Wibu to ask for a reduction in rent so I can buy 'stuff' due to mould damage (sorry, long!)

[extremepie]

I'm fully prepared to accept I may BU, just thought I'd gather some opinions.

I live in a flat that was recently renovated after being left empty for 18 months. When I moved in the landlady told me that because it had been empty for so long and with all the wet weather we had over the winter it was likely we might have a lot of moisture in the walls etc so might expect some damp issues, but that as the weather warmed up and if we were good about keeping windows open, ventilation etc it should be fine.

We've been living here about 4 months now and the damp problem is pretty bad - in my bedroom there will be pools of water on the windowsill and floor from the condensation, which doesn't seem to improve much whether I keep the windows open or not. The only time it does improve is when I have the window open constantly which, being a ground floor flat, I can't really do!

There are areas of the hallway near the bathroom where there is horrible, furry black mould growing on the walls - this also grows on the wall in my bedroom, on the windowsill in the kitchen, the living room and the kids bedrooms. Ds's bedroom has a big built in cupboard thing in his room and it grows in there too. It grows on the wall behind the sofa and on the back of the sofa itself, it grows on my tv unit and the legs of my table and chairs. It has even grown on the underside of Ds's mattress! It is everywhere!

When the flat was being renovated the landlady said I could choose my own paint for the walls, so I did and painted virtually the whole flat myself. She also let me choose the colours of carpet so I could make it feel like my own (she is lovely :) ). However, since this mould is constantly growing on the walls I have had to scrub it and bleach it so many times that every single room I took considerable expense and time to paint has now got damaged paintwork and in some of the rooms the carpets have marks on from the mould which I cant seem to remove :(

I do feel like it may be partially my fault as I have a tumble dryer, but I have no way to vent it, where the cupboard is for the dryer there is no way to access a window to vent it with a tube, the radiators are electric so I cant dry anything on them and I have no outside space at all (garden, balcony etc) to dry things so I have to use a tumble dryer.

Wibu to ask if I could have a reduction in the rent temporarily to buy a condenser for my tumble dryer and buy new paint to repaint the walls? The only room which is pretty much unscathed by the mould is Ds2's room because I indadvertedly painted his room with bathroom paint (I liked the colour :D), which has an anti mould thing in it so despite his bedroom being right next to Ds's, his room has no mould and Ds2's does. Ideally I'd like to replace Ds's mattress too as I really don't want him sleeping on a mouldy mattress!

I know it isn't her fault about the mould but I'm just getting so fed up with it now, I've gone through bottles and bottles of anti mould sprays and cleaners, keep the windows open as much as I can but it still just grows back within a few weeks!

Dettol Mould and Mildew remover is very good but it's paint stripping stuff and it stinks. The Landlady needs to get involved, it sounds like you've done all you can. Have you had the central heating on? That may help dry out more but the summer was very hot so it's worrying that the damp and mould is still there.

Flats quite often suffer from condensation/damp and mould issues especially those of a certain age unless steps have been taken to rectify issues.

Yes special, have taken advice from the thread and done everything (I think) I could reasonably do and its still growing (cries :( ).

Getting really fed up as I spent so much money and spent hours repainting over the summer and it hasn't stopped it.

I'm finding it difficult, and did over the summer too, to get a breeze 'going through' the flat, as all the windows only open on one side of the flat so I cant get air passing through if that makes sense? I wake up in the morning and there are puddles of water on the windowsills and floor in my bedroom. There appears to be condensation inside the double glazing too, not sure if that makes a difference?

Them condenser boxes are useless I didn't notice any difference when I had one. You need a proper condenser dryer.

Oh crap just seen this thread was from june so clearly it's moved on from dryer boxes. Sorry op

I have some of that dettol stuff but you're right it is lung burning stuff, also tried a 'professional' type one from b&q and a cillit bang black mould remover - none of them works, neither does bleach.

TBH I haven't had the heating on in months, the flat seems to retain the heat quite well and it hasn't been cold enough to need it yet.

Its ok :) I just thought it would be easier to re-instate this one than to start a whole new thread! But yes the condenser box was a bit rubbish, it didn't work that well on its own, coupled with the dehumidifier seems to be better, flat doesn't smell as musty and damp as it did but there are still 2 big damp patches on the corridor walls that have not shifted at all, not even over the summer.

It must be pretty damp in general for the bed to go rusty, a lot of moisture in the air. Have you raised it with your ll again? It needs looking at really. I've got a damp kitchen which can't be fixed. I bleached the mould back in July and its not come back yet so yours must be horrendous.
I do get a fair bit of window condensation this time of year until the heating goes on properly but not puddles!

You can't use an unvented tumble dryer indoors without causing damp- end of.

You are just piling more moisture into the air and nothing is going to get a chance to dry out.

Living in a mouldy environment is extremely bad for your and your children's health and it will only get worse now the weather has got colder.

Continuing to use the tumble dryer indoors is just stupid.

Buy a vented one or go to the launderette (regardless of how far away it is)

Can't get to the laundrette bear, its 4 miles away and I don't drive. I can't take all my washing on the bus!

I already have a condenser box fitted to it and a dehumidifiyer.

