Help with my mouldy bathroom

[MouldyFears5]

No extraction fan, so it has been deteriorating slowly over the last 10 years. We are finally ready to move forward with renovation but I am so worried that we have left it too late and it will be a big job to fix. The wallpaper has started to peel around the windows, I pulled on it earlier and it's horrifyingly mouldy underneath. I have attached a picture.

Do I need to get mould specialists in before renovating or is it still within the realm of what a bathroom installer can deal with?

Thank you!

Make sure you’re properly ventilating the room every day when it’s finished to prevent recurrence. Black rock mould spray works wonders, it’s incredibly strong and would probably work wonders.

Get a dehumidifier today. Start using it. Do you have a squeegee or a chamois to wipe everything down as you get out of the shower? You need one of them, too. You want to stop water sitting around to keep the environment damp.

Pull off all the paper.

With sugar soap, water and a big sponge, scrub it all down. Remove as much as you can. Replace the bucket of water if you need to as you go.

Dry with the dehumidifier and see what you have.

Wash down well with cheap white vinegar or methylated spirits and leave it on. Vinegar and alcohol are mould killers. Bleach isn’t. Queensland housewives with a flood coming stock up on vinegar, not bleach.

After all that, and with the dehumidifier running regularly and being emptied regularly, you need to wait and see what happens.

If it won’t dry out properly and mould keeps returning, budget for removal and replacement. Do not paper or tile over it.

I think you can get on top of this as long as the plaster isn't blown. I would strip the wallpaper first so you can see how bad it is.

It needs a good scrub and ventilation.

We've got a little in our main bathroom caused by a useless extractor fan. We had some on our bedrooms and after scrubbing what worked well was having the trickle vents open.

Wear a mask when you do it to protects you from the mould spores.

If you can afford it, look into a ventilation system. We live in Cornwall where its damp in most places and had one fitted and it changed out whole house. You need to open the door or windows at least once a day, but you should be doing this anyway. They aren't cheap, think we paid about £1500 and we bought new filters every few years, but it will fix damp in your house in a big way.

If you can't afford that, open the windows as much as possible, but don't leave them open. You open them for short bursts. Look into how condensation works and it should make sense how to properly ventilate your house, leaving the windows open all the time isn't good because that causes damp. Short bursts of a lot of ventilation is best.

Get an extractor fan(s) fitted. Small ones only consume around 5 Watts so you can run them 24/7.

My extractor fan is ineffectual. I've got a humidistat and leave the window wide open and bathroom door shut until humidity goes down to starting levels. If it's raining outside then I just leave the window open about 10 centimetres. Bathroom is 9 years old and I've never had to wipe any mould away from grouting or anywhere. I've got a large towel radiator with a high btu, which comes on when the water and heating is on so keeps the bathroom warm.

It can be cleaned and redecorated

But it will only get worse until you fix the cause

"No extraction fan"

So fix that first,

I strongly recommend having it wired to come on with the light switch and have an overrun timer.

The best ones are practically inaudible.

Running costs of electricity are negligible.

this is perfect advice!

get a karcher window vac.

you need extraction. I moved house to a house with inline extraction and it is unbeatable.

I'd also get the wallpaper off where it's peeling and then tackle the mold.

We don't have an extractor in our bathroom either but we do have the windows open nearly all the time, the get closed completly on extremely cold nights, when it's very windy or if one of us is having a bath (as who wants cold air around them in the bath!). After showers we open the windows wider for a bit to let the steam out and on very damp days where it feels like more moisture is coming in we run the dehumidifier on the landing. Apart from a tiny spot of mildew every now and then on the ceiling there is no mold.