Living room shares wall with communal bin shed, and gets moldy

[badhairday]

My living room wall gets terribly moldy. It is a shared wall, the other side of it being for the communal bin sheds.
The managing agents have admitted that the bin shed wall, which is not heated or insulated in any way, had a constant issue annually with moisture problems.

The managing agents have offered to insulate the Bin store wall with Kingspan 100mm insulation to help protect against this, but this is no guarantee this will completely solve this issue. My other concern is that the mold is clearly INSIDE the wall now having made it's wall to the other side of the wall. Can someone advise me on the best way to approach this problem? Thanks in advance.

 

[JohnD]

Are you sure there is not a rain related problem, for example with the shed roof or gutter?

Post photos inside and out.

 

[blup]

Insulating the bin shed wall will help if done properly and any water is thrown off the roof away from the flat wall.

Blup

 

[badhairday]

Thank you so much for your responses.
So basically, mine is flat 003, in the pic. And next to it is the bin shed. I am worried that insulation, might make things worse, if there is already mold embedded in the wall - since it has already made it way right across to the other side....
I don't understand why the wall adjoining the bin shed is more affected than an exterior wall.
Would the whole bin room need to be insulated or just the wall in question?

 

[Old Salt]

I doubt very much whether mould has penetrated through the wall. I would suggest that your internal wall is cold being next to the bin store. Such that any dampness in the room is attracted to that wall allowing the mould to form.

Buy some mould cleaner and clean the wall and try to increase both the ventilation, airflow and temperature next to that wall. It wont take much to change the ambient conditions to manage any mould growth.

You don't need any fancy mould cleaners, Wilco’s will work just as well. Personally I like the astonish range of products.

 

[badhairday]

Ok. That makes sense. Thank you.

 

[blup]

The insulation should help keep the wall warm and inhibit the growth of mould on your side. So accept th3 offer of insulation and keep under review.

Blup

 

[JohnD]

Unless there is a leak or some other source of water in the bin store, it should not be damp

If the separating wall is not insulated to the same standard it might be cold. And if your house is excessively humid condensation would appear on a cold surface. Do you hang wet washing inside your home?

Tape a piece of clear plastic tightly to the wall. If water appears under the plastic, the wall is damp. If it appears on top of the plastic, your home is damp

 

[Jackrae]

Nice photo but where's the bin shed

 

[badhairday]

The bin shed is the double doors to the right of the ground floor flat. In this photo it is shuttered all the way down.

 

[Jackrae]

Your party wall with the bin-shed interior might only be a single brick - which could explain the damp (cold wall and warm/moist internal air) in which case insulation of the bin-shed could be a solution
A photo of the internal damage might be useful

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Going by the photo and apparent age of the building, I'd be very surprised if that wall isn't insulated. Are you sure? Typically the bin store in this setup would effectively be treated as an outdoor space, with the door to the store being open to the air, for ventilation. So the insulation bubble should wrap around the inside wall of the bin store, that's the wall between your flat and the store.

 

[JohnD]

I wonder if there's a gutter or downpipe hidden in that corner

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Unlikely I'd have thought as there is one behind the tree

 

[Jackrae]

Looks like a parapet flat roof (judging by the downpipe collectors) so there's always the chance of a weep down the internal wall