Mould on ceiling, tile grouting and sealant

[ajlowery]

Thanks to the L-shape of our small bathroom, water vapour tends to congregate in one area, which suffers from a gradual build-up of grey-black mould on the ceiling and on the tile grouting.

Also there is a terrible mould patch behind a cabinet that is on the wall in that area - to the extent that I will have to take it down.

There is a small extractor fan (in the other part of the bathroom) but this is pretty ineffectual. We do however open the windows wide every time we shower and leave them open for 20 mins afterwards: I doubt whether another extractor fan would be as effective as that in ridding the place of moisture?

Anyway at the moment we clean the mould off every month or so with general cleaning products, although I have just bought the Dettol for mould in case it gets more stubborn.

Is it worthwhile regrouting the tiles and repainting the ceiling with 'mould-resistant' products or are they rubbish?

 

[footprints]

Ah! Now thats where the infamous polystyrene tiles were good! The used to stop mould on ceilings well.

However if you don't fancy the retro look, I have not used the mould resistant paints but my daughter swears by them, she used them in her old flat and noticed a real improvement.

You could try something like Wallrock thermal liner a heavy duty paper that makes the surface of the wall/ceiling less cold so should reduce condensation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9Q072gox7I

 

[zanzibar]

Once you have the spores in the grouting or plaster on the ceiling, you will always get the black mould appearing again. Raking out the old grout is the only way that you will cure this and painting the ceiling with an obliterating paint and then as footprints suggests, wallrock or similar on the ceiling afterwards could do the trick. However the secret to preventing mould generally is good ventilation and putting a more effective extractor is a route that I would take after clearing up the present mould growth problem.

 

[Happyplumber]

Fit a decent fan with a humdity stat built in

This will switch on and off as necessary to clear all the moisture out of the bathroom

You need to use a good quality mould remover to wash down all surfaces to kill the mould and spores

 

[zanzibar]

Fit a decent fan with a humdity stat built in

This will switch on and off as necessary to clear all the moisture out of the bathroom

You need to use a good quality mould remover to wash down all surfaces to kill the mould and spores

Completely agree with all of this and you should fit a fan that will give you 6 changes of air per hour in the bathroom/shower room. Extractor fan manufacturers will give you this information.

 

[ajlowery]

Thank you all.
I must say I cleaned all the areas of tiling / grouting and ceiling paint with Dettol anti-mould stuff a couple of months ago and it has worked superbly, with no return of the mould. (With previous cleaning attempts it returned within a week).
Any views on mould-resistant paint or grouting would be appreciated.

 

[zanzibar]

Thank you all.
I must say I cleaned all the areas of tiling / grouting and ceiling paint with Dettol anti-mould stuff a couple of months ago and it has worked superbly, with no return of the mould. (With previous cleaning attempts it returned within a week).
Any views on mould-resistant paint or grouting would be appreciated.

Very pleased that it has worked for you. Not too sure about mould resistant paints, like most of these items they seem to work for a short period. Regarding the grout, the only thing that might work is a waterproof epoxy grout, but be warned they are absolutely hell to apply and clean the tiles afterwards. I suggest that you just keep spraying the tiles will a fungicidal spray and try to keep the room well ventilated e.g good extractor fan