Mould

Hello ...same story here , we rented in may so we didnt have any idea of what the place was gonna be like in winter. We have mould only in one room which is the main bedroom. It all started in octber and we immediately , of course, called landlord who was very relaxed about it . He explained that in malta every house suffers from it and that the bedroom hasn't gor a double wall and that's why it happens. The only thing we got was a dehumidifier. My friend on the other hand thretend her landlord to leave the place cause in her contract mould wasnt metioned and managed to get 100 euro discount plus the place professionaly cleaned. What can I say .....i will soon leave the place and be aware to ask next time and make sure its in my contract . Good luck
Giuseppina

Not sure you would have to read your contract, but surely the landlord has to do something to fix it, mould is seriously detrimental to your health.

mould can be a big problem here for sure and most places suffer from it to varying degrees, depending on heating and ventilation, design/layout and build quality....... many get caught out by it... sometimes it is better to run a dehumidifier rather than a heater as that takes the water vapour out of the air and makes it feeel dryer and thus warmer.... it can feel much warmer outside than inside for sure.....LOL we also run elec blankets for bedding and our clothes during the winter as in the morning they can feel damp.

Hi,
ventilate, as often and as long as you can. Even if you have heaters on open the windows  for longer periods, especially in the bathroom. We keep our bathroom and bedroom windows open all day and the mould situation got much better. Use mould spray ( careful as it contains bleach), spray it on, leave it for couple of minutes and then wipe the mould of. Dry cloth  does not kill them only wipes of the surface. We use mould spray on white painted walls as well and it does not leave a mark. A maltese shopkeeper told me that his wife washes the walls with bleach regularly.
If you are planning to repaint the walls , there are solutions available wich prevent mould and can be added to wall paints.

If you did include a 'mould' comment in a contract, how would one word it? Especially if there is minimal mould showing when one views the property?

there are properties without mould. maybe the best approach is to hunt for an apartment during winter. this way even if the place was properly cleaned you'll see/smell if there used to be mould

we did that a few winters ago and still got it - its all to do with ventitlation an heating and the innner and outer temps - if the property is emepty when you look at it its likely to be ok...then but once you start heating it  - the mould will start.

Iknow that some people use bottled gas heaters and they won't help as they tend to cause a lot of condensation. We are on the top floor with a north west facing window but luckily we have hardly been hit. We do use a dehumidifier when we are here. I don't have any of my furniture pushed right up to the wall..someone told me to leave a gap. In the drawers and wardrobes we have those little bags of crystals that you often get in packaged goods. We save them and use them here. Seems to work. Any sign of mould and the mould spray comes out. Think you need a dehumidifier.

hm, most probably you are right and heating is another part of the equation. we haven't used any kind of a heating here yet as it is not really cold inside.

we ve been through 10 bottles so far.....

If you did include a 'mould' comment in a contract, how would one word it? Especially if there is minimal mould showing when one views the property?

If you view the property in May (which is gonna be my case) and there's no mould and you ask the landlord if the house suffers from mould in winter and He answers no , you must not trust him and get him to write it in the contract , and sign it.

I dont see how any landlord could or would possibly agree to it as mould is dependant on many factors totally out of his control...

I just discovered that I have mould growing on my bedrooms curtains.

Any clue on how to fight and clean that ?

washing machine

matm911 wrote:

washing machine

They are big and thick, I'm not actually sure they will fit in my washing machine.

Plus I'm afraid they will never dry before March...

OK, that's a point,In your case it's better to give the curtains to a laundry

we had this problem with curtains too - big heavy thick ones - and even dry cleaning couldnt get rid of the black damp mould - they were still stained.......

gas heaters, ventilation, AC. The absolutely best advise I was told by a motor home and sailing boat owner: CAT LITTER! I have small decorative bags filled with cat litter in every corner of my flat, behind the books, behind the pictures, in the wardrobes and big, less decorative bags on the stairs to the roof terrace and upstairs in washing room. It works! No mold at all this year :-).

Aulikki

Likki wrote:

gas heaters, ventilation, AC. The absolutely best advise I was told by a motor home and sailing boat owner: CAT LITTER! I have small decorative bags filled with cat litter in every corner of my flat, behind the books, behind the pictures, in the wardrobes and big, less decorative bags on the stairs to the roof terrace and upstairs in washing room. It works! No mold at all this year :-).

Aulikki

wow now i must try that when and if i get it back - you can get perfumed litter too - we have a cat so its not an extra expense so got to be worth a try.

Thansk Aulikki

Hi Aulikki

This is very interesting! This method I could use as well.
How often do you change it? How do you dispose this cat litter? Do you dehumidify it?

Thank you for your reply.
Tina

Cat litter is effective but then so is adequate ventilation at the expense of 'cosy' heat.

We had an experience this winter with 'a-la cat litter' (similar silicagel bought from Homemate). My wife put it in the box with shoes and there were no mould after winter season. And a lot of water in the box with gel

Thank you for idea about cat litter - it would be much cheaper!

Likki!

Talk to me, educate me on how to use that cat litter. I have 6 bedroom house with additional basement and a roof. Happy to go crazy. But as someone who never had a cat don't know ho to go about cat litter...
I read somewhere that there will be water in the cat litter, so I'm guessing decorative meshy bags won't work... But correct me if I'm wrong. What amounts would you use? how often would you change them? Where would you place? And where abouts/how many in each room? And first of all how would you make such packages? what sort of bags/containers/ etc?

Much thanks!

You have replied to a post from 2013, you would be better off starting a new topic.

Googling alternative dehumidifiers finds you plenty of detailed articles even videos.  I have charcoal in my garage and it helped a lot, just standing around the place in open containers.

Unfortunately mould is an annoying and dangerous issue. And some climates don't help.  But cleaning it with specials solutions and painting with certain paints can help.