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!

I had a dehumidifier to help dry my house out after a 4ft flood went through it - it was collecting about the same amount as yours (after the flood had gone and the place looked dry). Fwiw - our current house is mouldy and we never dry washing in the house. A builder came and looked at it - he said that where we had horrendous rain for some months last winter, it had absorbed into the brick and was being pulled into the house because of the warmth.
The td isn't good at all, but your ll acknowledged that there was a problem before you moved in. If you can try and remedy that issue then you will have a leg to stand on if you still have mould and need to have it dealt with.

I've just read the whole thread.

To be honest I think your flat has bigger issues than the TD. Have you talked to the other ground floor flat to see if they have the same issues?

The mold in the kitchen is a concern too, do you boil water a lot, or steam foods? Can you cut down on the amount of condensation, cut down on the amount of washing you do too? You and your children cannot stop breathing though, and that can be enough to cause condensation.

This is a serious problem and it needs to be adressed. As an immediate solution, your LL could look at having a replacement window put in (so you can put td the vent out) and external burglar proof cages around them so that you can air the property. (They should have put the cages on before renting to you, imo.)

Someone up thread suggested the LL could look at getting a particular ventilation system fitted, which would be good for them to look into too.

This does need to be sorted out urgently. Personally I would move out.

All the mould must be scrubbed off and killed. You need to throw out the mattress and other soft furnishings that have mould on them and replace with new.

See if there is a laundry service you can use to take your washing and return it laundered and dry. Perhaps the LL could help with the cost of that until the problem is sorted out. This is not just about the tumble dryer. Or even better, she rehomes you for a few weeks somewhere and deals with it all.

Mold excrete mycotoxins which can cause harm (even death) to humans exposed to the toxins in the home or work place for hours at a time. There is also the possibility of it causing allergies/asthma which stay with that person even after moving out of the mouldy environment, and for people with immunosuppressive illnesses, mould/fungi can start to grow on their repiratory tracts as a secondary infection which can kill them.

We have a mould problem in my house. i believe it to be due toa shit extension that was bodged. wet windows and black mould that I have to keep on top of all winter. I have been dying my clothes on radiators bit have just got a condenser dryer on the advice if my agents to see if it helps. Could you sell yours and get a proper condenser one?

I was thinking about selling the one I have and buying a condenser with the proceeds, its only a year old so it is still in very good condition - fairgame did point out that I could apply to family fund for a grant but not sure how long that will take :/

The ll did say when we moved in that the double glazing in the windows had 'blown' and needed to be replaced but this hasnt happened yet, not even sure what that means tbh!

The double glazing being blown usually just means the individual pane of glass no longer has a vavuum in it, so condensation collects inside it, becoming foggy. Not a health hazard. We have quite a few we're not replacing, as not a priority. It's not really all that relevant to your internal condensation problem, ll is probably not required to replace them. However, if the flat was advertised as 'double glazed' and they are blown in every room, it isn't really double glazed, that's all.

*vacuum, not vavuum! (I could do with some vavuum today!)

I found the document about types and causes of damp.

www.medway.gov.uk/housing/privatehousing/privatetenants/dampandcondensation.aspx

Looking at the types of mould. Do the descriptions of your problem it does seem likely that you have a condensation issue caused mainly by the tumble dryer and not opening the windows enough.

When you use a dehumidifier, you must close the doors and windows of the room it is in. Or it will try to dehumidify the world.

If your bathroom has an extractor fan that works, turn it on and leave it on to dry the bathroom. If you have an airer in there it will suck out the water vapour. Leave the bathroom door and window shut while you are using the extractor fan so it can create suction.

What if the dehumidifier is in the corridor piglet? There's a big damp patch on one of the corridor walls so I often leave it on near there :/ The cupboard where the TD is isn't big enough for the dehumidifiyer so I leave it in the corridor outside!

If the corridor wall which is damp is an internal wall (not the other side of an outside wall) then the damp is almost certainly due to your living habits. Internal walls are not affected by the usual causes of damp. If you don't change your clothes drying habits and any other condensation causing habits then the problem will not go away and moving to a new property won't help as the problem will just recur if you dry your clothes in the same way.

No, miss, that damp patch is on an internal wall but it was there long before we moved in as it was there the first time I saw the flat while they were still renovating - weeks before we moved in!

From personal experience - your landlord needs to get someone in to identify the source of the damp. In our case, while we were concentrating on causes inside the house, the damp was eventually traced down to coming from the roof. Some sort of poor workmanship up there, I can't remember the details, but it was fixed, the walls were properly sealed and repainted and the damp didn't return.

I would suggest looking for a new place to rent O. You may have to have more travelling time to get the kids to school to get more affordable though. Some private LL do take HA but you really need to trawl through loads. Maybe the thing to do while you are trying other things though.

As others have suggested this is a bigger problem than just the dryer which is just a contributory factor. I know because I own a big old house with very damp walls which dry internally due to thick render on the outside preventing the moisture from drying off externally. We have draughty windows, fireplaces and massive dehumidifiers fitted but still we have condensation and mould. If walls are soaking wet then it can take years for them to dry out. If external render is cracked or if the render is holding the moisture into the walls then the only way it will dry is internally. This is not a problem you can solve. Move if you can and let the landlady sort the problem.