Black mould in flat

[chessington]

My daughter's flat has mould and it travels up the inside of all the flats in her block, they have tried various things to get rid of it like bleach and mould treatments but it always returns!! any ideas, thanks in advance

[daffy654]

Leave the windows open as much as possible to stop condensation forming on the walls.
Is the flat rented? If so she needs to get the landlord to sort the problem out.

[Marijn]

This is happening in my son's flat. I'll be interested to see what answers you get. They have the windows open a crack, they put the extractor fans on when using the bathroom and kitchen. They use the de-humidifier too. They also use bleach and anti-mould paints. But they still have mould. The landlord hasn't done anything about it yet, but he has been told.

[firewatch]

get enviromental health in if she is renting then the landlord should do something. Have they had there ground floor/basement checked for it damp proof coursing??

[gingejbee]

Since it affects all the flats, it sounds like a major damp problem that won't be improved by better ventilation etc. Think the environmental health people might be interested.

[missprim]

My friends son lives in a place with mould.It was reported to the Housing Association who dragged their feet and did nothing so my friend phoned her local councillor and now the work is to be carried out.

[The Builder]

Usual thing, Chess, heating and ventilation. Communal buildings are notorious for this. Often no heating in the common parts (stairwells etc).
Try and treat the causes rather than the symptoms if you can. Causes are mostly cooking,showering, clothes drying etc.
Extractor over the shower........ over the cooker........... and use a tumble dryer if possible.
After that, it's just a balance between heating levels, ventilation, and reducing water vapour.
If you can't get rid of all the mould, then use stain blocker paint and mould-inhibiting paint for the walls.
With our climate, I'm afraid heating levels need to be higher than most people realise......... in order for some to be "lost" through ventilation. Otherwise we're into expensive ventilation systems and heat recovery :o(

[Mosaic]

It's two issues really - firstly if the humidity is around 80% (as I'm reliably informed by ABers!) then mould will grow. The colder air is, the less moisture it will hold - so it dumps excess water on cool surfaces like outside walls, providing a little garden for mould to grow. If you allow lots of ventilation this has a drying effect, as does keeping the flat warm.
The second issue is the one of responsibility - the landlord should sort this out and in the meantime put extractor fans with humidistats into all their properties that are affected by mould. From what you describe, you could expect extractor fans to run day and night for a while to dry things out.

[The Builder]

That's another good point by Ginge .......... the exterior walls may be solid, uninsulated masonry.......... but that's another story :o)

[Khandro]

How is the flat heated? Is washing dried internally? Is there an extractor fan over the cooker? The problem is mosy usually warm damp air against a cold external wall.

[birdie73]

I live in a private bungalow moved here in March 2011 & have a problem with mould in the bathroom, have had an extractor fan fitted, always leave window open for an hour or so in the mornings & use 2 small dehumidifiers one on windowsill & one near the cistern. It only occurs in the bathroom can you help please The Builder. My brother cleans it down for me on his visits as I can't reach it myself.

[droopydrawers]

We has a similar problem when we moved here 5 years ago.
Two years ago we had cavity wall insulation done and used a [good size ] Dehumidifier all last year, noticing we had saved on heating and a fair bit drier. This winter we have had no mold and only used the dehumidifier a couple of times. It seems to have taken a winter to dry out where it had been damp previously. Were in a downstairs apartment in a two story block.
Its horrid seeing it as well as knowing the mold spores can damage your health. I hope you can find a cure.

DD

[chessington]

Thank you to all of you, unfortunately the flat is owned by my daughter, it is in a block which some are council. She has a vent axia in the bathroom and kitchen, leaves the windows open a lot etc, they also want to sell

[chessington]

Also it is central heated, they use a tumble dryer in the kitchen, also it is double glazed, although the glazing is misty inside (between panes) so there is a leak there.

[theshedman]

Hi, as others have said ventilation and heating are the main things but you haven't said which rooms you have the mould in.

[chessington]

the mould is in the bathroom and living area and hall, it is a studio flat with an internal staircase and hall, the living area is big and it is on the wall which the stairs are the other side of.
They have had the bathroom re decorated last year and tiles are where the mould was, so hoping it doesn't come through the grout or anything.

[theshedman]

In the bathroom I would use something like Dettox Mould and Mildew remover first and you may need to use it more than once. After this use a stain block if the marks still remain or you could use a mixture of oil based gloss and undercoat about 50 -50 and it will do the same thing and this will seal the wall or ceiling. Then use a proper bathroom emulsion on walls and ceiling. This helps keep down the mould. On the other rooms a mould inhibiting paint could be used as The Builder says, after killing the mould with Dettox. The only problem I ever found with these paints was that they didn't come in many colours. How is the tumble drier vented as this could contribute to the moisture in the air and as you say the double glazing isn't working properly either if you have moisture between the panes. You must make sure that you have killed off the mould first though because it will continue to grow under any finish that you may put on top of it.

[The Builder]

As I mentioned earlier, this is a huge problem in this country. First off, I'd advise anybody to print off Shedman's post for future reference. It's everything you need to know on the decorating side :o))

Plenty of other countries have similar climates to ours, but they often have a rather different attitude to heating. Maybe they're lucky, and energy costs are lower, but it's more than that. This mild autumn/winter, I've seen so many posts on how folks have managed to delay the annual heating turn-on.
I can understand their joy, but we do have a rather "puritan hairshirt" attitude towards creature comforts here. Heating is not there just to keep US warm. What's forgotten is that heating & ventilation are also essential to keep the fabric of the building in good condition.
In the cases of Chess, Droopy, and Birdie, one would need to know the construction details of their buildings to be sure, but I'll hazard a guess that the insulation levels are nowhere near those that we build into houses today.

Of course I can understand completely the notion of de-humidifiers saving on heating, but ............ I honestly think it's the wrong way of looking at it. De-humids simply deal with the symptoms......... not the causes. In an ideal world, buildings would be kept at a constant temp. 24/7. We can't afford that with older properties. Gentle background heating as late into the night as possible......... as as early in the morning as you can, helps a lot.

My own personal little rant is that I wish people could spend as much care on their insulation/heating/vapour extraction as they do on their cars and their clothes.............. but then, I'm not into cars, and I dress like a builder ;o)

[chessington]

Thank you The builder and theshedman for the brilliant advice, I will pass it all on to my daughter.

[theshedman]

Thanks for that The Builder. I always think it's better to sort the cause of the problem out first the same as you. I remember my son moved into a flat a few years ago and at first sight it looked fine but then after a couple of months the mould started to come through. They had painted over some mould and wallpapered over other rooms with mould still on walls not killed it off first and it just grew under the paint and wallpaper. Prepare properly and you only need to decorate once, but if you do half a job you will just keep on doing it.