenance, according to the charity Shelter

IF it is caused by poor maintenance. Not if it is caused by failing to heat or ventilate the property

I appreciate there is apparently no upstairs heating (although this seems unusual when the landlady says she didn’t have any problems living there) but heating downstairs will heat the building to an extent since heat rises. We have a dual zone heating system and rarely heat the upstairs. It isn’t needed.

Watching with interest and going to make use of these ideas.

the landlady says she didn’t have any problems living there Mm, yes, never in the history of rented housing has a landlord told this lie!

Our houses are sealed, double glazing and no open fireplaces are common. We had to have a positive air pressure thing fitted, not sure of the real name but it is like a little pump in the loft that pushes air onto the landing in our case. All signs of mould. It uses very little electricity.

Did the positive input ventilation system fix the mild problem ?