Black Mould Problems

[Reb]

Hi all,

first time posting on this forum,

We have a problem with black mould. We own a three bed semi, with double glazing and wooden front and back doors. Our kitchen has black mould on the external walls, next to the kitchen, there's a small entrance hallway with a storage cupboard and the back door. There's black mould on the external wall beside the wooden door frame, in the winter the wooden door sticks (swells?). The internal wall that divides the hallway from the storage cupboard has black mould on its lower section (approximately 12 inches high). The ceiling of the storage cupboard seems to be effected by something and is all black in parts. Our daughters bedroom also has black mould on the external wall but so far it only appears to be her room upstairs thats affected. We did treat the wall in our daughters room with bleach and white vinegar before allowing to try perfectly and redecorating, our daughter has been keeping a small chest of drawers and some toys up against the wall and the mould has returned again. There was a problem with some loose tiles directly above our daughters room at the back of the house and also a couple at the front of the house, these have been professionally replaced (before we redecorated. We have radiator central heating but admittedly we don't use the heating much.

Our living room external wall is suffering from some kind of growth on the external wall, it's making the plaster sort of blister up, turning it powdery?

Is this all just down to lack of heat and ventilation or could it be something worse?
how do we resolve the problems permanently?

I've searched through the forum (took a while, lol) but no one seems to have the same sporadic issues that we do. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

[mointainwalker]

These are classic symptoms. Can't see how it is possible you haven't found advice if you have looked.

At the bottom of the page is a block of "Similar Topics/Threads" Read those.

There is also a sticky somewhere on condensation but I have forgotten where. Hopefully someone will link it.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Where's John D when you need him.

Andy

 

[mointainwalker]

He's just going round shutting the windows before hanging the washing on the radiators

 

[jeds]

You are suffering from condensation. In the first instance you should reduce water vapour to the minimum possible. That means don't dry clothes on radiators, use extract fans in kitchen and bathroom and remove excessive indoor plants. Then you should ventilate more and keep rooms at a reasonable living temperature. The cooler a room the more dense the air and more likely you are to get condensation.

Cold ceilings normally indicate lack of insulation. Check that you have sufficient and it is well distributed across the ceiling. Cold spots will attract condensation and result in mould - on walls and ceilings. Check to see if you can easily insulate walls. If you have suitable cavities you could probably get it done for free.