I already have a condenser box fitted to it and a dehumidifier

That's not enough. The condenser and dehumidifier can't cope with the amount of moisture generated by running a tumble dryer.

Even in an originally bone dry house, running an unvented tumble dryer inside will cause damp- running it in an already damp house is absolute stupidity.

Do you know how dangerous living in damp conditions can be for your children's health?

You have to stop using it.

sorry to here it's still a problem op

talk to the landlady as you say if it's bad now i hate to think what it will be like in the next few months

hope you get it sorted

are all clothes dried in the dryer or do you have outside space to dry??

Bda I can open the windows just not all the time - we're on the ground floor so can't have them open when I'm out and DS2 is autistic so I can't have them open when he is home or he can escape :/

I do have those trickle vent things in the windows which are open all the time but don't seem to make much difference :(

Ilove, unfortunately I have no outside space at all, flat opens directly on to the pavement and has no communal area. That's my thinking, as if its only just gotten colder & its already bad I don't want to get even worse as we get into proper winter.

OP you really can't run an unvented tumble dryer in a flat with no outside space. You need to stop using it.

I also live in a flat with no outside space. There was mould when we moved in, but DP and totally blitzed the place. We used that Dettol mould spray and diluted bleach. Scrubbed at the mould daily for about a week and re-painted.

We don't own a tumble drier and just dry on a clothes horse in one room with the door closed to the rest of the flat and the windows wide open. We repainted etc. over a year ago and haven't had any mould since.

You can't keep using the tumble and expect the mould to go away.

Can't you put clothes horses near the radiators? That's what we do in the winter. The water is still in the house, but I don't know what the alternative is, isn't that what everyone does on wet winter days?

Have you reported the problem to your landlady? If you've minimised the tumble dryer issue - and you said she knows you use it anyway - then on going damp is something she should be addressing. She must know there's an issue with space to dry clothes too, with no outside area and no vent access for your dryer.

Also, we lived in a house with no proper tumble dryer outlet and we ended up having to put it in a really inconvenient place, but next to a window, and putting the big outlet tube out the window every time we ran it. It was a complete pain and I was glad when it died & we couldn't afford to replace. (wasn't my choice to use it)

If it is growing on things other than walls then it is most likely still condensation damp - just now you've protected the walls the water is condensing else where.

I think the dehumidifier needs to be on all the time - and can you borrow another at all for a while - if there are pre-existing patches still not dried out from before then you will need to work on drying faster than you are producing which is still not happening - you are probably still producing more than you are drying - perhaps a monumental push - and continue with the detoll m&m spray, remove spores as fast as possible.

But I'm really really sure that if I stopped using the tumble dryer and used a clothes horse instead it wouldn't make any difference - the moisture is still going into the air just slower! Plus the clothes would take three times longer to dry, how is that better?

I don't have to space to dry things in my bedroom, plus its the worst room for damp, cant use the kids rooms or the living room/kitchen because DS2 has a thing about hanging/folded clothes and will just rip them off the airer and throw them on the floor. We have tried drying things this way before and it doesn't work :/

oP, why can't you put the tumble dryer by a window- even if it means it's in your living room- so you can vent it outside.

This problem will not go away until you stop using it.

Drying clothes indoors is only marginally better and not going to solve the problem- your issue is that nothing is ever drying out properly.

If you can't stop drying clothes indoors you will have to look at moving.

Houses which are susceptible to damp are difficult to manage anyway- drying clothes indoors- in any way other than an externally vented dryer- will cause problems.

I did answer that earlier in the thread but I appreciate you may not have seen that :)

Basically, I have no space to put the TD anywhere other than where it currently is, I don't have room for it in the kitchen/living room (plus the kitchen window has an extractor in it and doesn't open anyway) or in my bedroom and I can't put it in the dc's bedrooms. All the windows are high, top opening windows so the pipe doesn't reach. If I put it in the bathroom the plug wont reach.

FWIW my last house also had horrible damp problems and there we did vent the TD outside.

Maddening, it is still growing on the walls though :/

Can you not just get a longer lead or use a socket extension and vent it by sticking those hose out the window from the bathroom? I would have thought that would be a lot easier than having a damp house, mould and having to explain all this to your landlord.

Those are just excuses- you can buy an extension lead or a longer venting pipe or move some furniture.

It might not be convenient but it is necessary if you insist on using a tumble dryer.

Just google what mould spores can do to you and your children- I think you'll see a bit of inconvenience is better than letting everyone live in mouldy surroundings.

Mould can be caused by lots of things but you are making it a thousand times worse- I've just read something that said a 6lb load of washing in an unvented dryer causes 10 pints of moisture- you wouldn't spray 10 pints of water directly around your house from a hose would you?

Bear, with all due respect, you have never been to my flat and do not know how big it is/how much stuff I have in it so please don't tell me I can do x,y,z when I say I can't, I have already tried moving things around and it just won't fit - I already have a fridge and chest freezer in the living room as they don't fit in the kitchen.

I could get an extension pipe but it would have to run around 2 doors and a wall to get to the bathroom window, and you wouldn't be able to shut the door when on the toilet. I could get an extension so it would be able to reach the plug socket but isn't there a good reason why plug sockets are not in bathrooms in the first place for safety reasons? Especially when I have an autistic son with so sense of danger?