Mould and damp issues

[ennogs]

Hi,

 

I am after advice on who needs to come out and inspect the block of flats that I live in. I have lived here for 12 years and never had a problem with mould or damp.  The flats are 2 stories high. There are 4 x 1 bedroom flats and 1 x 2 bedroom flat on each floor.

 

I am currently in dispute with my housing association. My housing officer is coming out Thursday and I want to talk like I know what I am going on about. I have never worked in the building industry.

 

I had a mould problem in my hallway around where my front door is on the plaster/walls. I used a mould remover spray to get rid of it but it came back.  I then called the housing repairs. A guy came out and had a look. He said I needed a mould wash. We also spotted a damp issue in my bedroom on the wall. The mould wash and damp repairs was done about 3 weeks ago.  I can already see the mould coming back in the hallway.

 

When the guy out to do the damp and mould works a new problem had started. Part of my wooden floor near the bathroom had become raised due to damp. This resulted in my bathroom door not being able to shut. I expected the guy to say we need to look into why your wooden floor has raised. He never, his reply was we need to get a carpenter out to shorten your bathroom door so it can shut again. Laughable.

 

I got onto the housing and asked for another damp specialist to come out. He also admitted my wooden floor has raised. Again, his solution was not let’s look at why your wooden floor is raised. He also said we can send a carpenter out to shorten your door.

 

I have spoken to my neighbour in the flat next to mine.  She has a problem with damp in her living room and is coming up through the carpet. Parts of her carpet are visibly damp. Her living room is the opposite sie to my part of the block of flats.  

 

I want the housing to do a full inspection of my block of flats and find out why me and at least one other neighbour has mould and damp issues. 

 

What is the title of somebody who needs to come out and fully inspect our whole block of flats structurally?

Edited September 12, 2023 by ennogs
fix mistakes

[ProDave]

Are you ground or upper floor?

 

Are you a tenant or do you own (leasehold?) your flat?

[Mr Punter]

Often mould is caused by lack of ventilation warm moist air condensing on cooler surfaces.  If you dry your clothes indoors, get a dehumidifier and run it until the clothes are completely dry. 

[ennogs]

35 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Are you ground or upper floor?

 

Are you a tenant or do you own (leasehold?) your flat?

 

I am on the ground floor. I am a tennant.

 

I want my housing assocation to fully inspect the whole block of flats.  What is the title of who needs to do that? Building engineer? Construction engineer? Something else?

[ennogs]

26 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

Often mould is caused by lack of ventilation warm moist air condensing on cooler surfaces.  If you dry your clothes indoors, get a dehumidifier and run it until the clothes are completely dry. 

 

I don't dry my clothes indoors. I have lived in the flat for 12 years without mould or damp problems. The damp and mould problems are a recent problem. The damp issue for my neighbour with her living room floor is a new problem. She has lived in her flat for 30 years. 

Edited September 12, 2023 by ennogs

[ennogs]

What is the title of whoever needs to fully check the block of flast for strucural/building problems? Construction engineer? Building engineer? Something elses?

[ProDave]

8 minutes ago, ennogs said:

 

I am on the ground floor. I am a tennant.

There is a lot talked about damp and mould, and in a lot of cases it can be poor lifestyle choices by the occupiers.  but I don't think that is the case here.

 

As you are on the ground floor, and another ground floor tenant has a similar issue, I would be wanting to lift a floor board in or near your bathroom to have a look.  Given your floor is swelling it would not surprise me to find there is a burst pipe, water under the floor and joists soaked.

 

What it needs is the landlord to take interest and have a proper look.  Just how you achieve that is the question, and sadly I don't know the answer.  Who is the landlord?  Council?  Private?

 

Do you know if there are any floorboards anywhere that have previously been lifted for previous work?  If so you might even be able to lift one yourself to have a look.

[ennogs]

13 minutes ago, ProDave said:

There is a lot talked about damp and mould, and in a lot of cases it can be poor lifestyle choices by the occupiers.  but I don't think that is the case here.

 

As you are on the ground floor, and another ground floor tenant has a similar issue, I would be wanting to lift a floor board in or near your bathroom to have a look.  Given your floor is swelling it would not surprise me to find there is a burst pipe, water under the floor and joists soaked.

 

What it needs is the landlord to take interest and have a proper look.  Just how you achieve that is the question, and sadly I don't know the answer.  Who is the landlord?  Council?  Private?

 

Do you know if there are any floorboards anywhere that have previously been lifted for previous work?  If so you might even be able to lift one yourself to have a look.

