AIBU or is the Estate Agents?

[Fangbanger66]

We've lived in this property now since end of July.

We have mentioned the window seals on the double glazing in the main bedroom since we moved in. There broken on each window.
Our estate agent done our inspection yesterday and again brought up the windows and the level of condensation.

We have puddles of water on the window sill each morning which we have to towel dry, we have the wall underneath the windows dripping, cant see through windows each morning and dark mould near window (picture). We use condenser as well to keep on top of it.
She replied it wasnt because of the window seals, its because 2 people sleep in the bedroom, the hot air from inside meets the cold air from the outside on the windows and thats what causes the condensation.

I replied if this was the case, then everyones house would be like this, this time of year. I said my friends and family havent got this problem when 2 people are on bedroom. I never had this problem in the two rental properties I had before this one.

She just looked away and said Ill give your feedback to the Landlord but I think its just because you sleep in the room.
I didnt want to argue with her or repeat myself so i just said okay.

Now waiting for a reponse from Landlord. But do i have a point? Can i ask for this to be dealt with? Surely a bedroom shouldnt get like this because "2 people sleep in it"

Im due a baby in 4 weeks which will be sleeping in the room also and i don't want anything bad on the babies lungs.

Any suggestions that I or the Landlord could do?

Your room needs warmth and ventilation.

^This

It is just condensation.

Heating on.
Windows open to air.

I've got the same unibond thing and it isn't as good as an actual dehumidifier. Get an electric one and use it.

I get bad condensation in my bedrooms like this, puddles on the window sill if I don't keep on top of it.

Don't spray it yourself, get your DH to do it, as you're pregnant.

You only need spray the visible mould

And you will need to air the house, it really stinks!

But yes, I haven't had to reapply it for over a year. I was really careful and cleaned off every speck of black mould. HG Mould Spray is the only spray that kills the mould - I read many reviews before I changed from my old cleaning spray and it rally does have an ingredient that other sprays do not.

Good luck

You need to be opening the window to let warm, moist air out in a morning and replace it with dryer air from outside. Properties need ventilation.

I know it's cold atm but honestly it will make a world of difference.

I live in a new build eco house. It's 5 years old. I need to open windows especially upstairs every day to prevent black mould and condensation building up. Plus moist air will take longer to heat up so your house will be warmer in the long run.

I open my upstairs windows every morning when I make the beds. Depending on how cold it is depends when they get closed again. 20 minutes is long enough but the longer the better.

Clean the visable mould off now. Start opening your windows today and monitor it over a fortnight. It's got to be easier opening a window than wiping puddles up every morning. If in 2 weeks it hasn't improved and the mould is back then go to your letting agent again.

Open the window or use the extractor fan in the bathroom after every shower or bath too. That steam just gets trapped in the house and will end up as a puddle on your bedroom window. It has to go somewhere and you need to let it out.

I do open the windows when were in the house but downstairs. But we are normally out of house a lot and dont like to leave them open.

I will read the links thanks, ill see if the mould spray helps etc. As I've said weve done everything estate agent told us to do but still not any better

Don't spray it yourself, get your DH to do it, as you're pregnant. That's true! I'd go out for the morning and leave him to do it!

It is a chlorine / bleach combination... not nice stuff!

I get this on the inside my upvc double glazed windows. The corners of the bedroom have a touch of mould and if I don't vent the windows regularly, the window will go black with mould. The condensation will run down them in the morning. I have to leave a gap behind all furniture so that the walls don't go black. Builders say that nothing can be done, the houses were built on very wet ground.

I didn't have the same problem in my last home which had wooden single glazed windows, but they were very draughty.

I have used a mould and mildew remover in my bathroom and my side porch wall and it does stop it coming back for quite a while

We had this in our house, just open the windows, keep them open all day, close at night and use a dehumidifier when closed.
Open up any vents, especially those high up on wall/ nearly ceiling.
Make sure air is actually moving through the vents.

I've had big problems like this before had one ll who blamed breathing and wouldn't accept it had never happened before (or since) and no I wasn't having a vent to stick in a freezing cold bedroom would they like me to suggest an alternative place to put It?

This ll had someone come out sort it and replaster and it hasn't happened since.
Don't accept that it's breathing there is defiantly a problem with the walls.

Mould is dangerous to babies. Get your midwife on the case too.

