Help with mould

slick31

Hi,
Excuse my ignorance......
Need some advice on how to remove mould from (inside) walls:eek:. The vents in every room have been papered over at some point and there's also a lot of condensation. Also would cleaning the gutters help? Also can the seals on double glazed windows be replaced? (I believe these where installed badly and this has alot to do with the problem).
Who do you get to fix this problem?? Can anyone recommend someone??

MicktheMan

slick31 wrote: »

Hi,
Excuse my ignorance......
Need some advice on how to remove mould from (inside) walls:eek:. The vents in every room have been papered over at some point and there's also a lot of condensation. Also would cleaning the gutters help? Also can the seals on double glazed windows be replaced? (I believe these where installed badly and this has alot to do with the problem).
Who do you get to fix this problem?? Can anyone recommend someone??

You probably have inadequate ventilation. The moisture is more than likely comming from inside, not outside so cleaning the gutters wont help. You need to allow the stale moist air out and replace it with sufficient fresh air. Either open the windows every day for an hour or open up the papered over vents (they were put there for a reason!).

slick31

MicktheMan wrote: »

You probably have inadequate ventilation. The moisture is more than likely comming from inside, not outside so cleaning the gutters wont help. You need to allow the stale moist air out and replace it with sufficient fresh air. Either open the windows every day for an hour or open up the papered over vents (they were put there for a reason!).

Thanks for your reply. The windows are open everyday for an hour or two. Thats the problem, I could spend alot of time trying to find whats causing this. I'd rather just get in an expert to tell me exactly why this is happening and how it can be successfully resolved. (Don't want to start redecorating for no reason). Can you tell me who's job/profession covers this (mould)?

MicktheMan

slick31 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. The windows are open everyday for an hour or two. Thats the problem, I could spend alot of time trying to find whats causing this. I'd rather just get in an expert to tell me exactly why this is happening and how it can be successfully resolved. (Don't want to start redecorating for no reason). Can you tell me who's job/profession covers this (mould)?

Working backwards mould is caused by water in a warm environment with organic matter to feed on. So the organic matter comes from dust, dirt, decoration materials etc. Not much that can be done here.
The water comes from condensing water vapour on a cold surface (normally but not always a north or n/e orientation). So you have to increase the temperature of the cold surface (appropriate insulation improvement and/or thermal bridging minimisation) and/or reduce the water vapour concentration in the air (hence ventilation).
So as you can see your solution may very well be the multi pronged approach. PM sent

old boy

you could try washing the affected areas with a domestos water solution

MicktheMan

old boy wrote: »

you could try washing the affected areas with a domestos water solution

If you dont find and fix the cause then it will just come back. There are several mould cleaning products out there and these should be used when the problem is solved.

Sleipnir

Firstly, you need to take all the paper off the walls (obviously that won't stop the damp coming through though). If there's mould coming through paper you can guarantee that behind the paper it's far worse. Gooey, damp wallpaper paste is a heaven to bacteria and mould.

Is the outer wall subject to much water? Is it damp? Is there a DPC?

holly8

slick31 wrote: »

Hi,
Excuse my ignorance......
Need some advice on how to remove mould from (inside) walls:eek:. The vents in every room have been papered over at some point and there's also a lot of condensation. Also would cleaning the gutters help? Also can the seals on double glazed windows be replaced? (I believe these where installed badly and this has alot to do with the problem).
Who do you get to fix this problem?? Can anyone recommend someone??

What about replacing seals on double glazed PVC windows? can this be done?

davgtrek

there are 2 things that need to be addressed.
insulation in house and ventilation.

if the window is letting in cold air from outside that is not really a cause of mould as moving air will help get rid of it. you need to warm the room so that condensation does not form on cold surfaces. so easy improvements there is to add insulation in the attic or above ceiling as most of the heat escapes out through roof. similar to a hat on your head to keep warm.
leave internal doors open during day to room with mould. venting house thru opening windows is fine.

you can get seals replaced in windows but a new pvc window would cost 100-200 euro maybe so replacing all seals in an old non rated window may be futile anyway.

give the mould area a wash down with a light fungaside and then dry thouroughly.
make sure room is comfortable heating wise.
make sure you have unsulation in attic. its cheap can be bought in rolls like quilt and easily installed.
make sure areas are ventilated in your house.

p