Condensation / Penetrating Damp? Mould in just one bedroom

[Neil Palmer]

Hi all,


This is my first post and with a house full of jobs to do, it probably won't be the last!

We have an issue with mould in the main bedroom which is causing some concern.

Nowhere else in the house seems to be affected though.


We do have lots of condensation on these windows in this room pretty much every morning, and for a while, there has been a mouldy patch in the top corner (Maybe 3 / 4 inches across). It never seemed like a big deal, and a few times I just cleaned off the mould with some JML mould killer spray and we never noticed any other issues. (other upstairs windows get condensation on them, but not as bad, and there is no mould elsewhere that we have seen)

I assumed this mouldy patch was a because of condensation from the windows, and that occasional cleaning would suffice.


Just recently, the mould got a lot worse, and it starting to spread into the other corner, and above the window.

I also noticed on the skirting boards, around the bay (The bay is tiled on the outside) there are dirty marks, and it looks like water / condensation rising is up above the skirting. (this has looked the same for a long while and they were never actually painted)


We have built-in wardrobes, and we noticed a musty smell from those a few days ago, and lots of the clothes have started to go mouldy in there too. OUCH!


I lifted up the wooden floor at the bottom of the wardrobe, and think it looks normal.

The wardrobes are in good condition, and there are no dirty marks anyway, but there is a strong musty smell in there, even though we have emptied them out.


For full disclosure , There are a couple of things adding to the condensation problem which may be the entire reason we are having issues, but I wonder why it is just this one room.

We have an inline extractor above the shower, which went pop about a year ago and hasn't worked since.

We never got around to replacing it. (3 kids, no money, lazy, crap at DIY, pick your reason!)


We also had an Electrolux cooker hood fitted in the kitchen 5 years or so ago, there was a delay with the electrician at the time, and the kitchen fitters never came back to actually finish the job. As it turns out the chimney is too big to fit in the gap, and there are loads of parts missing. So, we are just going to buy a new extractor and have it fitted! But that has not been functional for years either!


So, I know that condensation is a problem in general, but apart from working from home (in this bedroom all day), nothing has really changed much which would explain why it’s suddenly got a lot worse.


We have been making an effort to shut the bathroom door and open the window when showering, we put lids on pans when cooking and close the door to the rest of the house. We have stopped drying clothes on radiators and use a fully vented tumble dryer. We dry down the windows each day (and they have been lots less wet since we started taking all these steps.


I remember when we had this room skimmed about 5 years ago, the side wall took a little longer to dry than the rest, but thought nothing of it at the time.

So, as I said, I know there are issues with condensation, and we have an electrician booked to come and fit a new extractor in the bathroom, and we will sort the cooker hood ASAP

But I feel that there could be something extra going on here, otherwise I think we would have mould in all rooms. (maybe that's faulty assumption!?)


I did hang a couple of those wardrobe dehumidifier packs a couple of weeks back and at the time didn’t realise there was mouldy stuff in there!, they have been there for a week and half now, and they have collected up a fair amount of water (see pictures) which probably makes sense if all the clothes were full of moisture!

I am starting to wonder whether there is something behind the fitted wardrobe that is causing an issue. Maybe there is some sort of issue with penetrating damp.


I took a few pictures, which show the corner where the mould was (I cleaned 99% of it off) so it looks a lot better than it did.

You can see the inside of the wardrobe, the skirting boards and a picture of the outside of the house on that corner.


I did notice that there are a couple of bricks that look a bit damaged, although it's hard to tell from the photo as it’s a long way up and I don’t have a ladder long enough to get anywhere near. There is a chimney breast on that side of the house (and in the bedroom, that is hidden behind the wardrobe, so slightly concerned about that and what sort of state the wall is in behind there.

I did read that the heat difference in the bay may be a source of condensation too. I know it was insulated, as our plasterer did that when skimmed the room.


Sorry for the long rambling post. Not really quite sure where to start, or even which trade I would need.


I am thinking that we start by addressing the lack of extraction in the kitchen and bathroom as an obvious first step. Maybe I will just have to wait and see. Any ideas/thoughts /alarm bells ringing for anyone?



Hope it all makes sense? Please let me know if any further pictures would be of use.


Cheers

Neil

 

[foxhole]

Is the chimney on the affected wall?
Roof and gutters in good order?
Any ventilation in the affected room?

 

[Neil Palmer]

Thanks for the answer Foxhole.

Yeah, the chimney is on the affected wall, well - when I say the affected wall, I can't really see that wall as there are fitted wardrobes across that entire side of the bedroom.

Roof looks OK, (I am no expert) and when it rains, I can't see anything going on in the loft in terms of leaks or anything or anything extreme happening outside. Will look again next it rains to be sure
There is no ventilation in the room directly, the windows are double glazed, but really crappy and need replacing. They are fogged up on the inside of the glass and there are no vents on them, nor an airbrick anywhere in the room.

 

[foxhole]

Could be rain down the chimney causing damp if it’s unventilated, wardrobes also need ventilation .

 

[Neil Palmer]

Thanks, yeah, good idea - I saw you can get a cowling put on the chimney pot, that might be worth a shot.