Mould Rental Property

lebigmacncheese

If there's mould in a rental house who is responsible, landlord or tenant?

o1s1n

Entirely depends on the cause.

People tend to keep windows closed this time of the year for heat reasons, while also drying clothes and running dryers. Impossible for that not to cause some sort of mould if you don't clean it off.

If its in the rental before you move in the landlord. If its as a result of a leak the landlord. If its occurred due to inadequate heating or ventilation you.

DownByTheGarden

Our house gets mould in the bathroom and the kitchen. Usually the coldest and wettest rooms in the house. We should open the windows more. but you just dont open them much in the winter. Its Ireland - houses have mould and people dont open windows when its cold :)

Over the years we have found that the cure is that as soon as you see any mould in the corner of the room you wipe it off with bleach immediately. If you do that it wont spread and you will have it gone before its into the paint work. I see people looking at mould when it starts out and doing nothing about it then within days it will start popping up everywhere. If you get it right when it appears then it will be ages before you see it again.

handlemaster

Very bad for rhe health also. Had mould in a bedroom beside couldn't stop coughing

fun loving criminal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119773017#Comment_119773017

I always open windows but this week alone I'm only letting the humidity from outside indoors, I'm talking about 80% humidity, which doesn't help.

The DayDream

The landlord will always try to say it's from tenants doing this or that. IME it's the crappy building standards and LL's not caring because they don't have to live there. I've had numerous rentals with mould. My college house it was all black over the wall next to my bed, I tried wiping it and it looked like a dirty protest.

In my current house i been living 5 years there's never been any, and I haven't done anything different living here.

Once it's there you're fecked. It will always come back no matter what you do, unless you reline the walls.

screamer

You should get rid of mold ASAP. Get a proper mold cleaner bleach does not kill it properly. Ventilation is important and if damp rooms a dehumidifier even just a basic one that’s not electrical will help.

tvjunki

Mould is usually due to lifestyle or could be blocked vents or guttering.

We lived in a house for years and never had mould. Used to open all the windows for 10 minutes every day to clear the air. Window or back door open when cooking. Leaving the extractor on for a few minutes after a shower. Rooms heated in the cold weather. Vents open in exterior walls.

We moved out and tenant moved in. Within 6 months mould on the walls in bedroom and bathroom. Found out the heating was not put on. Windows were never opened. When they left a few years later we found all the window hinges were seized due to the windows not open. Socks put in the vents and other vents taped up.

Houses need to be heated and rooms aired daily in Ireland. Having the heating on too high is not good either.

You need to find out what caused the mould and you can take it from there.

Graces7

fI am noticing the great difference since I moved offshore into a modern place. NO mould ever. But then I am opening the door often to let the cats in and out and the kitchen windows are always open a crack. And no washing dried inside. I DID perforce cover the vent behind my bed as the draft was terrible in gales but there is a second one opposite.

But the real difference is that it IS modern. Previous old stone houses have been nearly impossible to keep mould free even with a dehumidifier.

DownByTheGarden

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119777575#Comment_119777575

I can see a lot of mould posts this year with people not turning on the heat. You need to heat all rooms up to at least 16C all the time in winter to prevent mould. Or if you want to get it in one room just leave the heating off in that room and on in the rest of the house :)

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119785939#Comment_119785939

I live in an fairly ancient house, with (mostly) single glazed windows. I rarely, almost never, turn on the heating in the spare bedroom. Once the weather turns unsuitable for line drying outside, I do all my laundry drying in that room on a clothes airer - I don't own a tumble dryer.

I do, however, ensure that the door is open most of the time so that air circulates (if it's absolutely freezing I'll close it to try to keep the cold air trapped from the rest of the house).

I also have an apartment rented out for years, the bathroom has a window to the outside and an extractor fan. Every tenant bar one has had no problem with mould. One set of tenants were there for about 2 years, and absolutely destroyed the place beyond belief. It was literally black all over - walls, ceiling, floor. I have no idea how they managed to live in it, and I had a heck of a time trying to fix it after they left. I can only assume they never opened the window or door, had the heat on to the max (it was like a sauna in the apartment any time I called) and never ventilated the room, ever.

Air circulation is the key - ventilate, ventilate, ventilate.