Mould remedy?

[CPdiyer]

Hi
I have a standard Victorian property where the extension has become the kitchen and has a solid wall no cavity.
The cupboards developed mould as there is no insulation or heat in that area, and now need change.
My thoughts were to vapour barrier the walls, insulate the units and run some pipe from the central heating underneath (mock-up underfloor heating)

Any reason this wouldn’t work? Or better ideas that don’t involve knocking walls down?

thank you

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Vapour barrier is only part of the solution, I feel. What is the ventilation like in the room? Does the kitchen have adequate extraction? Moisture in the air need somewhere to escape to or be extracted.

One approach I have seen a few times is to hack off the plaster, fix resillient bars to the walls then board onto them, leaving small air gaps top and bottom of the boarding (can be hidden by cornice at the top and skirting vents at the bottom). The void this created should have a natural convention current and help keep the room dry. I haven't seen that done where there was a need to mount wall cabinets, though

 

[CPdiyer]

Vapour barrier is only part of the solution, I feel. What is the ventilation like in the room? Does the kitchen have adequate extraction? Moisture in the air need somewhere to escape to or be extracted.

One approach I have seen a few times is to hack off the plaster, fix resillient bars to the walls then board onto them, leaving small air gaps top and bottom of the boarding (can be hidden by cornice at the top and skirting vents at the bottom). The void this created should have a natural convention current and help keep the room dry. I haven't seen that done where there was a need to mount wall cabinets, though.

Ventilation isn’t great and that’s great info thank you, I will take a look at that.

 

[BlueLoo]

Fix the illness, not the symptom.

External insulation cladding perhaps?

Will stop the heat loss, making your house much wamer and reduce sweating.

 

[foxhole]

Ventilation prevents mould .

 

[Deleted member 174758]

External insulation cladding perhaps?

Will stop the heat loss, making your house much wamer and reduce sweating.

It can work, but ventilation should be the first port of call and is a LOT cheaper. Our local council has done it in the past on blocks of flats, but it isn't a universal panacea as it can actually cause issues with condensation, which could lead to damp problems (by trapping moisture inside the building), and around here it certainly requires planning permission (and is always nixed on stone buildings).

 

[CPdiyer]

Ventilation prevents mould .

After checking the other parts fully, some are mouldy however those like the cooker tower aren’t but this has an open back, I think as there is no air movement in the service gap of the units that are against the wall so I think sorting the ventilation is the ultimate solution

 

[BlueLoo]

It can work, but ventilation should be the first port of call and is a LOT cheaper. Our local council has done it in the past on blocks of flats, but it isn't a universal panacea as it can actually cause issues with condensation, which could lead to damp problems (by trapping moisture inside the building), and around here it certainly requires planning permission (and is always nixed on stone buildings).

A structured approach then?

Proper insulation and ventilation?

Ventilation is cheap in the beginning but heating costs can mount up?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I'd say try ventilation first - after all it is a kitchen, probably the wettest room in the house after the bathroom. Also it's the lowest cost initial approach. If it doesn't work that's the time to look into other approaches

As an aside a colleague put a kitchen into a really old stone walled cottage in the first lock-down where the owner had painted every plastered surface with gloss paint, to "make it easy to wipe off the walls". As you might guess he's been back last summer because the kitchen was black with mould. He started the "cure" by sanding the walls and ceiling off, emulsioning them, bleaching the units and fitting an extractor to the outside world (as the householder insisted on a recirculatory extractor over his original objections). I think he's considering changing his phone number now, but at least they haven't rung him back yet...

 

[Rad1o]

Mould is the result of the combination of heating / insulation, ventilation AND airflow and moisture content.
We had problems with mould in a flat roof extension with cavity walls to a solid wall house. The extension contained a kitchen and bathroom. When we did the bathroom up first and then the kitchen, I fitted extra dry wall insulation to the outside walls, filled the roof / ceiling space up with rock wool and we also changed the windows from the standard small outward openers to inward tilt and turn ones. We kept the radiator size in the bathroom but could reduce the heat output in the kitchen. We got rid of the coldspots on the outside surfaces, i.e. ceiling and walls. The tilt and turn windows we found are much easier for good and quick ventilation over the previos smaller outward opening ones.
As a sideline, I also drywall insulated all the solid walls in the house and that also helped with the mould spots all over.
If you can, insulate the house on the outside as the walls in the house will then act as a heat sink.

 

[foxhole]

Mould is a result of mould spores settling on walls and surfaces.Prevent that and you have no mould .