agilitymad Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 since August Alex my little boy (aged 11yrs old) has has colds and has woken up in the middle of the night with breathing problems bad enough to call the out of hours doc This last week thinks have got worse and he is now suffering with headaches and coughing fits this only seems to happen while in his room i live in a two bedroomed housing ass house and have problems with black mould on most walls in the house housing have just said to open windows but my heating costs are through the roof and i just can't afford it. this week so far i have spent £35 (i on card meter) surly this isn't right I clean the mould with bleach but after a few days it returns it makes me feel ill after cleaning it so dog know what its doing to Alex. In Alex's room he has a window pane that has blown and the window seal is always full of water the dehumidifiers can't cope with the amount of water and that works out expencive to. Everytime i phone housing i get the same we haven't got the budget but my sons health is getting worse and i just don't know what to do So if anyone can suggest anything that might get rid of the mould or even give housing a good kick up the bottom anything would be appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooandboo Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 (edited) What is on the walls of his room? If it's wallpaper I'd strip it and just paint the bare walls with emulsion so that they can *breathe* (I was advised but EH to do this in a house I lived in with the same problem. The main cause is usually condensation so check out any causes of that). BUT I'd get Environmental Health in if I were you, they gave my landlord a kick up the bum when I was a student with a mouldy room, condensation on my duvet (when I had a hot water bottle in my bed water droplets would appear on the top of the duvet the room was so damp)and a chest infection which wouldn't clear up. :GroupHug: for you and your son, I hope the situation gets sorted soon. Edited December 13, 2008 by mooandboo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranirottie Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 we suffered with the same thing until we heated the rooms. It is caused by damp so unless you get a dehumidifier or some form of heating I don't think you can get rid of it. x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happylittlegreensquirrel Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 you ( or your landlord as you are rented ) need to to get the root cause of why there is mould and repair that or it will keep coming back Sarah ( dirtychicken ) had issues with a rented house and mould on walls and I am sure she will be able to offer some advice Claire ( Clazuk ) should be able to offer some advice regards your heating bills and card meter I have PM'd them both with a link to your thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lester Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 (edited) This is a big problem. The black mould that you see is only the sporing part of the organism. To be properly treated the plaster should be hacked off and the underlying surface treated with a special treatment. There are some interim methods of slowing it down. Drying it out at the surface with a paint stripping torchand then treating with a special anti-black mould solution is favoured and can work if done properly , but this is not a good time of year. And it is very toxic, the room should not be used for a while then there is the repair to the ingress, usually a crack behind. Other things that can help--in the short term use of lime based paint removal of vinyl wallpaper and washing of off paste residue little electric gadgets that purify the air spider plants ( lots ) Lots of pressure on housing association , although they probably have a lot of this problem and no moneys Edited December 13, 2008 by lester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happylittlegreensquirrel Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 Just rereading this and think Jules ( kats Inc ) may also be able to help re the impact on your sons health Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kats inc Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 Definitely contact Environmental Health as they will act especially if you can show it's impacting your son's health.Make sure you get it recorded in your son's medical records and ask your GP to write to your housing association. I would also see if you have a housing enforcement department within your local council.We do here and they deal with private landlords and housing associations and have environmental health officers working within the department. Threaten them with legal action,get a free session with a solicitor and get them to write a letter.Anything to get them to either clean it up or rehouse you somewhere suitable. Healthwise if it's impacting on his schooling it might be worth speaking to the school nurse too.Anyone who can help fight your corner. There's not much advice to give regarding the actual mould,it's the spores that cause the problem and it won't go away till they sort the causative problem sadly. Good luck I hope you get it sorted for both your sakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtychicken Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 I feel so bad for you because this time last year we were dealing with exactly the same situation Unfortunately, we had no luck at all with anybody EH came out and to my face they agreed that it was an appalling situation and would fight my landlord for me. To my landlord, they said that it was my fault because I couldn't afford to heat the house properly - despite the fact that my parents and grandparents were sending me money weekly so that we could have the central heating on for 12 hours a day!!!! Because of the shocking EH report, the council weren't interested in helping us along. My doctor was happy to write to confirm that the ill health we'd all suffered could well be down to the damp, but because EH had stated that WE'D caused the damp, it really didn't help I'd had a damp surveyor in to assess the house and he said that the house wasn't damp proofed and all the plaster would need ripping off so that the whole house could be treated properly, but obviously