someone tell me im being silly and everything will be ok

[gingerbreadmam]

i am 4 weeks pg after mmc in november / december last year.

dp and i moved into a tiny 1 bedroom flat september last year only to discover after a few weeks in it there is a damp problem in the bedroom. i then discovered mmc. i know it isnt right but i have somehow linked the damp / mould to mmc.

lucky enough to have fallen pg again very soon but the damp / mould problem is still there. have conacted ll (dps family) at least three times about this since november but nothing has been done. i'm petrified.

i know now in hindsight this was very silly but we havent signed a thing to live in this property not one bit of protection, i darent kick up a fuss as its family and i also dont want to be kicked out.

i know we have to look for something else which we will but not alot comes up where we live in our budget so could be a long wait. someone please reassure me a bit of damp / mould will not harm me or baby. just adding to the fear.

its in an awkward place too which means we will have to move a wardrobe to give it a good clean down and goes from floor to ceiling on one big wall. thats something we will tackle next week when were both off however im assuming it will just build up again straight away.

Do you know, I bet it would be absolutely fine ... but me telling you that isn't going to calm your mind.

There is something else you can do though. Invest in a dehumidifier. You'll pick one up on eBay for around £30 and it'll take all the moisture out of the air and will hopefully control the mould a bit more.

This one gets good reviews and its a really inexpensive way to give you a wee bit of piece of mind!

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/500ml-Dehumidifier-Compact-Portable-Air-Home-Bedroom-Kitchen-Bathroom-Car-/311249803426?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4877ef18a2

did that cure the problem? yes i think we could re-arrange the room so the wardrobe and drawers are elsewhere. these are the ones that are near the external wall.

the mould stuff you used, was it just the spray stuff you find down the cleaning aisle in the supermarket? we have invested in some of that. i think next week when we are off we will re-arrange the room clean it all down then use the spray see if it gets any better.

think i recognise you from the pregnant after mc thread. thank you for making me feel a little better. feel like im sinking today.

thanks impatience my friend kindly borrowed us a dehumidifier. we both work all day and because of what we were told about how much electricity it uses we dont put it on whilst at work and in the night it makes a huge noise when it picks moisture up so we cant have it on then either.

i think we have a combined problem of an old place that gets damp and a dodgey window that gets covered in condensation constantly. the minute we open the curtains the nets hit the glass and then the condensation runs off the window onto the sill then onto the carpet. its a nitemare.

That one switches itself off when full I think and is only v small but I hear what you're saying about electricity.

I genuinely don't think it will be harming you.

Honest
x

thanks for that impatient I am going to read some reviews on it. the dehumidifier my friend borrowed us is antique, in wooden casing. maybe something more modern would work and help through the night which is when the window problem is certainly at its worst.

I keep hearing the word spors and thinking oh no we must be getting them. I am now sleeping with bedroom door open and trying to leave curtains closed all the time to stop the condensation building on the window although that doesn't seem to help.

The modern humidifiers use very little electricity 2p an hour or so. They are also much quieter now. They really will help. You also need to make sure that you're airing the house, windows open as much as possible so the moist air can escape.

we open the bathroom window and kitchen window when we can although it is hard in this weather. the bedroom is freezing constantly even with heating on so always reluctant to open that window plus need to climb on a ladder or onto the window sill to open which I wont be doing now I am pregnant.

I have ordered one of those dehumidifiers, the reviews on amazon say quiet so will be able to have it on through the night and they have good reviews too. thank you so much for the suggestion. can finally get rid of the antique number that is taking up half the bedroom at the minute now too. thank you so much I already feel tonnes better.

I am very sympathetic - we lived in a flat with this problem while I was pregnant with dc1 and I was really frightened it was going to cause a miscarriage. Do use the electric dehumidifier as much as you possibly can - it makes a huge difference. My ex still lives in that flat and no longer uses the dehumidifier and the black mould is back with a vengeance. You can also get little egg shaped non-electric dehumidifiers, they won't be nearly as effective I shouldn't think but you can put a couple on the windowsills and it will help a bit. I would probably take the net curtains down as well so at least they're not dribbling water all over the floor. And yes like Britbird said get it airing - with windows open and the dehumidifier running you should notice a big difference.

im so glad I posted here, it is such a simple suggestion but taking the nets down didn't even cross my mind. actually saying that I don't think we could, it is a street house split into flats and there is about 3foot distance between the busy public footpath and our bedroom window. might be asking for trouble.

if we were staying longer I would consider buying vertical blinds but as it is tiny and we're going to have a little one with lots of stuff before the year is out we're going to have to move anyway. might be worth a mention to the landlord if I dare.

we have the dehumidifier tub with the little crystals in but they don't really do a thing.

Ahh good, and best of luck with it all.

You'll be fine.

True dat x

thank you if I remember I will updated with how we got on next week and if it stays away.

