I have been living in a flat for 4 years now that has mold in almost every room. We have had mold since we moved in. It is worse in the winter. Six months ago I started getting severe headaches and a few days later I started experiencing light sensitivity. 2 weeks ago I started getting very itchy skin, especially my hands.
We have been fighting with our local council to get moved but nothing has come of it. I have also been going to my doctors about it but they don’t know about mold allergies so have dismissed it. I have had blood tests and an mri scan that have all come back clear. I am at the end of my tether about it all. I have lived the last six months wearing sunglasses just so that I can get out of bed in the mornings.
Questions:
I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this? If so how did you sort it out?
I live in an old period house (at least 100 or 200 year old – not sure, as it’s rented). I noticed a streak along the wall the other day in our bedroom. It was about 3 or 4 inches long, in a fairly bright area of the room. Upon closer inspection I found it was mold and wiped it off. Then I took a step back and realised the entire wall had lots of tiny dots, between the size of a pinhead and upto 1/8th of an inch in size. This has slowly been getting worse.
Mold streaks on the wall corners
Having had a sore throat on and off for about a month now, I decided the two could be connected (I’m also a smoker, so that doesn’t help I’m sure!), so went on a mold hunt, and found a lot more. Behind a cupboard that is a cluster of mold that looks like black mold, about 2 foot high and a foot or so wide. There is also a greeny type mold behind our bed. Pics are included.
We’ve probably not done ourselves any favours, as I always prefer to wrap up warm than run the heating (oil fired central heating + single glazed windows = very expensive), so it has probably been slightly damp in there for several months.
We’re about to tackle the mold now. I have a face mask, and we intend to:
Clean the walls and ceiling with milton solution.
Wet and dry vacuum the carpets
Clean all the furniture with the milton solution
Wash all the bed linen and bin the matress (time for a new one anyway!)
Run a dehumidifier and electric heater, with the window wide open, for a few days to get it properly dried out.
Sleep in another room until it’s sorted
Hopefully this will solve the issue! I don’t think old character properties are for us, so we intend to move when our lease expires!
Questions
1. How hazardous is this amount of mold + obvious airborne particles?
2. Will this cleaning process help solve the issue?
3. Anything else I should do? We could get the landlord/professionals involved, but I don’t know if the problem is bad enough to warrant that.
