Black mould

[MdB]

Pretty obviously, starling, jackdaw, house sparrow, swallow, pipistrelle, while smaller creatures need searching out.

Hmm... we only have two out of that list in the house. Must try harder.

This Jackdaw decided to come down the chimney (with a lot of soot) and then fly around the house before trying to fly through the closed kitchen window. It was confused enough that I was able to grab it and eject it out the house. Seemed happy enough when released.

The bat landed on the wall whilst we had all the doors and windows removed enabling me to take a picture. It was quite something to see a pair of them chase around the house at high speed in and out of the windows.

 

[Penners]

Let's hear it for the Myxomycetes.

Gimme an M!
Gimme a Y!
Gimme an X!
Gimme an ....er....um.......spellchecker.....

 

[michael]

I found that Sandtex trade fungicide works pretty well in killing the mould. It’s quite powerful stuff and is really meant for exterior use so make sure there’s plenty of ventilation in the house (windows open etc) if you use it. It also bleaches dark clothes if it splashes on you. You have to mix it with water, apply, leave for 24 hours and then wash off to remove any remaining spores.
That will kill the existing mould but you will then have to take steps to stop a new batch from forming. i.e. all the ventilation/heating tips given above plus when you redecorate, preferably immediately after using the fungicide, use a breathable paint such as Earthborn clay paint that will adhere to modern wall surfaces.

 

[biffvernon]

Sandtex trade fungicide is in fact sodium hypochlorite, NaClO, and water 4.6%w/w (50 grammes per litre). It's other name is bleach.
Bad for mould and much else. According to Wikipedia, "It is estimated that there are about 3300 accidents needing hospital treatment caused by sodium hypochlorite solutions each year in British homes (RoSPA, 2002)." Take care.

 

[worms]

Yes, but I have always found it strange that many of the people who have a great fear of hypochlorite bleaches are quite happy to use it for the baby when it is marketed as Milton...

 

[Schoolmarm]

:shock: not me!!!

 

[ilona73]

Yes, but I have always found it strange that many of the people who have a great fear of hypochlorite bleaches are quite happy to use it for the baby when it is marketed as Milton...

Not me!

 

[Penners]

use it for the baby when it is marketed as Milton...

I've never come across this in my life.

Are babies frequently marketed as Milton?

 

[JoceAndChris]

Sorry, Biff, but I'd just like to give a huge cheer for bleach.

What else is so cheap and cleansing? I LOVE bleach, there's nothing so uplifting as a fresh kitchen scoured with bleach. Silverfish expiring on the end of a bleachy scrubber-beetles drowning in bleach, lovely. And it does wonders for stained china, even stained stone (though I'm probably going to have Lime coming in again, so I'd best keep quiet about some of my bleaching experiments).

And when your friends' little darlings have really pushed you over the edge there's always a refreshing bleach n' banana smoothie to finish em all off. :twisted:

 

[Nicole W]

Hi Everyone

A big thank you for all your replies. Sorry for not getting back earlier. Our house is (as far as I'm aware) half stone and top half is brick. My husband thinks that adding insulating board to the rooms' external walls where possible (I mean inside the rooms!) would make a difference to the heat retained and therefore reducing mould. Do you think this would work or is it a waste of money?

I've been opening a lot more windows in the house and have just bought a big bottle of spray bleach to start trying to get rid of the black stuff.

Cheers

Nicole

 

[Flyfisher]

Dry lining is bound to reduce heat loss through the walls by some unknown (to me at least) amount, but if the root cause of the mould problem is condensation then it might not be the final answer. If you really can't control the condensation then perhaps a dehumidifier might be helpful? It would certainly be a simple thing to try - compared with dry-lining all your external walls anyway.

 

[Lime]

Hi Everyone

A big thank you for all your replies. Sorry for not getting back earlier. Our house is (as far as I'm aware) half stone and top half is brick. My husband thinks that adding insulating board to the rooms' external walls where possible (I mean inside the rooms!) would make a difference to the heat retained and therefore reducing mould. Do you think this would work or is it a waste of money?

I've been opening a lot more windows in the house and have just bought a big bottle of spray bleach to start trying to get rid of the black stuff.

Cheers

Nicole

Heat retention by "dry" lining will not reduce the mould you say you have and may make the situation worse.

The problem is that our house is growing a lot of black mould - window frames, curtains, inside cupboards, bathroom ceiling etc.

While insulation on the outer walls may keep much more of the heat in the house it will do nothing to reduce the moisture content of the air. Some extra warmth will be available to heat the curtains but the fundmental problem is too much moisture in the warm house air and internal cold surfaces. Insulating the walls will not rid your home of cold surfaces.
Steady gentle heat will improve the situation.

Placing insulation on the walls may give some heating benefit but in the long term there will be considerable problems caused by trapping the water/moisture coming out of the stone walls behind the insulation.
Sealing the walls will cause problems for the walls too.

 

[biffvernon]

It would certainly help keep the heat in. What it would do for the mould is not quite so simple.

 

[Nicole W]

Thanks again. I guess they're two separate issues. One, try and keep the house warmer (electricity bills are crippling!) and two, get rid of the mould. Oh well, the joys of living in an old property

 

[Nicole W]

Oh and another thing, can anyone recommend a good dehumidifier? There seems to be lots on the market ranging from a few quid to a few hundred quid! Also (assuming we get one) where's the best place in the house to put it?

 

[Feltwell]

Oh and another thing, can anyone recommend a good dehumidifier? There seems to be lots on the market ranging from a few quid to a few hundred quid! Also (assuming we get one) where's the best place in the house to put it?

Mine's a B&Q cheapie and it works fine, it's a few years old now as well. How much effect it has outside of the room it's in - debateable, must be more to do with the air flow around the house than the de-humidifier itself I'd say.

First thing I'd do though would be to get rid of that condensing tumble dryer - none of them work that well, they all put lots of moisture into the air. If you really feel that you can't live without one then get a vented model and install a vent in an outside wall, it's a not a big job, and all the moisture is guarenteed to go outside.

 

[Lime]

I think I should just put a good word in for our Servis condensing washing machine / dryer.
Condensers are not all bad.
On the drying cycle the machine flushes cold tap water through a heat exchanger every 2 minutes then pumps the cooling water and condensate out.
Apart from the noise you would not know it is on, no heat, steam or smell apparent.
Green it is not, however, and my wife prefers to hang the washing out.

 

[Feltwell]

I think the critical difference there is that it is a washer/dryer rather than just a dryer. Most of the tumble dryers I've seen have no connection to the water or to a drain, they simply collect the water in a tub that has to be emptied.

Limited experience I will admit but we found it made the kitchen very hot & humid, with a noticeable increase in condensation. We only bought it as we were renting a place for a while so couldn't put a permanent vent in. We did have a washer/dryer a few years previously and I don't remember any problem, I guess the fact that it has access to cold water to cool the condensor must help a lot.

 

[Nicole W]

Unfortunately I'm not in the position to just get rid of the tumble dryer, so I will have to work around it. As I mentioned earlier, I do put things out on the line when possible, however with 2 small children, clothes need to be washed and dried quickly so it's not always possible to dry clothes the 'green' way.

I'll look in to dehumidifiers and if it's possible will get one and put it between where we have our tumble dryer and kitchen as they seem to be the biggest culprits.

Thanks

Nicole

 

[biffvernon]

The mould likes the damp. Warming it up will only make it grow faster. Dehumidifiers aren't a lot of use in the summer when folk open the window. Best just to open a window. And another window.

Tumble driers are mad. If you have to have one (maybe you like soft towels) stick it in the garage.