Hello!👋
We bought and renovated a very mouldy flat and moved it in August 2023. We stripped back the walls to exposed brick and replastered using waterproofing (allegedly!). Over winter we have several damp spots which are being investigated and hardly any mould yet 🤞 (a tiny bit in the bathroom that we keep on top of). We have now two dehumidifiers, but without them we struggle to get humidity down from at about 60-75 %. Even then, as soon as we turn them off, humidity goes straight back up- it’s a real battle.
Since moving in in August- when the flat was dry (!), both my partner and I have struggled with allergy like symptoms, itchy eyes on wake up, irritated nose and eczema (for me).
I’m quite allergic and have lots of airborne allergies including dust mites so this isn’t unusual for me when living in a new place, plus it was summer when moving in and pollen was high. However over time/winter it is now affecting us even worse and has given my toddler very sore eczema and I haven't been able to shift my eczema with steroids so it is clear something is really bothering us. We have thought of mould, left over builders dust, dust mites being left on old furniture/cleaned the radiators and carpet fibres from fitting!
Surely it cannot be any mould as we got rid of it all and replastered? Any ideas/advice? Not expecting miracles but just curious to see if anyone has suffered with similar.
Ps our dehumidifier has an air purifier in it!
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Allergies and intolerances
Dampness causing allergies? Unlikely to be mould.
lilyflower1803 · 14/02/2024 23:00
Cherryon · 14/02/2024 23:09
It might be mould. Usually the advice is not to use waterproofing plaster but to use breathable plaster so that any moisture coming into the bricks from outside or below evaporates? If you waterproof plaster the bricks, you often end up trapping condensing moisture between the bricks and the plaster and then mould sometimes grows behind the plaster. (Warm internal plaster meets cold external wet brick)
What sort of ventilation do you have? With your flat being like a sealed plastic tub, you would need to have an open window and extractor fans too? Does your dehumidifier have an air filter? They often push out dust laden air as they work if they don’t come with a filter.
You could try getting an air filter and ventilating the flat better.
Cherryon · 14/02/2024 23:10
Sorry, don’t know how I missed your ps on the air purifier. So, did you recently replace the filter? If you’ve been running it often since August, it may need a new filter.
aitchteeaitch · 14/02/2024 23:19
How is water coming through the bricks? Ordinary rain shouldn't soak through bricks all the way to the inside. You need to find out why the water is coming through. It's no good treating the inside of the wall without rectifying the cause.
aitchteeaitch · 14/02/2024 23:19
How is water coming through the bricks? Ordinary rain shouldn't soak through bricks all the way to the inside. You need to find out why the water is coming through. It's no good treating the inside of the wall without rectifying the cause.
aitchteeaitch · 14/02/2024 23:19
How is water coming through the bricks? Ordinary rain shouldn't soak through bricks all the way to the inside. You need to find out why the water is coming through. It's no good treating the inside of the wall without rectifying the cause.
lilyflower1803 · 14/02/2024 23:21
Yep, aware of that. The management company are investigating that as we do not have authority to alter the external walls so we quite simply can only do what we can from the inside (what we own). We thought we solved the issue by replacing an air brick that had been installed incorrectly but unfortunately didn't work.
aitchteeaitch · 14/02/2024 23:19
How is water coming through the bricks? Ordinary rain shouldn't soak through bricks all the way to the inside. You need to find out why the water is coming through. It's no good treating the inside of the wall without rectifying the cause.
Cherryon · 14/02/2024 23:21
Hard to say if the plaster was waterproofed or not from what you’ve said. Initially, I was thinking the damp spots was water condensing behind the plaster and then running down the back of it.
Now I’m not so sure you don’t have water intrusion from outside the flat. Has everything been checked insofar as plumbing above and beside your flat? Or the roof if you are top flat? What is above your bedroom? Is there a water wall in the bedroom- as in does it share a wall with kitchen/bathroom where there are any taps or drains off that wall?
Have the windows been checked for leaks around the frames?
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lilyflower1803 · 14/02/2024 23:45
Luckily it's not condensation! It's privacy glass :) we have a window vac and thankfully don't get too much condensation- I thank the dehumidifiers!
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