Mouldy spots on bedroom ceiling.

[KE7285]

Hi, this is my first post!

Recently, we have noticed large areas of our bedroom ceiling are starting to grow mould. Not nasty black stuff - just a light green spotting really - im removing with bleach but it just grows back. Does anyone have any ideas what might be causing this? Its only in our bedroom and in the spare bedroom. We have storage heating which drives me mad! Dont often put the heating on in the bedrooms - could this be a cause?

 

[JohnD]

It's condensation and you need ventilation.

You can have a look for a leaky roof or pipe as well, but it's condensation.

You may want to improve the loft insulation too. That will save you money and make the bedroom more comfortable.

Ventilation.


//www.diynot.com/wiki/building:condensation_in_houses

 

[KE7285]

Thanks for your quick reply - you seem pretty confident its condensation so we'll go with that! Link is great - i already open the windows every morning and keep our bedroom window open all day. So do you think insulating the loft a bit more would maybe help?

In terms of the paper on the celing now - will it be a case of removing this from the celing and re-papering?

 

[JohnD]

get it dry first, then decide.

Have you had a look in the loft yet, for ventilation (lofts also can get wet with condensation), insulation and leaks?

Do you have any of the other nasty habits, like draping wet washing about the house, or bathing without an extractor fan?

water vapour rises, so damp from any part of the house will rise up until it is stopped (e.g. an upstairs ceiling)

 

[^woody^]

Not just ventilation, but you also need to ensure that the ceiling has insulation above it to remove the cold spot which is allowing moisture to condense.

And bleaching the area is no good. You need to treat the area plus about 300mm around it with a proper fungicide. Otherwise mould spores will grow back

 

[KE7285]

Pretty good with the bad habits really - if im drying clothes in the spare room - the window is open. I have an extractor fan in the bathroom and kitchen. Ive spoken with my partner who thinks that the loft perhaps isnt insulated as well as it could be - have just contacted a company about grants for this. 3-4 week wait though. In the meantime, will a dehumidifer be the best bet, as well as constant ventilation. Any ideas on how much these cost to run?

 

[disinfo]

When we bought our house around 2 years ago, every room suffered from black spot mold on the ceilings and external walls.

I retro fitted some trickle vents to the UPVC windows and have had no problem since.

This weekends task is to remove loft insulation and put down some new thicker stuff.

Really looking forward to the weekend

 

[foxhole]

Drying clothes is a part of the problem regardless of having windows open the room will have far too much moisture to cope with.