Moving Away From Mould and Moving Mould Away

 Mould, as it is spelled in the UK, mold in the USA.

I shall look at the three ways to find causes of mold. then the three way of preventing it. 

CAUSES OF MOLD

Put simply, mold comes from water, either from outside, or inside.

Mold From Outside

 If from outside, down from gutters and flat rooftops, sideways from  rain or plants, or upwards from wet or flooded ground. This is known as rising damp.

Rising Damp - prevention Damp Course

To prevent water from rising, about a food above ground in the wall is a horizontal dark line of what looks like slate or tar, called the damp proof course, shortened to the damp course.

 

Damp course in wall. Phot from Wikipedia.

That is an issue to be fixed by the owner of the property. That is you the house owner. Or the letting person, the landlord or the council, or the management team.

Mould from below the floor, in a concrete floor, can be treated by a waterproof  layer. 

Outside Moisture Prevention - Cavity Walls

Mould from the outside is usually prevented by cavity walls. Two layers of brickwork with an air gap between. Look at your window. If the sill is wide and your window from is set back from the wall that width shows you that you you have two layers of bricks with a gap, a cavity wall.

Measure with a damp meter, obtainable from builder's merchants or online. 

If you have a line of damp from above, a leaking gutter. If water all over, mor likely condensation. If above a radiator, from clothes drying on the radiator, or a leaking radiator. See the Wikipedia article. Some damp remedy companies say they can analyse your damp cause for free if you send them a photo. Nothing clever or magic about it, although you can get training and certification. You can check the cause and possible remedies for yourself.

Moisture to mould from inside from humans breathing

water vapor from cooking and showing, or water from washing and drying clothes indoors.

The tenant or landlord can provide a dehumidifier. If the landlord provides a dehumidifier and the tenant does not use it because they can't be bothered to empty it or don't want the noise, then the tenant should pay for any remedy for the moisture caused.

A good management company doing a three monthly check will check for mould, explain the cause of mould to the tenant, provide a dehumidifier and make it clear who is responsible for the problem.

A letting agent may also offer a management service. The agent's questionnaire for applicants may ask how many people will live in the property. The contract may specify that the landlord or letting agent must be informed if anybody not on the contract takes up residence. The landlord is legally obliged to check that extra people have the right to reside in the UK. If not the landlord can be fined a substantial amount.

In the 1960s to 1980s if a widow, a single elderly person. lives in a two bedroom flat and occupies the large bedroom, and entertains visitors on the patio, she does not create much moisture. Two or three decades later, a couple with four children, and the wife's visiting parents, all taking baths, washing bedding and clothes, making coffee, cooking in large saucepans, will create more humidity. If they move out the fifties style furniture, sofas and chairs with wooden legs, raised off the floor, and replace Louis IV style sideboards on wooden feet, and beds with space underneath, the new furniture does not have space for moisture to escape.

Pets Adding Moisture

Add four cats or two dogs, bowls of water for animals, washing the kitchen floor, dogs shaking off rain, and you have more moisture.

Some reasons for mold.

1 People don't realise what causes mold. If you have water, you will get mold. Black, prink whatever. It is pleasanter to remove water than to remove mold.

Mold problems have increased. We have double glazing instead of draughty windows. Heating. People from hot countries keep the heating on and turn their homes into a greenhouse. 

Overcrowding

Overcrowding means more moisture. A widow or couple produce less moisture than a family of two parents, four children, two grandparents, and three visitors, or a family meal or party every weekend, with friends staying over, and visitors from overseas. 

Pets

Also, I allowed tenants to have one cat. The female cat attracted a male from outside. The female had two kittens. With a month I had four cats, annoying their neighbours who were afraid of cats, and had vulnerable babies in prams or cost on the patio. Plus four more  living beings breathing.

Raincoats, rainhats, waterproof boots, umbrellas. all bring in rain, and cats and dogs with wet fur. Parties result in drinks spilled on the floor, cans of drink opened lying around. punch bowls, kettles blowing steam for coffee, coffee cups and glasses of water uncovered for hours. Fish tanks. Dog bowls with water. Leaking taps. Leaking pipes. Wet floors from overflowing baths and showers. Water under bath mats in the shower making mould. Shower curtains turning mouldy.

Dangers To Health From Mould

Asthma. Lung problems.

Why bother opening a window? People from hot countries like to live in warmth and wear light clothes. 

They sit on the floor with cushions against walls. Duvets and cushions and furniture and piles of clothes against walls prevent air from circulating. You need a gap so that the moisture can evaporate, and drying moisture. 

Better Sources of Heat

A widow was advised by a friend, to save money, don't heat the whole building, the whole room, just heat the person. Remedies are warm clothes, movable fan heaters, electric blankets on beds, electric blankets designed for use on sofas.

Remedies. 

Identify moisture by observation. How many people breathing in a room with closed windows. Open the window, or trickle vent. Fix or report leaking taps and pipes. Wipe up spills. Don't leave items in water overnight, such as dishes, clothes. Dry clothes outdoors rather than indoors. If not allowed, create a visual barrier. Dry clothes in the room or area nearest a window or where the repainting would be least. Run the extractor in the bathroom or kitchen. Cover cooking. Keep the lid down on toilets. Remove mould from under the toilet seat rim.

Use covered bedside water jugs, and jugs on dining tables. 

Check the water in walls using a water meter, which I have seen sold intermittently in LIDL and other shops for under twenty pounds.

