Well, the war is probably won, but I won't know it for a few months. First here's some background. I have a fitted wardrobe in my bedroom, quite a simple thing really, it has no back to it though, it's just a plastered wall. This happens to be an external wall on the 1st floor of my house, which is on quite a steep hill, about 2m away from another house. The wind blows quite strongly along this tunnel, and as such the wall gets very cold. Cold wall and warm room leads to condensation, and condensation leads to mould. The house in general has mould in a few places, poorly insulated walls and not enough air circulation are probably the cause (no damp according to a surveyor). The wardrobe was the worst though as the mould would get on to my clothes which then needed to be washed.
The previous con-artist, I mean owner, obviously knew of this problem and stuck cork-boards to the rear of the wardrobe. These in hindsight alleviated the problem, but at the time they were unsightly, smelly, and crumbly. Not only would I get mouldy clothes, they would have cork-dust on them too.
Battle #1: Back in July I decided to remove all of the cork-boards completely as I thought they might be exacerbating the problem. One weekend I spent all day Saturday and Sunday working on the problem. I dismantled the wardrobe as much as I could and removed all of the cork. It was stuck on extremely well and I was knackered by the end of it. I also painted the walls with an anti-condensation paint and cut 4 large ventilation holes around the edge of the wardrobe to let some air, and hopefully heat circulate. I put everything back together and thought that was it.
By October I started to discover a few of my clothes with mould again. I thought "Oh well, it must only be a few little bits, lets look at the back". Oh My God! It was 10 times worse than before, some of my clothes looked like they were alive. I pulled out all those that were mouldy to be washed straight away (2 full bin-liners) and thought what can I do next.
Mould 1 : Me 0.
Battle #2: The next step was to insulate the loft cavity above the wardrobe as I thought the heat must be escaping through the top as I remember the insulation stopping about 12" away from the edge of the house. An easy job, I already had some spare wool, so I could just lay it down. While up there I discovered the area over the wardrobe had had a plywood floor put on top of it, luckily screwed down so it was easily removable. It wasn't. Hours later, after I had bought a new tool to cut through it, the cavity was insulated, plus the edge of the roof. I also discovered a small broken tile that was letting water in, so I also fixed that too (I think). With the area insulated, a leak fixed, I thought I was on to a winner.
It was the middle of November when I looked again and found more of my clothes mouldy and the rear wall damp with condensation still.
Mould 2 : Me 0.
Battle #3: Last weekend I continued the saga. I took out all of my clothes to be washed, probably another 3-4 bin-liners worth including about 8 pairs of mouldy shoes/trainers. I dismantled the wardrobe, this time more thoroughly than before in an effort to sort it once and for all. In the process I discovered an old pull-cord light switch that had been disconnected but left in place. There was also a water-mark around the fitting which indicated either water or just cold-air was coming in. I removed the fitting, sealed it all up and then cleaned everything with anti-mould cleaner. I mounted polystyrene tiles around the ceiling and walls, sealing each joint front and back with mould-resistant and waterproof sealer until (almost) the entire inside was covered. There is one section not finished as I ran out of adhesive and sealer, but it is the section that gets the most heat as it’s close to an internal wall. I assembled the wardrobe and put all the misc stuff back in, awaiting all my clothes to be washed and ironed. I finished this about 9:30pm on Sunday night, ready to have my Sunday Roast, some TV, a shower and then bed. Luckily for me I have a wonderful and understanding girlfriend who helped me throughout and even prepared a delicious dinner for me!
Mould 2 : Me 1?
How can I win the war if I'm losing you may ask (if you're that interested). Well, the allies won the war eventually, even though at one point it looked pretty hopeless. The analogy might be a bit far fetched, but if the mould stays away, and the wardrobe stays dry then that's enough for me.
My joints ache and my hands hurt from the constant action on the sealant/adhesive guns, but I'm quite satisfied that it might finally be over, after probably 5/6 full days of work. If its not, then we might have to move house as I’ve got no idea what to do next!
1 comment:
Somehow I don't think the polystyrene is going to do the trick. I think it's going to end up like the cork: smelly and wet! Perhaps when a certain person gets a job we can move but we need to be wiser next time. Let's hope the polystyrene solves the problem for a while though.
By the way, your girlfriend is totally not understanding! :P
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