Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To rip up 1 year old carpets

5 replies

supersuperbad5 · 11/11/2025 12:24

I have a damp and mould specialist coming tomorrow. It’s been going on for months, mould on furniture, clothes, the walls . I opened a photo frame yesterday and there was mould on the cardboard backing and tiny bugs crawling inside. I pulled the mattress up and couldn’t see anything but came back into the room and noticed a bug, just the one, it looked like a beetle. It didn’t look like bed bugs but who knows. I’ve thrown it now . Now I’m worried that my new carpets are infested with mould and bugs. I can’t see anything but it might underneath yes ? My anxiety is through the roof and I feel so ill . Has anyone gone through this ?

OP posts:
YoureKillingMyPeace · 11/11/2025 12:42

Wait and see what the specialist says.
if you ripped them up now you’d be living with cold, possibly draughty (if floorboards) flooring.
If you replaced before sorting the damp issue you’d only have to rip the next lot up so would just be throwing money away.
Wait and see what they say tomorrow. I hope it’s an easy, inexpensive fix for you.

TheatricalLife · 11/11/2025 12:43

Agree with waiting to ask the specialist before you do anything.

SezFrankly · 11/11/2025 16:16

Wait for the specialist. They may be able to treat the carpet if it has got damp.

White vinegar can help kill black mould. Invest in a dehumidifier. Yes, they're expensive but they make an ENORMOUS difference.

You might need to google the bug and check what it is.

FYI too. If your home is social housing, they have some new rules to ensure all this is fixed for you.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/awaabs-law-guidance-for-social-landlords

LadySuzanne · 11/11/2025 18:03

Tiny bugs crawling about behind the glass in photo frames or picture frames or inside the back of the frame are very common. They like humidity.

You will find loads of photos online to help identify or rule out bedbugs.

Finding a single beetle in a room isn't necessarily an infestation.

Depending on the size it may have been a vine weevil which has flown or crawled into the house through a window, or crawled up an outside wall or come into the house via a flower pot (they like to lay their eggs in the compost in plant pots). The larvae feed on the plant's root then crawl out of the pots when they have matured. They particularly like geraniums and primulas.) They are not harmful to people or furnishings but will often kill the plant.

If the beetle was very small and black it may have been what is known as a "carpet beetle" (about 3mm) or a "varied carpet beetle" (which is brownish patterned) see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varied_carpet_beetle

They can come into houses from the outside via cracks around windows and doors. I found some of these in a bedroom a couple of summers ago. Mine looked black or dark brown but under a magnifying glass they looked the ones in the link above.

There were several on one wall and also a few on the surface of a duvet, plus a few on the curtains. I picked them off and disposed of them. There were probably around a dozen over the course of a few days. I washed all the bedding and vacuumed thoroughly under the bed and the carpet. I have not found any more since then.

I don't think I would have thrown out a mattress because of a single beetle without having first identified what it was.

I hope you can find a solution to the mould. We live in a 50 year old house that is prone to mould and will probably be buying a humidifier. Where we live gets a lot of rain (we are a few miles from the sea, on a hill) but this last three or four years our winters and springs have been particularly wet.

hot2trotter · 11/11/2025 20:18

I'm guessing the beetle is not the same as the tiny bugs you found in the picture frame? They sound like mould mites - tiny and a creamy yellowish colour. I had an infestation of them in my wardrobe. Unbeknownst to me, the wall behind the wardrobe was damp and covered in mould. Whatever I couldn't put on a boil wash had to be binned. I lost jewellery, make up, shoes, things of sentimental value, photos, and 90% of my clothes. I was devastated.
The room had to be cleared, dried out with a dehumidifier on 24/7, and everything had to be slowly replaced. I'm a clean freak anyway but this made me a million percent worse.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page