To be depressed at the state of my kitchen.

[tryingtosortmylifeout]

I moved into my new house relatively recently and am in the process of going through each room and deep cleaning. There’s one cupboard under the kitchen sink that is in a really bad state - there’s no cupboard back and the plaster on the wall is covered in grime and grease, with some black mould in one corner.

Is there any way I can clean or fix this? I would like to use it for storage but obviously that’s impossible in its current state. WWYD?

Just keep your cleaning stuff in there, or kitchen equipment that can be boxed up - e.g. a food processor?

YANBU, FWIW, I wouldn't want to put food in there either. My undersink cupboard was grotty when we moved in, too.

You want to find out what has caused that mold. Is there an ongoing problem? Is there a leak somewhere?

You've got a leak. It'll get worse if you don't sort out the problem...

Experience...

I can’t for the life of me work out where a leak could be coming from - it’s an external wall but I’ve checked the brickwork outside and all looks fine. There’s no water sources near that corner either

its probably the sealant worn out around your draining board, causing water to collect underneath

Notea, the draining board is actually the opposite side so can’t be that. Very strange!

Sadly, my under sink cupboard is the same. The whole kitchen needs to be replaced but we can't do that till we can afford an extension, because there's no point in the annoying little spot it's in now.

I just keep recycling, dishwasher tablets, etc under there.

But following in case anyone has any bright ideas I could tell the handyman about.

Get one of the mould cleaners, wash it down. Leave kitchen doors open. Buy one of those moisture absorbers like unibond aero. Borrow a dehumidifier and see if that dries the air.

If you have some towelling wiping up cloths or old towels put them on the shelves and see if they get damp. I have a worktop that was fitted with a metal strip and despite keep sealing it water leaks through. It's very wet here at the moment - Cornwall- and there's a lot of damp air so condensation does get in kitchen cupboards at the back of the house where the air outside is damp.

If you're absolutely sure there is no leak then I would clean it up and put a false back in the cupboard with an air gap.

It does look like there has been a leak at some point though...