damp stains on the wall - how do I get rid of them?

[Dottydot]

This should be in bad housekeeping really...

We've got quite back black damp stains on one of our walls under a window. Any ideas on how to get rid of them, even cosmetically?

I meant quite bad

Something like stain stop (once you've cleaned off the worst of it, maybe with diluted bleach, or a mould/mildew remover), then paint over the top again. But really you need to find the source of the damp, or it'll just come back.

Just fairy, a bit of hot water and a cloth should get the majority out but sometimes you need to paint over stubborn marks.

You can get a mould and mildew remover which works well but. I think places like Bettaware and Lakeland sell it.

Use that mildew spray thing, then repaint them with a matchpot, and then put something in front of them. This is was what I did when selling last house

Oh, forgot the damp stain stop thing as well

Ahem. Our buyers are coming round tomorrow with their parents - they haven't organised the survey yet and are waiting to see what the parents think. Hence very last minute panic re: damp stains. Am hoping because they're coming in the evening they won't open the curtains...

Water is getting through the wall from outside, so you need to check and repair the seal around the window. Then I'd wipe the wall down with a 50/50 bleach solution to kill off any spores etc. and give it time to dry out. Then I'd cover the area with stain block paint before painting over the area.

Mine was really obvious. Used matchpot of same colour as paint but it didn't match...and the book I used to cover the gap (biggest I had) didn't quite fit...

Looked so obvious when we eventually moved out.

Good luck anyway; it's horrible when they bring the parents, they always have views on things, pointing out "problems"

I'm worried the survey's going to say the house is about to crumble into oblivion...

I'm DREADING it Tinker. They didn't mention needing the parents' approval when they made the offer...

Am going to offer coffee and be uber-friendly...

Of course it won't. It's been there over 100 years.

Just talk over the parents every time they speak, changing the subject. Good luck, selling houses is horrible.

we have same problem we use bleech and water as you need to kill bacteria that lives in the spores and then we got some damp seal one coat you paint over damp area but our bathroom wall needs rendering so cant keep damp at bay

Or you could just get the damp issue fixed properly.

Louii - we're selling our house to people who have knocked the price down by £12k - they can get it fixed properly...

Ah sorry, we rented a damp house before and it had just been painted over before we moved in so we didn't know, it came back big style and we had a lot of health issues as a result, my DP has bad asthma and he was very unwell.

I would be annoyed buying a house that people had tried to disguise a problem such as damp due to the obvious health implications that arise from it.

well if it's bad it'll be picked up in the survey. Can't bring myself to feel bad about it - it's a victorian terraced house with no double glazing - that's what you get...

It might be condensation from the window - I live in a victorian house and had this problem too - bloody nightmare!

If you want to fix it you'd need to dry out the rooms, but to hide it - scrub with bleach, damp blockpaint then a quick top coat of matt emulsion.

We live in a 30s house and we have this problem too, it's not damp, (had it checked) it's where the outside of the wall is cold and the inside warm. Because of the lack of cavity wall, it creates condensation. We wipe it down with an anti fungicide spray (from homebase) and we are about the insulate the wall with a special plaster board that has insulation on the back. It does mean we lose about 1/2 inch of the room but, if it works it will be worth it.

I use Dettox mildew spray. Just give it a blast and leave it. When you come back it will have disappeared! Just like magic! :-)