I have experienced three types of mould. What causes mould? Water. Dripping from outside. Condensation inside.

Causes of Condensation  from Inside

What causes condensation inside. You do. Every person, adults and child, and animal, breathes out moisture all day and all night. If you have a dehumidifier you will be shocked at the amount of water it collects. A dehumidifier can be small for a small room, or larger and more expensive for a larger room.

A cheaper alternative us t open windows. In German and Europe it is usual to open windows to let the house breather or burg for half an hour every morning.

If you see condensation on your windows, it means open the windows of your bedroom. If you see condensation on your kitchen window, it means cover the saucepan with a lid and open the window. If you see mist on the mirror in the bathroom, it means open the window before during or after having a shower or bath or all three.

I first experienced mould when living in rented property in Singapore. Mould from overhead. Then in the home I owned in London, England. Mould from outside and inside. Then in my late parents' flat rented out in England.  Mould from below, under the damp course.

Let's start in Singapore. You can usually see where mould is coming from. Overhead we had mould in Singapore from the leaking roof of a top floor flat. And from rain outside.

The landlady called in decorators to paint the wall. The mould came back. Eventually she had to spend more money on the insertion of a damp proof netting to protect the wall from driving rain. The building repaired the windows, to make them seal better. That prevented water dropping down from heights above where we could reach.

UK Walls

Back in England we had mould in our outside wall in our bungalow. We moved a bookcase and there was black mould. 

This is one of the causes you can prevent. Keep furniture away from walls, to allow air to circulate. 

Ask AI

If you ask AI, you will get a succinct summary or causes and ways of preventing mould.

What can you do? Firs find out the causes of possible condensation. Go round every room in your home, and the outside. In the house check if we clothes are left outside the door, or dried over radiators. Check the bedrooms. Are the beds and wardrobes and units against the wall? 

Maybe there is mold which you cannot see. All the more reason for opening the windows, even when you don't see condensation. In any case, by the time you see condensation, damage has already been done. 

Invisible mold could be affecting your health.

Useful Websites

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/damp-and-mould-understanding-and-addressing-the-health-risks-for-rented-housing-providers/understanding-and-addressing-the-health-risks-of-damp-and-mould-in-the-home--2

Renting a flat or house in England, UK

Angela at Heathrow with a model of the queen.

You can look at where you will be working or where you or your relatives will be studying and draw a line around the distance you are prepared to travel, whether on foot, by car or public transport.

You can reduce the problem by choosing to study in a place where the first year students live in accommodation, or where the workers share accommodation, eg nursing.
You can check out the area on Streetview.

Also if you company has two offices and you are likely to travel between the two, or to be able to request a transfer, decide which venue has a better cultural sporting or social life, or live half way between the two.

If you are setting up a company look at accommodation as well as workplaces.

Typical UK Dwellings
Central London
Price is at a premium in the centre. Notting Hill and Hampstead are trendy as is upcoming Islington. Old Victorian buildings. Terraced housing. Blocks of flats. Check the frequency of trains and cost of travel.

Leafy Suburbs With Semis
In the suburbs you will find semi-detached and detached houses. Edwardian, Victorian, mock-Tudor.

Red brick, typical of London and Southern England. Edwardian and Georgian houses, with sash windows. Dormer windows.  Red tile roofs. A wooden fence around the garden. Chimney pots on older houses.

More rarely, art deco, white with a flat roof.

 Also flats over high street shops. Lively but noisy traffic and passing drunks and people coming out of pubs and restaurants late at night.

Art deco house in Harrow area.

The South London suburb of Richmond, and northern historic Harrow on the Hill are great to visit.

London's new Elizabeth line is being extended. This could change commuting times and house prices and rental income and rental charges.

Property Agents

What Americans call realtors are known in the UK as estate agents. Local newspapers run articles on property prices and areas and advertisements of properties to buy or rent.

If you are looking to buy a converted church, ruined castle, windmill, house of an author, or any such novelty, look at the upmarket newspapers.

Condensation and Mould
A major problem in the UK is condensation. A Finnish tenant told me that in Finland where it is too cold to open windows in winter, all homes are designed with ventilation.

In the UK, you have to open windows every day, especially if you are generating liquid. If you reckon one person generates one pint of liquid, four will generate four times as much.

So one person in a two bed flat and opening the patio door daily to go out and sit in the sun and play Scrabble would not have condensation.

After she moves out, the next tenant has a niece and two grand-daughters, four people. The windows are shut all day.

They are offered a dehumidifyer but it needs emptying and costs them money in electricity bills. They are cooking with kitchen windows shut, water generated by the kettle and casseroles. Four people having baths and showers. Four people breathing and perspiring, means lots of condensation.

If condensation forms on windows, this needs to be wiped off daily, or at least weekly, as otherwise the curtains will go black from mould. Blackened net curtains can be soaked in bucket of cold water, with a little bleach added - read the instructions. on the bleach and on the fabric to be sure this is ok.

Try a corner first. I have successfully revived white net curtains and heavier drapes. However, it takes time, effort and care.

I would not do it with pets or children in the house. You need clear thin bleach, not thick stained blue or green bleach nor strong bleach for cleaning drains. I tried it first on curtains which would otherwise have been thrown away. I reckoned I had nothing to lose except the cost of the bleach and my time. I saved the curtains. They were useful spares. Who needs spares? If you take down your crutains to clean or wash them, whilst you are waiting for them to dry, you have a spare pair to hand up.

Author
Angela Lansbury