Joyeux Marteau wrote:Unfortunately we cleaned all the walls over the weekend as it was starting to get me down.
It mostly affects the front room and bedroom. They're both at the front of the house, it's an old terraced house. There is no visible damage or pipes in those walls. The house next door is empty so that might be causing it?
Sorry it's a bit embarrassing for me.
No problem at all.
How old is the house, any idea (I know you rent it)?
Assume front room is ground floor and bedroom upstairs?
Is the front of the house North facing?
Is the outside brickwork or render/cladding?
Is the mould low down on the wall or high up (or all over)?
Is the mould small black spots?
Does the bathroom have an extractor fan?
Does the kitchen have an extractor fan?
It's unlikely next door is causing any issues if the problem is upstairs
and down, but a burst pipe or leaking roof could possibly do it.
If the ventilation bricks are at ground level then these will be ventilating the suspended timber ground floor, so even if blocked would more likely cause dry rot rather than damp or wet rot.
In the meantime, and whilst this will sound counter-intuitive during the colder weather you should do the following;
Sleep with a fanlight open, or windows on summer setting. Each person exhales around 1/2 pint of water vapour into the room each night, so 2 people = 1 pint. Imagine throwing that up your wall every night, because the vapour will condensate on the coldest part of the room, and if the windows are covered by curtains that's likely then to be somewhere on the wall.
Use extractor fan or open window when showering and leave open for as long as possible afterwards o clear.
Use extractor fan (assuming it vents to outside - they don't always) or open window when cooking and leave open for as long as possible afterwards to clear.