Panorama - damp/mould

[Harry Bloomfield]

So many people just don't know to put a lid on a pan and turn the ring down.

There is little, if any, difference in cooking time between boiling and simmering. Potatoes, I bring to boil with a lid on, then turn the ring right down, and move the pot to the edge. Often I will squeeze the potatoes, plus the veg in a steamer, onto the same ring to cook. Using lids, not only to keep the moisture in the pot, but massively reduces the energy needed to cook.

 

[diy_fun_uk]

And what issues are these?

I know that. A landlord can drive past the property though.

Who said it reflected the majority?

Are you or have you been a landlord? If you are or have been, you'll know the myriad of 'reasons' or excuses tenants can give that prevent landlords from gaining regular access. If you think I'm going to start listing them you've got a long wait.

Landlords can drive past the property? Are you for real? I suspect you're trolling. How does driving past a property show the landlord what's happening INSIDE the property? What about properties that arent on the ground floor?

 

[noseall]

There is little, if any, difference in cooking time between boiling and simmering. Potatoes, I bring to boil with a lid on, then turn the ring right down, and move the pot to the edge. Often I will squeeze the potatoes, plus the veg in a steamer, onto the same ring to cook. Using lids, not only to keep the moisture in the pot, but massively reduces the energy needed to cook.

Cooking, breathing and coming inside from the wet, are not luxuries. They are standard day to day occurrences.
The buildings' fabric should deal with it. If it is poorly insulated, it won't.

 

[robinbanks]

You must have ventilation to allow the moisture to leave the property.

Not necessarily, but sure..

Why do people not understand this?

Because they can't see it, and seem wilfully ignorant of being able to feel it. I have an MVHR, and essentially no matter what I do to the internal humidity, it quickly resumes an acceptable moderate level

I have friends whose houses make me feel like I'm suffocating, or drowning, when I walk in and surfaces will be running with moisture

It’s so basic

I fear it's more complex for them to understand than "it's cold, shut everything and tape up anything that makes a draught" and "the tumble drier is expensive, but the kids clothes need to dry for school, put them on the heat source"

Lunacy, but have you ever seen a Panorama type program say "look at what happened when we left this damp piece of bread sealed in a Tupperware for 3 weeks, it's pure mould... Now look at this other one we left in a warm dry place with free air movement for 3 weeks; it's crusty as old toenails and not an ounce of mould"

It's basic but no one ever does the education piece. They just tell them things that are anathema: "open the windows"("hell no, it's freezing out and gas is expensive") and "use the tumble drier" ("hell no, electricity is expensive")

If it is poorly insulated, it won't.

Yes, but also poorly ventilated/dehumidified, and excessively moisturised. It's a balance of multiple factors

If every house had an MVHR, was well insulated, had a thermostats set at 19 degrees and was in a good state of repair I don't think this problem would exist

myriad of

"myriad" means the same as "many" and should not be followed by the word "of" (nor preceded by "a").
There are myriad reasons. There are many reasons.

 

[Mottie]

Cooking, breathing and coming inside from the wet, are not luxuries. They are standard day to day occurrences.
The buildings' fabric should deal with it. If it is poorly insulated, it won't.

The point is, the building does deal with it for years and years then you get one family move in and within months, you have a mould problem. Why do you think that happens, Einstein?

 

[noseall]

The point is, the building does deal with it for years and years then you get one family move in and within months, you have a mould problem. Why do you think that happens, Einstein?

It's down to the idiosyncrasies of occupancy.
Modern spec builds don't suffer. Do you know why that is Einstein?

 

[Mottie]

Modern spec builds don't suffer.

Advice to control mould in your new build this Autumn/Winter - DBCP

More than a third of all households report condensation issues. New builds in particular are susceptible to condensation as the building dries out.

dbcp.co.uk

 

[Notch7]

Interesting video from Roger Bisby

He says the ombudsman in the panorama missed out that it could be the householder excaberbating the issue

One of the big problems in my opinion is the huge rise in heating costs…..people who rent tend to be living hand to mouth and many are cutting the amount they are heating their properties.

If heating is affordable then people leave it on keeping the place nice and toasty and that hides the poorly insulated structure as cold surfaces don’t drop below dew point.


I never noticed any condensation or mould until I got stingy with the heating when the prices ramped up, I replaced the old double glazing (plain 24mm DGU) with soft coat low e, warm edge spacer bar and argon gas fill - that alone stopped virtually all condensation.

And since having a new boiler, I have the house heated to 21 deg pretty much from 6.30am to 11.00pm with a break in middle of day

 

[Brigadier]

One of the big problems in my opinion is the huge rise in heating costs…..people who rent tend to be living hand to mouth and many are cutting the amount they are heating their properties.

And even if you can afford to have the heating on, some places are so poorly insulated that it doesn't warm the place up anyway.

 

[diy_fun_uk]

He says the ombudsman in the panorama missed out that it could be the householder excaberbating the issue

We now live in a society where the individual is rarely on the list of who's to blame, or if they are, they're way down the list.

So who's to blame for the unruly child running amok around the community?

Well where do we start? The government, local council, the school, social services.

And the parents?

Eh? Emmm, well yes, perhaps.

Tis the same with issues in rentals. People are quick to come down on landlords doing the slightly thing wrong, however heaven forbid suggesting anything is ever the fault of the tenant.

 

[Jurassicspark]

Are you or have you been a landlord?

Yes I have.

If you are or have been, you'll know the myriad of 'reasons' or excuses tenants can give that prevent landlords from gaining regular access.

I haven't come across any "long waiting times". Just let the tenant know a week before visiting....

Landlords can drive past the property? Are you for real?

There is something called a "visual inspection".

 

[diy_fun_uk]

Yes I have.

I haven't come across any "long waiting times". Just let the tenant know a week before visiting....

There is something called a "visual inspection".

Yep, troll, thought so. What you're missing is we're not referring to model tenants here, we're referring to tenants that most LLs wouldn't, with hindsight, want in a month of Sunday's.

I suspect you're going to try and engage me in lengthy forum ping pong, however after this post I won't reply to you any further on this.

Time for a property inspection. You contact the tenant requesting to visit a week today. No response. You chase up a couple of days before you intended to visit, still no response. That's one week gone. Let's say you try the same the following week and still no joy, there's two weeks gone. You try again week three, they eventually reply saying they're laid up with a bad sickness bug and they'll let you know when they're better. That week comes and goes so then you're into week four of trying to arrange, and on it goes. Certainly up here, LLs can't gain unauthorised entry unless for an emergency. If you then contact the likes of FTT to try and mediate, that process will in itself take weeks,

Visual inspection?!? If you can't gain entry and the property isn't ground floor, how does that work in terms of seeing INSIDE the property? Use a drone? And if ground floor with all blinds/curtains shut, again how does that work?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Cooking, breathing and coming inside from the wet, are not luxuries. They are standard day to day occurrences.
The buildings' fabric should deal with it.

As said, cooking needn't generate lots of moisture in the air, and wet outdoor clothing can be dried in a ventilated space. Common sense really, unless you have a tenant who simply doesn't care. .

 

[diy_fun_uk]

As said, cooking needn't generate lots of moisture in the air, and wet outdoor clothing can be dried in a ventilated space. Common sense really, unless you have a tenant who simply doesn't care. .

Whoa whoa whoa, you can't say that Harry ... ALL tenants care! Didn't you know that? They all keep the property in tip top condition and always pay their rent on time or do their hardest to.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

It's down to the idiosyncrasies of occupancy.
Modern spec builds don't suffer. Do you know why that is Einstein?

We have a comedian in our midst..