hi all
i am writing about an ongoing problem with a 2 bedroom ground floor maisonette with concrete floors and ceiling and double glazing and cavity walls. it was built around 1979 and i own the leasehold.
whenever i have lived at the property or its been empty i have not had the problem, it's only when other people live there and create condensation. however, i don't believe it is solely condensation causing the problem, i think there is something much more serious.
basically the rear of the property faces north, and the back garden is higher than the front as the maisonettes are built on a slope. with my untrained eye i cannot see a damp proof course. i would expect to see a plastic black sheet or something like that but cannot see it along any of the outside walls.
the recurring problem is mould which initially starts in the back corners (both bedrooms) and then expands to cover the whole outside walls. when one previous tenant reported it and vacated the property for a few days i had to go in and clean black mould off almost top to bottom.
i had the bedrooms carpetted a few years ago and between tenants found the underlay had also got mouldy and damp so i had to take it up and get rid of it. i've had builders look and one fitted air bricks along the outside wall and found a lot of debris in the cavity (higher than it should have been) and removed as much as he could whilst fitting the air bricks.
before that i enquired about cavity wall insulation and they refused to fit it due to the roof tiles not overlapping the wall enough. i checked the lease and found the neighbour above is responsible for the roof and he kindly had the problem fixed so now the tiles are ok and there shouldnt be any problem with the roof.
my current tenant reported mould appearing in the corners of the bedrooms, so i bought them a big dehumidifier, which definitely helps, but the mould keeps growing and they are now having to spray mould cleaner, but i know it's going to come back, it always does. to make it worse my tenant is pregnant.
i have had a friend dig out a channel along the back wall in case the garden is too high and water is saturating the bricks, but the problem is still happening after this. i really don't know what to do next, this is really testing my patience and i need a final solution.
as i said its definitely not just down to condensation, but i am sure the first sign of condensation is triggering the mould growth and starting it off. any advice is much welcomed. the only thing i can think of is to check there is a damp proof course (i dont know anything about this though) and whether is it doing its job or not. i have heard things about injecting a damp course but that it can be costly and why shouldnt a 35 year old property need this?
it's a leasehold and the fact i am supposed to own the lease (a right to occupy the space between the walls) means i'm not 100% sure on whether the freeholder has any responsibilities. the lease says i am responsible for foundations and each leaseholder has to arrange their own buildings insurance. anyway thanks for any replies.
i am writing about an ongoing problem with a 2 bedroom ground floor maisonette with concrete floors and ceiling and double glazing and cavity walls. it was built around 1979 and i own the leasehold.
whenever i have lived at the property or its been empty i have not had the problem, it's only when other people live there and create condensation. however, i don't believe it is solely condensation causing the problem, i think there is something much more serious.
basically the rear of the property faces north, and the back garden is higher than the front as the maisonettes are built on a slope. with my untrained eye i cannot see a damp proof course. i would expect to see a plastic black sheet or something like that but cannot see it along any of the outside walls.
the recurring problem is mould which initially starts in the back corners (both bedrooms) and then expands to cover the whole outside walls. when one previous tenant reported it and vacated the property for a few days i had to go in and clean black mould off almost top to bottom.
i had the bedrooms carpetted a few years ago and between tenants found the underlay had also got mouldy and damp so i had to take it up and get rid of it. i've had builders look and one fitted air bricks along the outside wall and found a lot of debris in the cavity (higher than it should have been) and removed as much as he could whilst fitting the air bricks.
before that i enquired about cavity wall insulation and they refused to fit it due to the roof tiles not overlapping the wall enough. i checked the lease and found the neighbour above is responsible for the roof and he kindly had the problem fixed so now the tiles are ok and there shouldnt be any problem with the roof.
my current tenant reported mould appearing in the corners of the bedrooms, so i bought them a big dehumidifier, which definitely helps, but the mould keeps growing and they are now having to spray mould cleaner, but i know it's going to come back, it always does. to make it worse my tenant is pregnant.
i have had a friend dig out a channel along the back wall in case the garden is too high and water is saturating the bricks, but the problem is still happening after this. i really don't know what to do next, this is really testing my patience and i need a final solution.
as i said its definitely not just down to condensation, but i am sure the first sign of condensation is triggering the mould growth and starting it off. any advice is much welcomed. the only thing i can think of is to check there is a damp proof course (i dont know anything about this though) and whether is it doing its job or not. i have heard things about injecting a damp course but that it can be costly and why shouldnt a 35 year old property need this?
it's a leasehold and the fact i am supposed to own the lease (a right to occupy the space between the walls) means i'm not 100% sure on whether the freeholder has any responsibilities. the lease says i am responsible for foundations and each leaseholder has to arrange their own buildings insurance. anyway thanks for any replies.