Nasty mould outbreak

Estrella · 3 Feb 2010

Hi Folks,
I have a nasty outbreak of mould in my daughters bedroom, specifically in one corner of the room which has spread onto the back panel of a chest of drawers (see pics).

A bit of background.

The mould was on the wallpaper (now removed) and just on the edge of the carpet.

The chest of drawers in the pics was approx 3 inches away from each wall( both walls are solid stone external and do not have a cavity)

The room has 1 rad and is not used to dry clothes, although the bedroom door is left open and it is possible that moisture laden air is entering the room .

To try and help the situation I opened the vent window approx 1/2 an inch during the day.After discovering the state of the drawers I then shut the bedroom door and window and put a dehumidifier in there. In two 12 hour periods the dehumidifier extracted approx 5 pints of water.

Other than redecoration and replacing the mouldy drawer back panel is there anything else I can do to help the situation ?

Is it a health risk ?

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Estrella
3 Feb 2010
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3 Feb 2010
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Estrella
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JohnD · 3 Feb 2010

damp behind furniture is typical of condensation. ventilation is the cure

But, is there a bathroom adjacent or beneath this room? Have a check for damp on outside of wall e.g. from gutter or pipes.

Is your daughter of an age when she will block ventilation "to keep the cold out"?

If the rest of the house is moist (wet washing, steamy kitchen, no extractor in bathroom) then the moisture will move around the house. It rises upstairs as lighter than air.

//www.diynot.com/wiki/building:condensation_in_houses

Estrella · 3 Feb 2010

JohnD said:
damp behind furniture is typical of condensation. ventilation is the cure

But, is there a bathroom adjacent or beneath this room? Have a check for damp on outside of wall e.g. from gutter or pipes.

Is your daughter of an age when she will block ventilation "to keep the cold out"?

If the rest of the house is moist (wet washing, steamy kitchen, no extractor in bathroom) then the moisture will move around the house. It rises upstairs as lighter than air.

//www.diynot.com/wiki/building:condensation_in_houses[/QUOTE]

Thanks John. There certainly was wet washing being dried in the house, but I have stopped that. The bathroom on the same floor has an extractor but the kitchen doesn't. The only thing immediately beneath is our snug with a solid fuel stove in it.

Daughters are lazy , so don't plug any draughts! Quite the reverse, bedroom doors permanently open which made me wonder if that made it easier for the moisture to enter.

Guttering is leaking little but not near the mouldy area. There are large wardrobes in the same room but they have no mould on them, albeit they are on an internal wall which may make a difference ??

JohnD · 3 Feb 2010

yes, internal walls are usually at room temperature, wheras external walls are usually colder, so prone to condensation.

If you stop the wet washing and ventilate better, it will probably go away. You might make trickle vents, if you have substantial wooden window frames you can drill or slot them and fit a guard against insects and deflect wind.

Estrella · 3 Feb 2010

Thanks again John.

Should I run the dehumidifier until I notice a marked decrease in water volume ?

JohnD · 3 Feb 2010

I've never used a dehumidier myself, but it will be interesteing to see if the room dries out, and how long it takes to get damp again.

wallcoatingsbloke · 5 Feb 2010

If the wall is internal, that looks like rising dampness in the wall.

This would be for several POSSIBLE reasons.........

The DPM or damp proof membrane under the house, if it is built on a concrete base, has failed, allowing moisture to climb up the wall. (requires taking the floor up and looking whats underneath)

or

A burst pipe under the floor, or maybe even an underground water source such a spring, has appeared as can happen from time to time.

Def from your photo looks like it is coming up from the ground.

JohnD · 5 Feb 2010

BoxCleva said:
The only thing immediately beneath is our snug with a solid fuel stove in it.

I interpret this as meaning that the room is not on the ground floor, so I would consider rising damp practically impossible in this situation.

dave1953 · 5 Feb 2010

John D is spot on,it's highly unlikely to be rising damp though a survey would determine this, oh and if this helps,Moulds do not attack wood but feed on the free sugars in the wood cells contained within wallpaper and hardboard etc etc all caused by condensation. As posted ventilation is paramount, de-hudifiers will reduce the Relative Humidity[moisture content] in designated rooms but are only temporary measures.Through and through air brick installment will relieve moisture laden air out of the property and better still a Humidistat extractor fan as supplied by such as safeguardeurope.com which automatically extracts moisture laden air at your desired relative humidity settings is ideal.I have seen and dealt with condensation problems many times,you should be aware that some moulds are considered" toxic" causing various irritations so don't treat mould growth lightly, treated quickly and correctly you can overcome this.

malshep · 7 Feb 2010

Box,
Your 3rd photo really does have that moisture upward look to it. We've established this is an upstairs room but have you considered a leaking water pipe.

Are there any pipes in the area eg:
CW to bathroom, HW to bathroom, CH circuit (radiator to radiator)
A slowly leaking joint could transmit moisture over a substantial area.
Are there any floorboards you can lift and have a shufty (torch, mirror, whatever)

JohnD · 7 Feb 2010

good point

jersey · 14 Feb 2010

JohnD said:
good point

don,t want to hijack your problem but we have the same problem just stripped the paper off now don,t know wot to do can i put anything on the wall before i paper ???

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Nasty mould outbreak

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