Hi everyone
I have an inbuilt cupboard in my 50 year old flat, which in the last few weeks has started to smell musty and develop mould spots on the ceiling. It has always been ever so slightly musty (since we moved in 9 months ago) but it’s getting worse. The plaster is cracking badly, suspect because of the work we’ve had done recently. Please can you help me understand why this is happening?
Short story:
Plaster is cracking in the cupboard
Plaster looks a bit mottled around the water pipes, but is not damp or cold to the touch
Smells musty
Has mould spots on ceiling, around the waste pipe that comes down from the flat above
The wall in the kitchen directly behind the cupboard was replastered and painted about 3/4 weeks ago
We have recently had a new bathroom and kitchen installed, which are behind/next to the affected cupboard
We have heating, which has been on in the last few weeks for a few hours a day
Long story:
The cupboard is in the internal corridor, which has no windows. Behind the cupboard is the kitchen (which is a well ventilated room), next to the cupboard is another cupboard, and behind that is the bathroom, again, always have the window open a little. The flat is overall well ventilated, windows are often open especially first thing in the morning. We dry laundry indoors (with a dehumidifier) but this is nowhere near the affected cupboard.
The pipework runs around the corner of the cupboard into the soil stack in the adjacent cupboard.
The bathroom was installed last month, it has fully tiled walls.
The kitchen was installed six months ago. Because Howdens messed up the measurements, not taking into account the pipes are a few cms from the wall, the guy fitting the kitchen had to put in a sort of stud wall to fit the cabinets and tiling to. So there is an area between the real wall and the stud wall, which slightly borders onto the cupboard. Directly next to the cupboard is the washer/dryer.
I was worried it was a plumbing leak, but having checked the water meter, unless we are actually using water it doesn’t move around. Having said that...I wouldn’t be surprised (just my luck).
Any suggestions greatly appreciated!
Thanks so much.