I put off buying anything pricey this far as thought it was landlords responsibility but now baby is on the way I didn't even debate it, can see this one being spoilt

I don't know it's exact name but there is an anti mold kit you can buy which is a 2 or 3 step system; first you clean off the existing mold then use the second part to coat the wall so mould doesn't come back. I saw it on one of those Sarah Beeny rescue my house type programme. Think the actual kit was about £50-£100 but it really sorts the problem rather than just temporarily removing the mold.
Sorry I really can't remember the name, could try googling or looking on the Sarah Beeny website? Good luck

I am 19 weeks pregnant and we also have a damp/mould problem in our rented house which we told LL about in November and nothing has been done! I'm not worried about the pregnancy but will be moving before the baby is born as I don't want a newborn being brought up in a damp house.

I'm sure it's absolutely fine. I know it must be hard to separate the 2 things in your mind. Second (third?) the advice of a dehumidifier.

thanks everyone. ill mention the mould treatment thing to landlord im not happy to spend that sort of money really when not our property and we will have to move before baby comes as flat so small no room for baby things no even anywhere to keep a pram.

thank you everyone really appreciate help and i know really be ok but you know when its just there in the back of ur mind.

We find hoovering off the condensation from the windows with a window vac helpful too - then you can pour some of the wetness straight down the sink rather than waiting for the dehumidifier to get it.

It's a very useful thing to have with a toddler too for sucking up spills!

we do have a window vac and try to do it as often as we can / when we remember. easily take off half to 3/4 full of water just seems like so much.

ill probs b steering clear of this task too now pg i am fully in protection mode after last time. dp can do it when he has time though.

just an update. got our mini dehumidifier which i so quiet we can leave it on all night yeyyy! not convinced that will solve the problem, only collecting about a cm of water.

dp and dm moved all the furniture from the outside walls and we have had a deep clean of the walls with ronseal mould killer and my dms steamer. blasted the dehumidifier on all day to try and dry walls and window out.

my dm was outraged i dont think anyone had realised how bad it was from my whingeing! her and dp are now in you have to move mode which is good as we have to anyway for baby and id rather it be sooner than later. dm even said we may have to move home as its so bad!

I've just read your update. Try not to worry about the damp and the mc.
I hope the dehumidifier has worked. I ha a very damp flat at one point an the dehumidifier helped a lot!
I hope you can move soon and huge congratulations on your pregnancy

Those mini dehumidifers are not big enough for large very damp spaces. For a flat that is damp throughout you need a full size dehumidifer that collects 10-20 litres a day. I have a full size one and our house isn't damp but we dry the washing indoors so use the dehumidifer to prevent damp and mould and we can easily collect 10 litres a day on humid days. We also used it in our previous new build damp free house and it collected many litres every Day.
Are you drying washing indoors? If you are then that will be contributing to the damp and mould enormously.

And the flat will be much warmer if you can get the moisture out of the air. It is very hard to heat damp rooms.

its only the bedroom that is damp everywhere else is fine and we have a condenser dryer so no clothes drying on radiators.

we do have a huge dehumidifier borrowed from a friend but its too loud to have on through the night so the smaller one is perfect for that. the smaller one is getting nowhere near full either.

i think in our case its an old house that needs proper treatment and a dodgey window. ll told us before we moved in yhe other 3 windows in the flat were new.

thank you. jus waiting it out for something suitable we can afford.

Could you leave the big dehumidifier on when you are out at work? They really aren't that expensive to run and getting the moisture out of the air will save you money on heating costs so it will pay for itself. The little dehumidifiers are really only useful for damp cupboard areas (sort of larder sized spaces). It is awful living with damp, my first house was damp and we didn't know about dehumidifers back then. It didn't cause any problems through my pregnancy that I had living there but it did affect the baby's chest when he arrived. Obviously you will have moved to somewhere bigger by the time baby arrives so you don't have to worry about that.
Hopefully it will get sorted now with the measure you have put into place.

We just had to have the outside wall of DS's room lined with insulating plasterboard (has an inch of polystyrene on the inside) which has made the wall feel much warmer, so the condensation doesn't happen. We also painted the new plaster with two coats of anti-mould paint. It's made a massive difference (as has a new window) and I am now considering having the next room along done to match once we've saved up the cash. We also have a dehumidifer running every day and it takes about 2 litres out, though we don't run overnight because of where it is.

I also try to take a sponge to the windows each morning to mop up the bulk of the water. How much is there is vastly dependent on whether the window is an old one or a new one. I think the old ones have lost their vacuum between the glazing panels so conduct the (lack of) heat much better. Our bedroom is awful (so we have the dehumid in there) as we have two people breathing out warm damp air all night!

Don't worry about the mould - our house was terrible when I was pg and I was told the fumes from the bleach to kill it was much worse! You'll be fine.