Damp problem - who is responsible to fix?

beetlebailey

Just looking for some advice here:-

My tenents moved out of my apartment last week and while i was inspecting the property I noticed it appears to be suffering from a problem with damp. The ceiling and walls in both the living room and bedroom have black spots of mould and the bedroom wall by the window is damp to the touch.
I got on to the management company and they said that since the transfer they have no builders and feel the problem is most likely condensation re: the tenants not aerating the apartment which is very common!

I had a problem with damp on the ceiling and walls in the living room approx two years ago which the management company investigated and concluded that the problem was due to a defect with the construction of the patio area above my apartment.They eventually had the problem fixed after many many phone calls and until now there didn`t seem to be any further issues.
This time however its not just the living room but also the bedroom which has the problem,these two rooms are at opposite ends of the apartment,the kitchen and bathroom which are in the middle don`t seem to have any issues with damp.

The problem seems to be a bit too extreme to be caused by lack of aerating alone ,but they are sending some one over this week to take a look and see if its anything significant.

My question is if it is anything significant ,who is reponsible for fixing the problem?

bokspring71

beetlebailey wrote: »

Just looking for some advice here:-

My tenents moved out of my apartment last week and while i was inspecting the property I noticed it appears to be suffering from a problem with damp. The ceiling and walls in both the living room and bedroom have black spots of mould and the bedroom wall by the window is damp to the touch.
I got on to the management company and they said that since the transfer they have no builders and feel the problem is most likely condensation re: the tenants not aerating the apartment which is very common!

I had a problem with damp on the ceiling and walls in the living room approx two years ago which the management company investigated and concluded that the problem was due to a defect with the construction of the patio area above my apartment.They eventually had the problem fixed after many many phone calls and until now there didn`t seem to be any further issues.
This time however its not just the living room but also the bedroom which has the problem,these two rooms are at opposite ends of the apartment,the kitchen and bathroom which are in the middle don`t seem to have any issues with damp.

The problem seems to be a bit too extreme to be caused by lack of aerating alone ,but they are sending some one over this week to take a look and see if its anything significant.

My question is if it is anything significant ,who is reponsible for fixing the problem?

It should be reasonably apparant if lack of ventilation is the problem.

if there is patio area above your apartment, it would seem more likely the cause of the problem originates there. It also seems likely the management company might not want to take on the responsibility (or cost) of the remedial works.

It's probable you need to discuss it with some of the directors of the management company ( who are probably other owners of flats in the complex) and approcch the management company with something more certain. The obvious thing is to wait until a wet day and go the the flat to see if you can see where the water is coming from.

Have you considered asking the former tenant about it?

Its unlikely you'll be able to rent until the problem is remedied, and if you do indeed find the water originated from above, then you may need to seek legal advice if you have no adequate response from the management company. A robust approach to them, telling them that you will be seeking compensation for not being able to rent your flat due to their problem with the water originating from above, together with seeking all legal costs to force them to remedy the problem, with copies of correspondence send to the directors of the management company, should help you in focusing their minds and effecting a speedy solution( pun fully intended!) .

oceanclub

beetlebailey wrote: »

The problem seems to be a bit too extreme to be caused by lack of aerating alone ,but they are sending some one over this week to take a look and see if its anything significant.

My question is if it is anything significant ,who is reponsible for fixing the problem?

Did the tenants never mention the mould at all? That's very odd I admit. Did they have drying facilities in the apartment or were they use clothes racks?

P.

beetlebailey

Current tenants never metioned the problem, although they were only in the apt for 6 months.They have since moved abroad so unable to contact them. There aren`t any drying facilities so i suppose clothes hanging to dry could contribute to the problem.Also now that i think about it they had a pet ferret which was caged but they may have kept the windows closed incase it got out?

oceanclub

beetlebailey wrote: »

Current tenants never metioned the problem, although they were only in the apt for 6 months.They have since moved abroad so unable to contact them. There aren`t any drying facilities so i suppose clothes hanging to dry could contribute to the problem.

Hanging clothes out indoors generates a huge amount of moisture; since our previous landlord provided washing machine with no drier in our old place, we did that and before we knew it, were getting mould. We didn't even associate the appearance of mould with drying the clothes that way (duh). Problem was solved temporarily by buying a dehumidifier (turning it on sucked out 6 litres of water from the air overnight - yikes), permanently by moving to a place with a proper drier.

The current minimum standards do specify that "If there is no access to a garden or yard, there must also be a dryer":

http://www.myhome.ie/lettings/advice-centre/1170-1170-2500/minimum-standards-for-rental-accommodation.asp

I'd invest in a tumble drier for the place, request the next tenants use it, clean up the current mould, and see what happens. If mould _then_ still appears, it could be an external problem.


P.

bladebrew

me and the g/f had a problem with mould in our apartment,but we rarely had the windows open and we were drying clothes on the radiator,not realising it was causing the problem!,its scary how bad it can get if left alone,we cleaned the walls with mould killer and stopped drying things on the rad and its been fine ever since,maybe the tenants you had were doing similar??

i think it would be the tenants problem,but as they are gone i would clean the walls down and keep the windows open as much as you can,
it shouldnt come back then,unless its a leak somewhere behind the wall but this would hardly happen in 2 different places at the same time!

sorry very similar post to oceanclub!!!