Panorama - damp/mould

[Harry Bloomfield]

Yet another program on damp, mouldy homes. One a young couple, in a council flat, the other on old couple, in a private rented home.

The old couple's home was in a terrace, with a flat roof, managed and eventually traced to the ownership of a billionaire. It was genuinely wet through, the flat roof obviously let rain in, both had serious health issues, and were unable to get the management to carry out adequate repairs. That couple really had my sympathy, they had a genuine problem, not of their making.

The young couple, had the council out once, tackling the mould, treating it, redecorating, but it had returned. Why it had returned was fairly obvious. the place was rammed with bags of clothes in plastic bags, against outside walls, far too much stuff in the place, plus no doubt, they would be generating lots of moisture in the place, drying clothes, and cooking. The council had obligingly offered to treat the mould again, and redecorate, proving they would put some of their possession into temporary storage. They seemed unwilling.

 

[mattylad]

Thats the problem these days, too many young un's unwilling to help themselves, too lazy to get off their fat ass and do something psitive about the problem.
They just want to carry on drying their wet clothes on the radiator and to heck with their kids asthma - they can blame someone else for that.

 

[noseall]

Thats the problem these days, too many young un's unwilling to help themselves, too lazy to get off their fat ass and do something psitive about the problem.
They just want to carry on drying their wet clothes on the radiator and to heck with their kids asthma - they can blame someone else for that.

and breathing, the bastards!

 

[noseall]

Yet another program on damp, mouldy homes. One a young couple, in a council flat, the other on old couple, in a private rented home.

The old couple's home was in a terrace, with a flat roof, managed and eventually traced to the ownership of a billionaire. It was genuinely wet through, the flat roof obviously let rain in, both had serious health issues, and were unable to get the management to carry out adequate repairs. That couple really had my sympathy, they had a genuine problem, not of their making.

The young couple, had the council out once, tackling the mould, treating it, redecorating, but it had returned. Why it had returned was fairly obvious. the place was rammed with bags of clothes in plastic bags, against outside walls, far too much stuff in the place, plus no doubt, they would be generating lots of moisture in the place, drying clothes, and cooking. The council had obligingly offered to treat the mould again, and redecorate, proving they would put some of their possession into temporary storage. They seemed unwilling.

Imagine the horror, cooking and breathing. They should be ashamed.

 

[robinbanks]

Like anything in life there are a set of parameters within which everything operates well, and there are patterns of behaviour that step outside them. Perhaps they breathe too much for the building fabric to cope with; a sleeping person can't breathe less so the fabric needs changing. Perhaps they cook without the extractor on or load radiators with washing, and those habits need to change, or the building be upgraded again to cope with that.

Goalposts need to be moved

 

[Murdochcat]

Humans exhale moisture, washing creates lots of moisture, drying clothes creates moisture, cooking creates moisture

You must have ventilation to allow the moisture to leave the property.

Why do people not understand this?

It’s so basic

 

[Mottie]

Humans exhale moisture, washing creates lots of moisture, drying clothes creates moisture, cooking creates moisture

You must have ventilation to allow the moisture to leave the property.

Why do people not understand this?

It’s so basic

A friend of ours has two flats that she lets out. She had rented them out for over 25 years. She says the one thing in common with all her tenants past and present is that they never open the bloody windows.

Did you see the piles of clothes and crap in those houses? When our son was living at home, his clothes would pile up in one corner of the room. One day Mrs Mottie did a deep clean on his room, moved the pile and….mould!

This is the corner of our back (unused) bedroom.

If Mrs Mottie does not move those curtains, pull the bedside cabinet out and open the window every few months, mould will build up. A couple of times a week, Mrs Mottie regularly opens all the windows for at least half an hour to air the place.

I can guarantee if you moved those people out of those houses and into mould free homes, within 6 months the new houses would be alive with mould. As long as there are no leaks in roofs or pipes, the lifestyles of renters that are the problem. How old are those houses? 20, 30, 40 years? Were they mouldy when they moved into them? No, they f'cking weren’t so it’s obvious where the problem is!

 

[diy_fun_uk]

I'll tell my usual story.

