Bloody Damp!!!

[Brunettelady]

We moved into our house a year ago. It was only built in 1989 so its not old yet we seem to be having a problem with mould. We had this in our rented flats and this was always why we moved. I hate it. Our last flat was so bad it was in most of our furniture, some of my clothes, shoes, bags and we have had to throw so much away (we were only in this flat for 7 months).

I think some of the damp has come off the furniture and gone onto the walls but there are other areas, one particular side of the house that gets mould growing. We don't have any previously moulding stuff where it is growing. Does nayone have any ideas what to do and would a full survey (we were advised that we didn't need a full survey) have shown any of this up. Also the house was empty a year before we took it. Would this have anything to do with it?

The fact that the house was empty will not be helping. You need to clean all the areas, furniture etc with a mild bleach solution to kill the spores. Then you need to heat your house consistently for a good few months (not nice for the bills I know but you have to do it) and air all your rooms every day, try to open the window for about half an hour in the mornings. Wipe all condensation off the windows each morning, open the bathroom window as soon as you have showered and leave open until the bathroom has dried. Smilarly if boiling anything open the kitchen window to avoid condensation.

Hopefully the adequate heating and airing will sort the problem out in a few months. If it doesn't then you may have a more deep rooted problem that wil need damp proofing or something. If it does sort the problem then just airing a few mins a day and making sure you keep the bathroom aired after showering should prevent it from coming back.

Do you always open your windows every day?

Damp is caused, usually, about there not being enough air circulation around the outside walls. Certainly when we've placed shelves too close to the external walls it's happened. Also drying clothes inside etc makes it worse.

Thanks Indith. Definately going to try that (ouch to the bills though .

Cargirl,We do open the windows. Unfortunately we have to dry the clothes indoors in the winter but we do that in the kitchen, with the door shut and a dehumidifier on. This is the only room that isn't affected!