To be very pissed off with all this mould

[cantsleep]

When we moved into our house nearly 5 years ago the windows were probably a few years old, UPC and not in bad condition.

Never had any mould or damp round them at all.

9 months ago we got new front and back doors and new windows throughout the whole house.

Every window ledge and all round the new windows is now completely mouldy. I clean it off and it reappears days later. Thick, black mould. It is coming through the silicone type stuff on the surrounds and I am so annoyed about it.

At the time I had said to dh I didn't really want the windows done as they seemed fine to me and it was a waste of money for the council to replace everybody's windows and doors.

If I complain will they fix the problem or am I stuck now with rubbish windows and lots of mould to constantly clean off everything. Even the blinds in bathroom and toilet have gone completely mouldy.

I used to manage council repairs service & we sometimes found that having new windows fitted could actually cause additional problems with condensation. Because the new windows are extra efficient at excluding draughts, air flow is prevented throughout the property. You could find that the seals on your old windows had deteriorated slightly and excess moisture from the air was able to escape through them. Now the windows are new, the moisture stays within the property, and then condenses when the window gets cold which results in mould growth, and thus is more common in rooms like bathrooms & kitchens.
Is it feasible to have your window open (even slightly) for a short period everyday to help air move around? I understand in the winter you are reluctant to open windows and let out warm air you have spent a fortune to heat up out of them but it could help reduce the problem. Even if it's just 30 minutes a day.
You can try and speak with your council to see what they say, but this is what I found in my experience. I hope it helps.

Do you not have trickle vents on the windows that you can open during the day?

All windows should have trickle vents to allow for proper ventilation. Do your new ones have vents? Maybe they could be opened?

Get a dehumidifier to reduce the moisture in your house that isn't able to escape.

Agree with lovesteaandcakes, very sensible post- this sounds like the new windows are better sealed and no longer having draughts is causing condensation I also work in a housing environment, and this is very common.. Ventilate every day and clean seals weekly is the way forward.

No trickle vents. We had them on the old windows and they were fine.

I'm grateful to have new windows but the amount of mould is horrendous.

I've got the windows open now so hopefully that will help.

Thankyou

I'm looking for a de humidifier to prevent any condensation build up in my home over winter, they are all pretty expensive though, I don't want to buy a cheaper one and find it doesn't work. Anyone tried and tested a good cheapish one to recommend?

We've got the Argos value dehumidifier and it's really good. Was £100 odd I think but works really well and costs 3.5p an hour to run. Its 3 years old now and I use it everyday as we live in a rented house with no extracter fans in the kitchen or bathroom and double glazing so window condensation is a real problem. Try to avoid drying washing inside if you can (use dryer or the line) as this makes it much worse due to adding loads of extra moisture to the air. I try to open the windows first thing in the morning too before I put the heating on (old house, no thermostat) so I'm not letting any air I've paid to heat out, just the cold air from overnight. That helps too.

Get a dehumidifier. Don't know what I would do without ours. Will also save on heating bills

I have this problem too though all my damp goes to one room (which is supposedly the coldest room in the house). I had a guy from the nhbc come and check our house as at the time the house was only about 5 years old.

He said that drying wet clothes on a clothes horse cause's a lot of damp and doing simple things like covering your saucepans always with a lid reduces damp. I open most of my windows every day to help the house dry out and bought a dehumidifier for that particular room. I also wash the mould with a solution of bleach and make sure nothing sits up close to the walls affected...
Hope you get it sorted as its so unsightly and i always worry what's in the mould.

If left will it get worse

Ive found opening windows helps,i actually just go and wipe the condensation off in the morning too.ventilation is they key,even just open the windows just a little in the morning for a hour.

I wipe all the condensation off my windows every morning and use a dehumidifier when it gets really bad.

It's a pita opening the windows in the winter but worth doing for half an hour just to get the air moving

Had exactly the same experience. Old flat, single glazed, couldn't replace original windows due to protected nature of property. Fitted secondary glazing, made it lovely and cosy warm but the mould crept up on us after a couple of weeks. We solved it with a dehumidifier and making sure we aired the property whenever we could - or didn't completely shut the secondary glazing on warmer days. It's nothing to do with the new windows per se - it's the sudden lack of ventilation that's the problem. Totally sympathise though - very frustrating to think that hard won cash spent on home improvements has led to more work and hassle cleaning etc.

trickle vents - when we had our windows replaced we asked for trickle vents (we were paying, not council)

The installer told us most people don't ask for them and they should, he also said that they are compulsory on new builds, but not on replacement windows.

But they can be very easily installed in windows yourself (or by council) My dh did it in the windows we didn't replace, £2 per vent on-line and then drill the holes and screw it on.

Your mould is almost certainly due to the lack of ventilation, due to no trickle vents. Go back to the council and ask them to fit them. Then use Dettol anti-mould everywhere repeatedly for 2-3 months until the mould has gone.
Failing that get a dehumidifier. There have been a lot of threads on here with advice about condensation mould

You have my sympathies - we lived in a mouldy private rental.

Def kick off to the council about this, there are major health hazards associated with mould. It can totally shag your lungs in the worst case scenario, plus it damages your belongings and it smells awful.

I have been kicking off for five years and only now is idiot landlord considering new windows (ours are all wooden and 50 years old and don't lock). Hopefully the council have a much higher duty of care to you.

I find even with opening windows a each day the only way to combat this is to regularly clean with that awful bleach anti-mould stuff when it appears.

DP is a landlord (boo, hiss) and many of his houses which are single skin, concrete poured walls have this problem. The main issue is ventilation as has been mentioned above and when tenants don't open the windows regularly and /or have heating on too high, the mould appears. As soon as there is adequate ventilation, the problem goes away.