Blue mould with furry bits on my DD’s room

[Krazynights34]

I’ve just discovered this. All over the lower part of the external wall. We just moved in two weeks ago.
She has respiratory issues.
I’m freaking out.
Do any of you have any ideas what I can do?

Is there anything on the other side of the wall (outside)?

I would get 2 of 3 builders to come and look at it, as others have said it could be leaking gutters which is so easy to fix. In the mean time wipe with bleach tonight and then get some mould spray and a dehumidifier in there.

Has it been raining heavily? What’s the exterior like? Any cracks in bricks, or missing render in stone?

I would get a damp surveyor in - make sure they are registered with the RICS.
It looks like rising damp but that's often misdiagnosed without a specialist inspection.
It could be penetrating damp from somewhere else.

Get a damp surveyor and until the problem is sorter keep DD out the room. Is there anywhere else she can sleep? Spare bedroom, living room, office?

I had that and it was condensation, I moved furniture and got a dehumidifier. Never came back.

Tape a sheet of aluminium foil to the wall for a couple of days. If it gets wet on the outside, you've got condensation and not rising damp. I did this and I had condensation. I removed all the wallpaper, opened up the chimney, used a dehumidifier and the damp is almost gone.

The shape of the damp appears to me to be a steep mountain, with the point in the corner of the walls.

So I think it is damp in the wall, coming from a point at or above the point, and travelling down.

On the other side of that wall, is there a bathroom? Or a sink?

if the house was built prior to 1940, is there a downpipe or drain on the outside of the wall? or a garden tap?

is the floor wood or concrete?

Where is the external ground level, in relation to the floor of that room?

You can use bleach if you want, but it will not cure the damp.

Ventilate constantly to control humidity in the room.

Rising Damp doesn’t suddenly appear OP. It’s also rare for it to go that high although not impossible. What’s the other side of the wall? It looks more like a leak to me from the pic.

Your surveyor should have spotted this.

S/he should be your first port of call.

They didnt have a survey. I would look outside at that corner. Is the floor dry.

It’s been raining quite heavily here the last few days, has it by you? Have you checked your guttering is clear of leaves etc, or that there are no gaps where it’s dripping down and hitting the wall?

i had the same problem! i highly recommend getting a dehumidifier, we have two and they work wonders. also keep furnicher away from the wall until the problem is sorted incase it gets damp to the furnicher and ruins it!

Clean off the mould and cover area with mould proof paint.

You didn't have a survey done??

What did the survey say? It should have flagged that.

@MrsMattMurdock

I had that and it was condensation, I moved furniture and got a dehumidifier. Never came back.

Same here.

I'd got with some kind of gutter or drainage issue. What's on the other side of the wall?

I didn't even know you could buy without a survey. Were you buying with no mortgage?!

Yes we were buyi g with no mortgage... but... it was a gift from DH’s parents who refused to have the survey done.
I knew I shouldn’t have listened to them. They (like DH) are mega controlling.
I don’t even like the house, I only let them get it because my DD can’t walk and I have a serious knee injury from carrying her (she’s seriously disabled) and we are/were going to build an extension for her. And bungalows rarely come up in our area.
I’m furious with myself now!

Sorry a gift we have to repay as soon as we sell our other house

There’s nothing on the other side of the wall.
We’ve had crazy heavy rain yesterday.
I’m going to check the gutters tomorrow

check guttering

I would check down low rather than the gutter , gutter leaking often leads to damp corners on the top of the walls rather than low down at ground level although we have had a lot of bad weather and driving rain can penetrate walls sometimes
I would check that the previous people haven't put something against the wall that is on and above the dpc , like a flower bed , drive , path , patio , the dpc needs to be above the surrounding level of the land and be clear and able to function , check that there actually is a dpc , looks a bit like a thin piece of roofing felt running in between a course of bricks ?

This is a useful starting point to figuring out if it is condensation or penetrating or rising damp: www.which.co.uk/reviews/damp/article/dealing-with-damp/what-kind-of-damp-is-affecting-my-home-arNnf1P2wVnV. Take care with "damp specialists" as it is their job to find themselves work. If you can get a recommendation of a good builder to start with they can look at it and tell you how difficult to fix and what it should cost. If it is penetrating removing the source of the leak and fixing the damage etc.