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Simon in Hampshire, England

by Jonathan
Photo of black mold cluster on wall

Cluster of black mold on wall

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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.

Photo of mold streaks on the wall corners

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
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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.

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1 comment

Jonathan July 6, 2011 - 9:36 pm

Simon, I’ll let folks with more experience weigh in on your questions. Overall, it sounds like you have a good plan of attack. Anything that you can do to bring more sunlight into the picture and avoid “dampness” is also good. I remember the same sore throat symptoms from a room that I slept in which I later realized had mold in the walls. See if you notice a difference in the other room. Also, moving when the lease expires sounds like a wise choice.

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