The mystery of the rooms that make us feel ill.

[WynkenBlynkenandNod]

This is driving me mad so if anyone can shed some light on what's going on I will be forever grateful. Last year so changed the layout of upstairs taking out and putting in partitioning. The DC's new rooms were created by splitting our room and a small room off it.

DD has always been fine but DS was quite unwell from the first night he was in his room - dizziness, joint pain, stomach ache, very lethargic. Took us a bit of time to make the connection but when we did we moved him back out. Aired the room thoroughly as thought it was the chemicals in new carpet. He went back after a few weeks and seemed ok.

A few months go he wasn't very well again. Pale, lacking in energy, saying he hated the world and flying into terrible rages. One night he said he wanted to sleep downstairs again and he hasn't slept back up there since. He's much improved and like his old self again.

We moved my office in there but very soon I found myself feeling unwell in there - burning throat, headaches, feeling anxious, heart rate slightly increases. We thought it might be mould as I've reacted to that in path and have chucked loads out, no difference. Both DS and I found we react in DD's room as well so thought it could be the carpet and have taken it out of DS's old room. Aired for a week, various air filters, ionizers etc running and I went to try it today. 10 mins and I had to come out, my throat is still funny. I'm fine in my room which is the other end of the landing and all of downstairs is fine.

The boiler has been checked as is underneath, no gas leak or CO. It's just me and DS, DH and DD are fine and everyone ls who has visited. Sorry to go on for so long, just wanted to give the whole picture. Does anyone have any ideas what it could be?

I'm pretty sure it's the mould now. DH has ordered a face mask etc and is going to pull the rest of the floorboards up at the weekend and see whether it's an isolated patch or more widespread and that there isn't any dry rot lurking. And there's the issue of DD's room which makes DS and I both feel ill.

The carpet in both will need to go and it's only a year old. My SIL was saying about getting vents fitted in the wall to improve circulation so we'll look at that but need to establish what's gone on. The only patch so far seems to be where the electrician had been working but I'm not 100 % sure I can't see a bit lurking on the joists from the photos DH took.

Thought it was worth a call to the insurance company yesterday, mould under the boards isn't insured. It's going to be yet another weekend spent sorting the rooms but at least this time we do seem to be getting to the bottom of it.

I too was going to say you need air bricks fitted at under floor board level.

have you bought any mdf or particleboard furniture? or mdf or particleboard headboard/doors/partitions? We recently got some furniture that made both my ds and myself ill - immediate headaches and sore throat. i did a lot of research and found that so many well known furniture stores are selling furniture made in china, where the control over the glues/paint sprays just aren't there. we had weird white powder coming out of the furniture. I also read stick tubs of bicarbonate of soda around the house and those 'spider' plants, both of which absorb toxins.

oopsie - just realised there were two more pages and fired off a reply to you after only reading the first !! sorry !! glad you found the cause. i did read a lot of interesting facts about plants 'cleaning' the air, so you might be able to find one for mould ...

Did you do anything with the wiring? Wiring mistakes can create electro magnetic fields. I've read that some people can be sensitive to these. Also, is where he sleeps now closer to any wireless stuff - home hub/base station etc. I honestly don't know if I believe in that stuff being able to effect health, but I think it's marginally plausible that some people may be more sensitive to them than others. Carbon monoxide can be detected easily with an alarm. Good luck. How awful for you x x

Sorry - i've just done the same as Surrey. Glad you found the cause xx

Thanks for all your help. Smalltown, that is very useful info. The insurance company are writing to confirm why it isn't covered, I want to have a look and see what they say when putting it on paper.

Someone is coming on Monday to cut the floorboards as DH hasn't got the right tools and will take ages. Plan is to get boards up and see extent of mould. So far it's just one patch and we think it's where the electrician was working during the rewire and possibly spilt something whilst the boards were up. If so that's accidental damage as far as I'm concerned and should be covered under insurance.

DS is fine now he's sleeping downstairs and back to his normal self as long as he doesn't go in the room of doom as it's known! DD doesn't seem to get the sane reaction to it as DS and I but has been off school a lot this year with every bug around, to be fair though, so have some of her friends. I'm fine as long as I don't go in the rooms, our bedroom is fine thank goodness . DS has decided he doesn't want to move back up when we've sorted the room but that's fine, we've decorated the downstairs bedroom and he can stay there.

We'll see how it goes on Monday and take it from there. I've found the number for Peter Cox in my area and will contact them if it's more widespread than the one bit DH has found. I'm just so relieved to have found it. DS was so miserable whilst sleeping in there that I was beginning to think he was depressed. It's lovely to have the old DS back and a total eye opener about how potent mould can be. This was hidden floorboards ocered with thick underlay and carpet, in a room that looks all new with new plastering etc and isn't damp at all in the room. I would have never thought there could be something under the boards and am hugely grateful to MN - I was all set to stick the house on the Market and try and sell it.