Help! Mould everywhere!

[Mamabear04]

I moved into a house last October and never had any problems apart from some condensation on account of old windows that are doubled glazed but old.

This year I keep finding mould everywhere and the condensation seems so much worse. There's a few things different in that we have a new baby so we've constantly got washing drying and also in the house all the time whereas last year I would be out at work/generally out and about more.

The things that are getting mouldy are wooden objects like an unvarnished dolls house that was under a window of an exterior wall, wax fjallraven backpack that was hanging on a coat hook also on an exterior wall, clothes in the bottom of our chest of drawers but not the upper drawers (in our bedroom).

My question is why is this happening all of a sudden and why is the condensation so bad? We have the heating on for an hour in the morning and then a couple of hours in the evening. We usually have the washing drying in the dining room but the other rooms are just as bad for condensation. I try to leave the windows ajar when we go out in the morning but it doesn't seem to help with anything.

Any suggestions?

And ventilating, by sucking air out of the house and sending it up the chimney.

Having wet washing hanging up inside is causing the condensation and mould. More ventilation and more heating needed but as long as you drape room with wet laundry you will have condensation and mould. Dehumidifier or tumble dry laundry. Cheaper than dealing withould.

No, it’s quite true because my home isn’t as warm as the Sahara desert vs outside Manchester. There’s only a 10C difference between inside and out right now, in the daytime this difference is less than 5C. So relative humidity is of nominal impact.

Obviously don't mix white vinegar and bleach together do it at different times! I didn't think I needed to point out the obvious. 😂

Good luck op.

White vinegar is better than bleach for cleaning it - absorbs better into porous surfaces particularly, kills it and without the toxic fumes. We have also purchased a dehumidifier as having windows open for ventilation doesn’t really help when the humidity is high outside too.

i have an old house and it starts to feel cold and damp easily. Woodstove makes a big difference not just to room it’s in but takes that damp feeling out the other rooms even if they are still cold ( we keep doors open)

If things are going mouldy in drawers you must have very high humidity. I think you're going to have to keep the heating on for longer every day. Mould spores in the lungs of a baby is no good. Definitely get a dehumidifier but ultimately you're going to have to heat the house more.

Some houses are better ventilated than others.

It can also vary between rooms due to the direction they face.

plug in dehumidifier. Especially in the laundry room (you're bringing the water in).

We used to have this problem after researching about mould problem online, you need to 1) reduce the amount of moisture generated indoors and 2) keep the house warmer.

You generate moisture just by breathing. Having any laundry drying indoors is a big no no. Unless you are using a tumble dryer or dehumidifier. Or you are leaving a window open with the laundry in that room. Otherwise the moisture has no where to go. This is the same for showers and baths in bathroom, and cooking in the kitchen.

Warmer air can hold more moisture so you need to heat the house. This is only useful if you are not drying clothes indoors and open your windows in the bathroom and after cooking in the kitchen.

Basically, to keep a house dry cost £££. You need to tumble dry or run a dehumidifier when you can't line dry. You should to run your bathroom extractor and open windows. You should to have an external extractor hood in the kitchen or open windows.

Google and you'll find reliable sources of this. For example like the page from the oxford city council www.oxford.gov.uk/info/20271/guidance_for_private_tenants/1129/preventing_damp_and_mould

I'm assuming you don't have a leak. Otherwise, you'll know that is the cause of your problem.

Buy a dehumidifier then choose a small room, preferably south or west room, to dry your washing in with it on.

Don’t use candles either. Produces a lot of water vapour.

You need to air while your air is warm, as PigletJohn says. So best to heat your house in the morning until you go out and then just before you leave open all windows on opposite sides of the house and all interconnecting doors to get the warm air out that holds your water vapour, just for 10/15 minutes, then close all windows again, then put heating back on for 1 hour so that it doesn't cool out too much. When you come home, turn on heating, after 1 hour or 2 hours turn off heating and do the whole cross ventilating again, maybe for 10/15 minutes, depends how big your house is. Then heating on for 1 more hour until you are in bed. Move all furniture at least a 20cm away from walls/floors so that air can circulate, don't fill drawers completely. You can put little moisture collector bags into them. Get a heat pump dryer, it's the cheapest way to heat clothes, it's cheaper than a dehumidifier, better for the planet and so much better for your health and the structural integrity of your house. Instead of an electric dehumidifier get Unibonds non electric dehumidifiers, put at least 1 in every room. HG mould spray is by far the best to get rid of existing mould. Don't ever mix bleach and vinegar. Get a window vac and vacuum off condensation from windows/tiled walls in the morning and after each shower/bath and dry off with a dry cloth. Consider moving to Spain or somewhere warm as living in Britain on a cold wet island is just miserable, especially with those heating and electricity costs 😂

Do they ? Damn.

Apparently they do and I love my candles in the winter! Also house plants can contribute to moisture it the atmosphere. I must have more than 20 dotted around my house, mostly cacti/succulents. Maybe I should just sit in a room with a dehumidifier for company!

Does a heat pump dryer need to be attached to a vent in the wall like a regular tumble dryer? How does the moisture escape? I’m seriously thinking of upgrading my small tumble dryer that has a vent tube that I stick out of the kitchen door when it’s on. It’s a case of whether I can’t fit into my kitchen with its current set up.

No. It collects the water in an internal pot which you take out to empty. Some have a drain hose. They are expensive to buy but cheap to run, so worthwhile if you do lots of drying with full-price electricity.

From what I see, they are less reliable than simpler dryers, so get one with an extended warranty.

OOI I use a simple vented dryer, having bored a hole through the wall for the vent. Was cheap to buy, and hardly anything in it to go wrong. A plumber or builder can make the hole (it uses a very large and heavy drill). I don't know the current cost. Maybe around £100?

If you are big and strong you can hire one, and do a dryer vent, a cooker hood, and a bathroom fan hole in half a day. It is not safe to work off a ladder.

Agree I'd not mix up my own stuff. I have used the dettol stuff, only had to use it once, end of problem (though we also sorted out the source of the damp of course).

We have a heat pump dryer, they cost about 1/3 of the cost of a standard dryer per dry but take 3x as long

The long term solution is to put in a PIV system.
www.nuaire.co.uk/residential/positive-input-ventilation

going to cost £1000+ Unless you are able to fit it yourself but will solve the problem forever.

Any form of ventilation will do. It need not be expensive.

Is it safe to remove mould yourself? We have it behind wardrobes in a house we just bought, and was thinking we might have to get a specialist company in? If it's safe and we can save a lot of money (looks like they would be nearly £1k) we'd be better off trying to remove it ourself

Yes.

But how will you cure the damp that caused it?