Its a private housing association. I don't want to look myself. I want a professional to inspect the whoe block of flats

 

I have a housing office coming out to my flat on Thursday. I really need to know the title of whoever needs to come out and inspect the whoe block of flats for building/constuction problems. For example lets say the title is constuction engineer.  I want to be able to say to my housing officer on Thursday a construction engineer needs to come out and inspect the whole block of flats to try and find out why the mould and damp is happening. I don't want him to say there is no such thing as a construction engneer. That is why I am looking for the title of whoever needs to come out and inpsect the whole buliding.

 

Ok, if I was buying a house whould I get to come out to inpsect the whole house to make sure there was nothing wrong constructualy with the house and make sure I wasn't about to buy a house with construction/building problems?  What would his or her title be? 

Edited September 12, 2023 by ennogs
changes

[MR10]

If the issue is damp, a little bit of googling suggests you need a damp survey done by a damp inspector or a rot and damp specialist.

 

[larry]

I don't think there is necessarily a specific title. I think you would be asking the HA to conduct an assessment by a suitably competent person. The problem is, as you suspect, the HA has a vested interest to either drag their feet, conduct an assessment that doesn't get to the root cause of the problem, etc. You may be better communicating your concerns and observations directly to the person who visits you and ask them for a proposed action plan with timescales. If they don't stick to it, or if the action plan is not suitable, engage with the HA's complaints process and keep it all in writing.  Keep clear logs of the actual 'symptoms' you are experiencing and engage with (rather than dismiss out of hand) and suggestions they make to improve the situation. Try to ask questions that are one step ahead of the process e.g. they say 'try this dehumidifier for four weeks', you say 'great, I'll try the dehumidifier for four weeks, what happens if it doesn't make a difference?'. 

[ProDave]

I would just say you need a surveyor.  When the housing officer comes out, stress the swelled bulging floor in your bathroom, and the neighbours damp in his floor and stress that is where they need to be looking, taking the floor up if necessary to find out why it is swelling and fix it.

 

Just pointing out various patches of mould on a wall is likely to be brushed off as you need to turn the heating up, open a window etc, so don't dwell too much on that, concentrate on why is the bathroom floor swelling up to the point the door is sticking, there must be something wrong there.

[ennogs]

23 minutes ago, MR10 said:

If the issue is damp, a little bit of googling suggests you need a damp survey done by a damp inspector or a rot and damp specialist.

 

Thanks I already knew that.

 

I want somebody to come out and check the whole block for building/construction problems. I know the person who does that has a title something like construction engineer. I just for the life of me cannot think of their title. 

[ennogs]

1 minute ago, ProDave said:

I would just say you need a surveyor.  When the housing officer comes out, stress the swelled bulging floor in your bathroom, and the neighbours damp in his floor and stress that is where they need to be looking, taking the floor up if necessary to find out why it is swelling and fix it.

 

Just pointing out various patches of mould on a wall is likely to be brushed off as you need to turn the heating up, open a window etc, so don't dwell too much on that, concentrate on why is the bathroom floor swelling up to the point the door is sticking, there must be something wrong there.

Thanks.

[saveasteading]

4 hours ago, ennogs said:

Its a private housing association.

I have only encountered one, and their attitude to tenants was appalling. Defensive and patronising are the politest of the words that come to mind.

I hadn't expected that.

 

Yes  you need a 'building engineer', perhaps called a construction technologist. They could be Engineer, Architect, Surveyor, or a builder, ut not just any one.

Someone who has seen it all before and understands both the sources of damp and building construction.

That's all very well to say but I wouldn't know who to ask in my area.  A few of us on here clearly would have a decent idea, but they probably don't live near.

 

Anyway, as above.  if a problem has just appeared recently then it should go away again, or there is something that can be sorted. 

What is different this year? Did you have any exceptional rain? it can take  a very long time to dry out.  The first thing I would look at would be the external levels relative to dpc and air bricks. 

then lift floor boards as @ProDavesuggests. you might well find water and mud sitting under there. that would b e good, as it is sortable.

 

Have you any pictures to help us? any signs of problems, and the wall outside even if it looks ok.

[Dave Jones]

you need to find the cause of the damp, it could well be you.

 

Buy a cheap humidity reader and take measurements inside for a couple weeks, compare that to outside.  How are your kitchen and bathrooms vented ? Do the windows have open trickle vents? 

 

Look for any obvious external factors, gutters blocked, overflows, poor masonry etc

 

Has any insulation anywhere been added recently?

[Mr Punter]

I would not worry about the rest of the block, just your own flat and possibly the neighbour's.  A Building Surveyor would be able to visit, inspect and produce a specific defect report on the probable cause of the damp.  Cost about £400.

[Conor]

Has anything changed in or around the building recently? New paving, doors/windows, roofing works? Blocked gutter?