Mould in house. Landlord point of view

Fondu

Hi guys,

Just to give you the back story, I am currently working abroad for 18 months(12 months left.) I handed over my landlord responsibilities to a family friend with the intention that there would be hopefully very little work to be performed.

Two years ago, I spent over 20k to refurbish a property that was built in the 1950's. This included insulation in the attic and new double glazing windows.

The old tenants recently moved out and told us there was a mould issue. The new people have moved in less than a week ago and have been complaining about the mould issue.l told the family member to clean off the mould with white vinegar and bleach and to tell the tenants to keep the area and windows well vented.

Iv accepted that I will need to dry line the wall and get it repainted however I would like to get this done when I return home as it would be stressful for both me and my family back home to do it when I'm not in the country.

Without even cleaning the walls the tenants responded saying the walls are beyond cleaning. The family member is new to managing properties and is hesitant in dealing with the issue.

How can I deal with the current issue and a) temporarily fix/slow the mould
show to the new tenant that some type of work is being done as he doesnt even seem happy that they were going to be cleaned within one days notice.

Cuddlesworth

Fondu wrote: »

How can I deal with the current issue and a) temporarily fix/slow the mould

show to the new tenant that some type of work is being done as he doesnt even seem happy that they were going to be cleaned within one days notice.

You need to address the source of the mould. From doing it as my job in the past, I found the most obvious thing was to install vents in the walls. Especially for rental properties.

Cleaning the walls is just wiping them down with bleach. If they are really bad, you will need to repaint as you just end up smearing mould and emulsion around.

The tenant would have seen the mould moving in(if its that bad), so I don't see why he could demand immediate action for something he was very aware of when he signed that lease.

Mrs OBumble

Forget messing around with a family member, and hire a professional property manager to look after it for you.

(the family member should have told you were to go in the first place - they were far too nice.)

jojobeans

From a tenants point of view, when I moved into my current address which is also a 1950's build, there was no visible mould but it was summertime so conditions were a lot drier.

Come winter it was all over the walls of the bathroom, kitchen, hallway and one bedroom.
I cleaned and repainted at my own expense for over a year but let my landlady know it wasnt going away no matter how much windows were opened.

She dealt with it first by providing me with mould cleaner which did settle it down for a while along with regular airing each day.

Then it came back again last winter and she agreed to install a vent in the bathroom, hallway and redone the old one in the bedroom and insulated the interior walls of the bedroom and sitting room and problem solved.

I would recommend using the same approach with your tenants by sending your friend round with mould cleaner and advise that the house must be aired everyday especially when cooking or drying clothes and maybe look into insulating problem walls and installing vents as a cheaper option to a full exterior insulation job when you get home.

rawn

I had a problem with a bungalow I rented a few years back. Everything looked fine when I moved in. Smelled musty but it had been empty for a while. As soon as we moved in black mold started crawling up the bedroom walls, anything we left on our carpets grew mold on them, even our duvet had green spots on it! We wound up sleeping in the living room for weeks. Each room was well ventilated. Landlord gave us a dehumidifier, the mold kept spreading, the house stank of mustiness and the floor was like ice. Landlord eventually sent someone in to check it out, and it turned out that the house was built on a raised foundation but they hadn't installed a damp course under the floors. It was gonna cost thousands to sort out and it was getting hazardous so we moved out immediately. Turned out the landlord had known all about the problem (they had lived there for years) but chose to rent it out to us anyways :rolleyes: Anyways tl:dr, it may be the floors rather than ventilation.

Fondu

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

You need to address the source of the mould. From doing it as my job in the past, I found the most obvious thing was to install vents in the walls. Especially for rental properties.

Cleaning the walls is just wiping them down with bleach. If they are really bad, you will need to repaint as you just end up smearing mould and emulsion around.

The tenant would have seen the mould moving in(if its that bad), so I don't see why he could demand immediate action for something he was very aware of when he signed that lease.

The walls were painted 2 years ago and I was hoping to the repainting go for another year until I return. I have heard about special mould paint. Has anyone used this type of paint.

My handyman has said venting might solve the issue. I'm just afraid if I only half deal with the situation it may end up costing more money than if I vented and dry lined in one go.

If I was there myself I would be more firm with the tenants as I am used to snagging them at this stage. However it is different for the person looking after them.

Fondu

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Forget messing around with a family member, and hire a professional property manager to look after it for you.

(the family member should have told you were to go in the first place - they were far too nice.)

The family friend isn't doing it for free. We agreed on a price.

Fondu

jojobeans wrote: »

From a tenants point of view, when I moved into my current address which is also a 1950's build, there was no visible mould but it was summertime so conditions were a lot drier.

Come winter it was all over the walls of the bathroom, kitchen, hallway and one bedroom.
I cleaned and repainted at my own expense for over a year but let my landlady know it wasnt going away no matter how much windows were opened.

She dealt with it first by providing me with mould cleaner which did settle it down for a while along with regular airing each day.

Then it came back again last winter and she agreed to install a vent in the bathroom, hallway and redone the old one in the bedroom and insulated the interior walls of the bedroom and sitting room and problem solved.

I would recommend using the same approach with your tenants by sending your friend round with mould cleaner and advise that the house must be aired everyday especially when cooking or drying clothes and maybe look into insulating problem walls and installing vents as a cheaper option to a full exterior insulation job when you get home.

Thanks for the info. I want to be as fair and as practical as possible. I don't want to be a poor landlord and I know i will put an end to the issue however it's just down to timing.

Venting will be one of the first things I will look at. I am going to have to call my handyman to see what is the best avenue.

Fondu

rawn wrote: »

I had a problem with a bungalow I rented a few years back. Everything looked fine when I moved in. Smelled musty but it had been empty for a while. As soon as we moved in black mold started crawling up the bedroom walls, anything we left on our carpets grew mold on them, even our duvet had green spots on it! We wound up sleeping in the living room for weeks. Each room was well ventilated. Landlord gave us a dehumidifier, the mold kept spreading, the house stank of mustiness and the floor was like ice. Landlord eventually sent someone in to check it out, and it turned out that the house was built on a raised foundation but they hadn't installed a damp course under the floors. It was gonna cost thousands to sort out and it was getting hazardous so we moved out immediately. Turned out the landlord had known all about the problem (they had lived there for years) but chose to rent it out to us anyways :rolleyes: Anyways tl:dr, it may be the floors rather than ventilation.

I'm worried about this. I didn't check the flooring when I renovated the place and have now put down laminate flooring in the entire place.

rawn

Fondu wrote: »

I'm worried about this. I didn't check the flooring when I renovated the place and have now put down laminate flooring in the entire place.

The biggest clue would be that the floors are freezing. Are they particularly cold even with heating on do ya know?

Cuddlesworth

No damp proof course, which is very rare for homes built in the last 80 years, leads to rising damp. Which is ridiculously easy to spot. Google image search rising damp.

TheDriver

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

No damp proof course, which is very rare for homes built in the last 80 years, leads to rising damp. Which is ridiculously easy to spot. Google image search rising damp.

how rare is it to find a house without it? I assumed every house had a damp proof course.......

Cuddlesworth

TheDriver wrote: »

how rare is it to find a house without it? I assumed every house had a damp proof course.......

On older houses, very common. On newer houses, it would normally have to be a huge screw up on the builders part. There are solutions to fix it though.

TheDriver

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

On older houses, very common. On newer houses, it would normally have to be a huge screw up on the builders part. There are solutions to fix it though.

What do you mean by older? 20+ years or 100+ years

Cuddlesworth

In around 100 years.