that was a costly job for my landlord to consider and would have been a nightmare for us to try to live with there with the work going on - even if he'd believed that it was necessary I'm so very sorry that you're in this situation Our situation deteriorated to the point where our landlord was making threats, etc and we moved back to Bristol to a nice, warm, dry house with our family nearby I'd recommend trying to get hold of a dehumidifer as quickly as you can as that'll take the damp out of the air and speak to a doctor regarding your son's illnesses - that will carry weight with the council and I hope that you have a more considerate landlord than the that we had to deal with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tisaann Posted December 13, 2008 Report Share Posted December 13, 2008 My son has the small box room and that is prone to mould and damp as well though we do have heating in there. To stop the bedding getting wet we have erected a wire frame contraption that keeps the bed off the outside wall. As for getting rid of the mould from around the window pane and on the paintwork above the picture rail I washed them down with neat bleach which, fingers crossed has got rid of it. However, the smell from the bleach is VERY overpowering so you may want to do it in the morning with the windows open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 (edited) Write or email your local MP and try and get them on the case. Also possibly contact local newspaper and see if they would be interested in doing a story? You say you've got a dehumidifier but is it a powerful one (cos some are better than others)? Re the window pane you say has blown, if it's double glazing it might be worth getting the sealed unit replaced yourself, it's not too expensive (I got quoted £160 for two of them recently). I hope you can get it sorted soon Edited December 14, 2008 by merledogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyMalc Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 Since the council did work on all the flats last year and "improved" insulation damp got worse and worse. No mould, but clothes not drying for days and smelling of "old water" and the bed constantly feeling damp etc. Not nice. I contacted the council and they had someone coming round to fit 2 ventilating "holes" in the rooms. Basically all that it needed was a few bricks taking out and a kind of grill put in front of it, as my damp was caused by the fact taht in their eagerness to "improve" things the council had blocked all air circulation! It's improved drastically since. Having said that, a friend did have mould on her bedroom wall and her whole flat needed damp proofing! So I guess it depends on the reason why it's damp. Meanwhile I've bought a dehumidifier which did the trick beautifully until they came and sorted it out. It's now stood in my bed room doing b*gger all. I'll be happy to lend it you for as long as you need it, if it can somehow be taken to where you are? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agilitymad Posted December 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 Thanks everyone for your wise and kind words The mould is worse around the windows more so in both bedrooms but is also behind units and beds ect even on the cerling (sp) the beds always feel damp and the smell is horrible in the summer i don't have such a bad time but this year where its been so damp its 100 times worse The walls are only painted so thats one good thing. The dehumidifier is a good one my dad got it from hes work and was used in the factory so such be big enough. I try to keep my heating on all the time just under 18 but as it has been so cold here has been cutting in and out all the time and its still cold in here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 As long as there is damp air it will feel cold. My son had to have damp treatment on the wall in the bedroom of his flat and he couldn't believe how warm the room was afterwards. I hope some of the suggestions made can help you get something sorted out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClazUK Posted December 14, 2008 Report Share Posted December 14, 2008 Aargh it lost my quotes! Sorry I've not replied before now, I've had a weekend away. I'm not at work so can't access my files but there is an advisory body that can help put pressure on your HA. I'll try to update the thread tomorrow. Running your heating system 24/7 is incredibly expensive. There seems to be an urban myth going round that running it all day at 18 is cheaper than running it only while you are at home at 21. Not true. Better to have it running at a decent temperature while you need it than run it all day. How much liquid are you taking out of the dehumidifier each day? That would help give an idea of the scale of the problem. £35 a week is a high amount to pay on a card meter if you are paying for gas and electricity, not so much so if you are all-electric at this time of the year. What form of heating are you using? If you could give me more info I might be able to advise. Plus, why are you using a card meter? It's THE most expensive way of buying fuel, so changing to a credit meter may work out cheaper. Your HA can't make you keep the card meter, changing to a credit meter may save you a fair bit (they are at least £100pa more expensive under most tariffs available). If you want to drop me a PM with your details (address, energy company, the reasons you have a card meter) then I'll see if I can find a way to help reduce your outgoings. I work for Consumer Directs energy unit; I formally worked for Energywatch. As an aside, where are you? My partner works in industrial chemicals and has access to some great mould killing stuff, but it wouldn't be safe to post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
border collie Posted December 15, 2008 Report Share Posted December 15, 2008 Black mould is entirely due to condensation. Decrease your airborne water as much as poss. 1. Lids on pans 2. kitchen door shut whilst cooking 3. don't dry clothes insidehouse on radiators or hung up AT ALL 4. extractor fan in bathroom .............and don't use calor gas appliances, every kilo of gas used puts out one kilo of water (that is one litre) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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