black mould on wall

[StrongLegs]

Hi,

I have a patch of black mould on the wall of the bedroom right next to my head, and I'm not sure how to get rid of it. I wondered if anyone might know?

I think the water comes from the shower and the wall is an outside wall so it does make sense that it should be there. I think we should try to keep the bathroom door shut.

I wondered if it's then enough just to paint over the mould?

Thanks!

You need @PigletJohn.

How can it be an outside wall and the shower be there? You may need to draw a diagram for PJ

Where's the shower in relation to the bed?

If the wall is external, then normally occurring moisture from sweating and breathing would be enough to create enough condensation on the wall

I used to lodge in a room with two external walls. When I pulled the bed away from the wall, under the window, I was mortified to discover mould growing along the wall, corresponding to the mattress.

Don't put anything against the wall - everything needs a gap for ventilation.

Thanks! I'll draw a diagram. Might be a few minutes, it's complicated.

This is the diagram. Thanks for looking!

We also notice in winter that the bay window seems to have a lot of water on the inside in the morning, as though it has been raining inside the room during the night. The water runs down and black mould grows along the bottom of the window.

Does that mean its our breathing that's the problem?

Yes it's your breathing! Moisture from your breathing hits the cold walls and stays there. It's very common.
Don't just paint over it you need to clean it. Vinegar or HG mould spray. It smells though so need windows open. May ruin wallpaper or paint that is already there.
You need to have ventilation in the room. Maybe the window open a little as often as possible.
We have a Karcher Vac which we use on our windows everyday as well as an old towel to dry them.

That would be you need to clean the black mould with HG spray. Not the wet windows! Just dry them everyday.

My house is the same, now it's colder I've just started noticing sneaky mould patches on the external walls/windowsills etc. Not sure what I can do other than wipe it off regularly and try to open the windows to air it out (but then it's cold!) Cons of an old house I guess. My cellar is pretty much unusable due to mould

Gosh, it never even occurred to me that it might be our breathing that was doing it. That's a whole new thing.

The carpet is 30+ years old and I've decided to bin it in case it is also mouldy. The whole room has a faint smell of mould all the time. I didn't notice it before but I slept elsewhere in the house for a little while recently and when I went back I suddenly thought "Hmm, this room smells like a library." DH says he thinks maybe it is the carpet.

You need extra ventilation, do your windows have trickle vents? If so are they open? You might also want to consider running a dehumidifier to keep the moisture levels down in the house. Do you dry washing indoors? When you cook have a window open so any moisture can escape.

I keep recommending these, but look for a dehumidifier.

If the walls are so cold, that they are condensing moisture, you'll probably freeze if you open the windows to air the place.

Think about insulating the place - loft, external walls and window improvements - but keep an eye for ventilation.

DrDreReturns - no I don't think we have trickle vents.

The house was built in 1930 when windows were so leaky that they didn't need trickle vents. The new double glazing doesn't have them.

Also that room is unusual because we have a light proof rubberised blackout curtain drawn across the inside of the bay window at night to exclude all light but it also stops all ventilation at night even if the window is on the latch.

If we drew that curtain to one side, the LED streetlights would shine directly in the window. They have the shields on them, but it makes very little difference.

We keep the door shut too because my son likes a light on in the hall at night and that would shine in through our door. Now I've said it out loud, it sounds as though we are sleeping in a hermetically sealed box.

Maybe a dehumidified would be a good idea, but both my DH and I struggle with dry eyes, so I'm not completely sure about that either.

I did wonder if getting external insulation on the outside of the house would be good, then at least the walls wouldn't be old. I suppose the water does need to condense somewhere though, and it would have to be somewhere else in the room.

You need ventilation, you need a window open all day. We have trickle vents on our windows and sleep with the door open, especially in winter. Our house is super insulated but we still get a lot of condensation on our windows when it is cold. If we don't wipe the windows dry in the morning, mould forms.

Get yourself a dehumidifier. Recommended the meaco junior dessicant one. I now have 3 for my old house, one for each floor.

Any windows I use a window vac to such off the water.

Thanks I will look into that. I suggested it to DH and he said "That will nicely compliment the humidifier that we have downstairs." LOL!

Heat and ventilation will help with condensation. We have trickle vents on most windows except the landing, this one we keep open a crack pretty much always. We also often open all the windows in the morning for half an hour or so just to air out the house.

I've just got a karcher vac as my windows have so much condensation and it's one of the most satisfying things ever. It's full every 2 days. I actually love it. Weird

Sorry I actually meant to say my house is 1930s and has this problem

If I just dried the walls and windows with towels in the morning, do you think that would do it?

Posted too soon. We also use a dehumidifier if we are drying washing insode, and often in the evening when cooking/showers/baths. We have the extractor fan running in the kitchen and the window open slightly when cooking also.

Occasionally we have to wipe down windows in the morning, but much less often than before we had a dehumidifier. We don't run it at night.

We had this in our daughters room. Its condensation combined with a cold wall/window surface. It is at the rear of the house and is north facing so cold and shaded through the winter so prone to condensation.

We stripped back to bare plaster then painted on an anti mould treatment. Left it a few days then papered the wall and painted the wallpaper with anti mould paint. That was two years ago and its not come back. Don't have any furniture etc too close to the wall so air can circulate near it. We've also found the obvious things help like keeping the kitchen door into the hall closed while cooking( especially if boiling pans) Same with the bathroom. Keep the door shut while in the bath or shower then leave the window open and the door shut once you leave.

Switch the humidifier off.

If there's condensation mould growing on the walls, the last thing you need is more moisture in the air.

Use eye drops with hyaluronic acid.

I don't have a clue about mould but your diagram is one of the best I've seen on here!