Flat I've rented out for years.
First few years, no issues reported by tenants re damp/mould.
Young couple moved in, nice enough people.
Reported issue to me re damp/mould in bathroom and slightly in kitchen.
I deciphered they were showering and cooking without opening windows.
Gave them a sheet of A4 with guidance re how to keep on top of the issue.
Guy thanked me x weeks later and said they were managing to keep on top of it by venting, wiping surfaces down etc.
In the x years since they've moved out, no other tenant has raised any issues.

But hey, don't blame the people living there, it's always the fault of the building itself and/or the landlord

Obviously there are sometimes scenarios where the building and/or landlord is at fault, however many of the media/tv reports on this really annoy me cause you don't know how the tenant is living day to day.

 

[Odds]

A friend of ours has two flats that she lets out. She had rented them out for over 25 years. She says the one thing in common with all her tenants past and present is that they never open the bloody windows.

Did you see the piles of clothes and crap in those houses? When our son was living at home, his clothes would pile up in one corner of the room. One day Mrs Mottie did a deep clean on his room, moved tge pike and….mould!

This is the corner of our back (unused) bedroom.

View attachment 372631

If Mrs Mottie does not move those curtains, pull the bedside cabinet out and open the window every few months, mould will build up. A couple of times a week, Mrs Mottie regularly opens all the windows for at least half an hour to air the place.

I can guarantee if you moved those people out of those houses and into mould free homes, within 6 months the new houses would be alive with mould. As long as there are no leaks in roofs or pipes, the lifestyles of renters that are the problem. How old are those houses? 20, 30, 40 years? Were they mouldy when they moved into them? No, they f'cking weren’t so it’s obvious where the problem is!

Shorter curtains would help and a corner cabinet might make it easier to pull out and keep clean. Another thread about rising damp has several posts pointing out the need for ventilation and keeping an airway around the area.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Obviously there are sometimes scenarios where the building and/or landlord is at fault, however many of the media/tv reports on this really annoy me cause you don't know how the tenant is living day to day.

That is exactly right, and where such programs out to make clear the difference, between self-inflicted, and a building damp. In the process, they might help educate some tenants, rather than lumping all causes as one, the building. It rarely is.

We never open windows in the cold of winter, rather we rely on extraction and minimising generation of moisture in the house. Bathroom automatic extract, never, ever drying clothes in the house, and lids when cooking, plus an extract hood, no piles of clothes anywhere. We have no damp at all, apart from a tiny area of rising damp, awaiting a roundtuit.

 

[Jurassicspark]

That's great to know that some landlords visit their rental properties every once in a while. I know a few blokes who haven't entered into their rental property for nearly a year.

EWI was installed in one of my neighbour's rental properties (under the government grant), yet the landlord didn't bother to have a look at the property.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

EWI

?

 

[denso13]

External wall insulation.

 

[diy_fun_uk]

That's great to know that some landlords visit their rental properties every once in a while. I know a few blokes who haven't entered into their rental property for nearly a year.

EWI was installed in one of my neighbour's rental properties (under the government grant), yet the landlord didn't bother to have a look at the property.

Wind your neck in. LLs often have issues gaining entry for regular checks and, because things are heavily slanted in favour of tenants, LLs can't enter without their permission.

Yes there will be LLs who don't bother, that's not reflective of the majority.

 

[Stivino]

They spoke about this yesterday on The Jeremy Vine Show, Tina Daheley was standing in for him.
A painter and decorator phoned in to say that he encounters dampness all the time, and that 90% of the time, the tenant is renting the property.
I rent a flat, I use an agency to look after the admin. Last year during the six monthly check, they reported dampness in one of the back (north facing) bedrooms. There was a photo of the dampness, but also in the photo there was a clothes horse covered in drying clothes.
I asked the agency to letter him reminding him of his responsibilities and to tell him to cease and desist.
On the latest check up, again dampness was reported, and again there was a photo of the dampness, and again, there was clothes being dried in the room.
I was in full agreement with the painter and decorator who called the Jeremy Vine show.
I feel like I'm p¡ss¡ng into the wind.