Lots of damp (and mold) in flat...

[ColdInsomnia]

Hey all.

Recently moved into a bedsit / flat with the girlfriend. Enjoying it here but the flat has a problem with damp. All the external walls, and some of the internal walls have areas of mold spreading from the ground level up to about a foot high.

Puddles of water are possibly seeping through in one corner of the room, but it's the same corner where we dry our clothes, so it could be a result of that.

The smell is noticeable. It affects my girlfriend a lot more than me, but you can 'smell' the mold in the flat, and it makes my girlfriend feel quite sick. Clearly, it's not very pleasant.

I did phone the estate agents that I am renting the flat through, and as a result 2 weeks later I had some nervous-sounding guy phone me and explain that the damp is a result of the weather and it should be gone within a few weeks once the worst of winter is over.

Anyway, about a month later and we arrive at today. We've been getting steadily more tired of having to put up with the mold, but today Stacey found some mold on her clothes in the wardrobe, so she's pretty unhappy and grossed out (as am I).

More or less, I am just wondering if anyone knows our rights as far as this goes? Surely the landlord has to keep the property in an acceptable condition - is this below 'acceptable'? The flat does have a dehumidifier, which we leave running for about 8 hours a day, but that only increases our electricity bill >.<


Any help would be appreciated.
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[queen of string]

Ventilation and de humidifier is the way to go, especially when bathing and cooking. Keep clothes drying to a minimum and keep a window open, make sure any ventilation bricks aren't blocked. Actual rising damp isn't that common it's nearly always condensation or poor guttering combined with no ventilation. In a small poorly ventilated palce you may need to run the dehumidifier 24/7 for a while until it improves. What floor you on btw?
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[ZRX61]

Totally unacceptable & (in the US) illegal.

Landlord should be paying the bill for the dehumidifier, & also the cleaning bill for the clothes etc.

He's also responsible for any medical bills from getting sick etc.


Short term solution is to spray the areas with bathroom mold/mildew remover, but the fumes will likely hospitalize you

[benvanwell]

A polish mate of mine had the same problem in his old flat. I suggested that he open a window slightly near where his clothes were drying, and to have the heating on more (it was always freezing when I visited). This seemed to cure the problem, so I guess it was just too damp inside the property rather than anything from outside.

A dehumidifier would help, and I'd suggest running it as much as possible until you see an improvement. 8 hours may not have much impact if you still hang your clothes up to dry. Most suggest that you leave them on 24/7 and allow the humidistat to decide when the system should come on.

It's also worth checking what kind of dehumidifier you have - some will remove up to about 500ml per day of water, while others will report more than 10litres. If you have a seriously damp flat you'll need to absorb several litres per day to make an impact.
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[Visitor Q]

So let me get this right, you have a problem with damp to such an extent that you run a dehumidifier for 8 hours a day... yet chucking a quid in the tumble down the launderette is out of the question?
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[colin1]

vinegar doent stop damp, but it does stop mould growth, so wipe the mouldy walls with that

Only dry your clothes in a room with a window open.
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[leiba1]

If you're on the ground floor and can get to the outside wall, go out and clear away any vegetation or debris that might be up against the wall. It could be that this has built up over time and has come to rest above any damp coursing that is in place in the wall.

[veeeffarr]

Funnily enough I'm the only one that regularly uses the Tumble dryer and one of the only ones that's not had a damp problem in my room...

[EDBANGER]

The house I rent is very damp. I told the landlord but she has not done anything about it. What else can I do?


As a tenant, you have the right to have the structure of your home kept in good repair by the landlord. This includes some of the installations in the home such as heating and hot water systems. You will often be responsible yourself for repairs to internal decoration and for minor repairs such as a blocked sink. Details about repairs are usually set out in a written tenancy agreement that describes the landlord's and tenant's responsibilities. If you do not have a tenancy agreement the law may still give you some basic rights. However, you should always check your housing status before you complain about housing conditions, as some landlords try to evict tenants who wish to enforce their legal rights to repair.



When you have decided that your repair should be done by the landlord, you must tell them about the repair that is needed. You should write out a description of the problem and collect evidence such as photographs, a report from environmental health officers, and medical reports if the disrepair is affecting your health or the health of someone in your household.



If the landlord still fails to carry out the work you could consider contacting the Environmental Health department at your local authority, or you could take the landlord to court. If your landlord is a registered social landlord such as a housing association or is a private landlord, then the local authority may be able to force them to take action. If you are a tenant of the local authority itself, then you should make a complaint using the authority’s complaints procedure.



You should carry on paying your rent while you try to get the repair work done, as your landlord may try to evict you if you have rent arrears.



For more information about problems with rented accommodation, see Disrepair in rented accommodation.
For more information on general problems with privately renting tenants, see Common problems with tenancies.
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[Phoenix]

The first flat I rented had a damp problem, quite signicant but not horrendous, it caused mould on some of my clothes and the back of my sofa, anywhere that was near the affected wall. It was a rendered house converted into 2 flats, it was never designed to be flats to ventilation was a major factor, but was generally a problem with the brickwork/rendering, a chimney had also been blocked up on one of the affected walls and was suspected to be chock full of saturated rubbish. Damp is rarely a quick and cheap problem to fix. As said, check nothing is bridging the damp proof course and that no plants/trees are right up to the walls, ivy can cause problems too.

Damp can make you ill and the landlord has to sort it out, and running a dehumidifier 24/7 is not the answer, besides he's not going to pay for that. I got my landlord to send out an buildings engineer who made a report but nothing was happening and the landlord announced he was selling the house to someone else to take over so I just gave my notice and moved out, really is horrible living in a damp home. Also used to get lots of slugs on the kitchen floor at night and loads of woodlice and millipedes.

[Ragdoll]

If it's damp it's down to the landlord to sort it out. An explanation of 'oh it's due to the weather' is NOT acceptable! So every time it rains you have to live in a damp flat? No way. Get on to the estate agent again and if they still insist it's because of the weather, contact your local council's housing people and explain to them what the problem is. You are paying for a home that isn't habitable and the estate agent isn't addressing the problem.
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[Ragdoll]

BTW mould can cause a lot of respiratory problems so you are within your rights to get environmental health to take a look at it as well
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[Dragonfly]

I would be out of there. I grew up in a house with damp and was in and out of hospital as a kid, developed asthmas and tonsillitis all the time. My parents finally moved and I was great in the new house until a few years later I got a place of my own and it was bad with damp, the walls where near enough black and always wet. Same thing started again, permanent swollen glands and could hardly breath. Still have asthma but my house has no damp so no sickness.
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[Ragdoll]

Skin complaints are common where damp and mould are as well.

Phoenix, your post reminded me of something my old landlord told me. We had a problem with damp and he told me to put a plant in front of it to draw the damp out He wouldn't get it sorted so we got environmental health in. About a week later we were given notice to quit, but were leaving anyway
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