Would this be reasonable ? Black mould .

[Elasticatedwaist]

The house we are buying has been unoccupied for 12 months. It’s damp with black mould inside.
The independent damp specialist has been and recommended that it needs ventilation, airing , cleaning and some sort of dehumidifier in the loft. There’s no rising damp or penetrating damp.

Are there professionals that would come in and clean it up , get rid of the black mould ?
I’m near Manchester so if anyone can recommend anywhere or give me an idea of cost I’d be glad.
Don’t want to be moving al our stuff into the place in the state it’s in and can’t afford a hotel.

I’d hire an industrial dehumidifier and get yourself a boatload of HG mould killer and crack on- it won’t take long and you’ll be amazed at how the spray works, then ventilate, wash down walls and any carpets- leave the dehumidifier to dry everything out and then move in (then make
Sure you have trickle vents on the windows and maybe buy a meaco or similar dehumidifier unit and make sure everywhere that needs it has ventilation fans etc)

Problem is we won’t have anywhere to live or keep our stuff while we do that. We will have to leave our current house and move in to a mouldy one.
Once contracts are exchanged etc we can’t expect the buyers of ours to wait a day or two while we clean it.. can we ?
Have never moved house before.

Are you having removals? They could store for a couple of days in the lorry. Then you could stay in a hotel and sort it out.

You could ask your seller if you could access the property a couple of days early. They will probably say no but you never know.

Make it a condition of sale that they get it treated beforehand

I think it would have to be ask the seller. Borrowing a van and moving ourselves. Hotel probably a no go with our dog and another cost.

It would be a very unreasonable seller who would object to you going in a couple of days early to clean.

You aren't going to pull out of the sale but if you did they would get a lovely clean house

If you plan on doing it yourself (and I speak from experience of moving into a vicarage which had been empty and damp for years) see if you can get 5L bottles of mould killer and a pressure sprayer backpack (like you’d use for weedkiller) my hand really hurt from spraying the walls in every room with a trigger spray, also you must wear a good mask or ventilator! Good luck, it doesn’t take long and the satisfaction is worth every bit of effort- you’ll be amazed at the colour of the walls when you’re done!

I’d see if the seller will let you clean earlier. If you exchange contracts you’re basically committed so I don’t think it’s unreasonable. You can’t ask your buyer to hang on though. Following completion you no longer own your current house.