My old house was like this..the agent kept saying it was due to us sleeping in our room and causing condensation..?..rubbish, some houses are just awful at being like this.
I've lived I so many houses and they aren't all the same. Anyway I went back to my old house this morning to collect post..couldn't see out of most of the windows and the new owners said they were planning on replacing every window, had insulated and were at a lost at the mound still appearing..I loved the house but do not miss all my furniture going black/wiping windows.

Speak to the agents again and push for it to be sorted.

Do you use a tumble dryer and if so what type is it?

Agree window vac daily. Lidls do a cheaper version if money is tight but you’ll need to wait till they come round again in their centre aisle offers.

As others have said, there are lots of reasons why you might get more condensation now than you’ve experienced before, such as direction the house faces.

I don't know if yabu or not but I used to live in a HA property and it was like that, soaking wet windows and puddles with mould growing on the wall.

HA wouldn't do anything about it. Said it was condensation caused by lifestyle. The house I live in now doesn't have the problem.

We now rent a property out, lived in it ourselves for two years with no issues, now the tenants are complaining of damp and mould in the conservatory, but we had no problems and they refuse to use the heating in the conservatory.

As pps have said, you need to open the bedroom windows. Opening windows downstairs won't help the circulation of air in the bedroom upstairs. You need to let the warm, moist air out.

If you don't open the windows, you'll continue to have condensation.

Sorry, more questions...

Do the windows have 'trickle vents' at the top? If so leave them open all the time. If they are stuck closed or painted over (I see that a lot) email the agent and ask them to deal with it (emails give you a paper trail).

Do the handles have a 'part open' setting? Some do...

You only need air the house for 10 minutes or so, you'll notice the difference even with that short time. You could do that before leaving the house, air upstairs whilst making coffee, having breakfast...

Lots of other options available but I suspect you'll be feeling a bit ggrrrrrrrrr about it all, so I'll stop with the patronising posts

I think you just need to air the house a bit each morning.
And turn up the heating.

If the temp in room is between 15-18 it’s too cold. We get this in our bedroom, used to keep the thermostat at 19 and have now put it up to 20 and this has helped. We also run a dehumidifier 24/7 but the temp increase improved things further.

We didn’t have the problem in our old house. Dh says that the better your double glazing is the worse the problem is. Draughty Windows would actually improve things as there would be better ventilation.

I’d open the windows upstairs as soon as you get up then shut them before you go out for the day. I think that will make a big difference. On my windows you can open them very slightly but still lock them to allow ventilation. Can yours do that?

OP I lived in my house for 10 years and only got damp/mould in the winter in a downstairs bathroom (no heating, 2 outside walls). Obviously it was damp because of the shower and lots of condensation, we used to open the window and air it, but it was freezing, so we couldn't do it often because it was so cold. I used Dettox Mould and Mildew remover and sprayed it on in the morning when everyone is out of the house and left the windows open. It always cleared it off and stopped it growing for a few months.

We always slept in our bedroom with the heating on in the morning for an hour and in the evening for 2 - 3 hours, but we always left the window open 1 inch. We never had problems with damp or mould in our bedroom.

Then we moved and rented out our house for a year and when the tenants left, underneath the bedroom windows it was black with mould. Apparently they never opened the windows because they wanted to keep the heat in.

So your estate agent is probably right, if you don't want to sleep with the window open slightly, you may need to open it during the day for a few hours when you are not in there.

I was going to say trickle vents too, or the catch you can put the windows on that does the same thing (the part open on the handles as stated above) if you don't have trickle vents.

My windows are like that each morning but wouldn't be if I used the window catch to keep them ventilated.

Have you tried dehumidifier crystals? They can be really effective, so the water goes through the crystals and collects in the tub, rather than running down your windows

Like this

You have to buy replacement crystals, but they aren't terribly expensive, especially if you only need to use them during the winter months

If you can open the bedroom windows just for five or ten minutes every morning it will clear most of the condensation completely. For example, once you're dressed open the windows, then close them when you go back up to brush your teeth.

It could, oddly, be because the windows are BETTER than in your previous homes.

That's not right. The only time I get any condensation on the inside of the windows is the bathroom, after a bath or shower and putting the fan on and opening the window clears it in about ten minutes.

EA is stupid. Dh and I sleep in the same room which is quite big and there is only ever a small amount of condensation on the window, if any, and it isn't usually down to the weather. That bedroom isn't one I'd want a newborn in .

We have no cavities in our walls so had to get damp proofing specialists in last year to insulate and reboard the walls to stop this happening.

You should have a vent open in the room for air to flow, don't dry you clothes in the rooms.

Like others said, if the seal on the window has gone then the landlord may be liable to replace.