2 Air Bricks in 1 Room Bungalow Condensation Mould

[Nicetoseeyoutoseeyounice]

Hi all, my mother in law moved into a bungalow 18 months ago.
Her bed is situated on an outside wall, on the same wall are 2 air bricks, 1 high up with the other directly in line but lower down, about 8” up from skirting.
The floors are all wooden planks, open space about 10” under.
Last winter she noticed one of the pull out drawers on her bed, the closest to the lower air brick, had mouldy green dust in, it wasn’t like this when she moved in.
The drawer was cleaned with bleach in the summer and left outdoors in the roasting hot sun for a day. When it was placed back under the bed the same thing happened, the drawer has since been binned.
Would it be possible to just block the lower air brick as I feel the freezing cold air coming through it is contributing to the dampness, and it right next to the bed, or, would this not do anything. Should she move the bed?
The wall the bed is against gets no sun and so is nearly always cold.
You’re views would be appreciated.
I’ve scoured Google but can’t find an answer.

 

[Alastairreid]

Are the airbricks going thru a cavity or venting an obsolete chimney breast?

 

[^woody^]

Any heating? Is it used?

 

[Nicetoseeyoutoseeyounice]

The air bricks are visible inside and out so I presume these sit across a cavity, (don’t know if I’ve worded that correctly).
There’s is no chimney breast.
There is central heating and it is used.
I felt the skirting behind the bed and although it felt dampish there was no wet on my hand, I think it’s just really cold behind the bed. It’s now off the wall a little to allow air to circulate. The carpet that runs along the wall is bone dry, as is underneath the carpet.
Thank you for your replies.

 

[^woody^]

By all means clingfilm over the vent for a few seasons to see what happens. A lower vent is an outdated concept, but keep the top one open.

I would have a read up on the details of how condensation (and eventual mould) occurs. Its not cold air from vents that is the issue, but warm moist air cooling on cold surfaces. Vents cause air to circulate and keep air from condensing. The glue in the draw chipboard is nice mould food, despite being a relative warm surface

Look at air circulation around the back of furniture and relocating furniture or insulating cold walls. Heating used low and regularly is better than having a blast of heat before bedtime and then again in the morning.

Extract fans for bathroom and kitchen, and actively prevent moisture travelling around the place. That mould in the bedroom may well have the cause (moisture) starting from the other end of the bungalow.

Condensation is down to the person's use of the property most of the time, rather than the property itself. But it may take a change of habits from what she did at the last place.

BTW, when things get mouldy, they can't be cleansed and the spores will always remain. Material which is affected will need to be thrown away, and the local environment changed for it not the reoccur.

Perhaps a different style bed to a divan, so as to deal with the other shortcomings of the room by letting air move more?

 

[Nicetoseeyoutoseeyounice]

Thank you Woody.
We have purchased a new bed for her.
The room is a little awkward for changing position of the bed unless absolutely necessary, the bed with headboard is now off the wall by about 4 inches, hopefully this allows some circulation behind. I have covered the lower air brick, which is very close to the divan base, and will keep check on how things are. I have also put an electric dehumidifier in the room, I’ve said to just use this say for an hour a day and see if it collects anything. The bathroom is next to this bedroom, it has an excellent extractor fan recently fitted, this helps but the fully tiled bathroom dosnt and I’ve told her to close the window or she will go out abandoned forget it’s open, so we are really relying on the extractor. I have told her to keep the bathroom door shut.
Should the bedroom door always remain shut also?
Hopefully I’ve told her correct.
I’m round there a fair bit so will check everything each time I go.