Modern buildings are often poorly ventilated and tenants end up complaining about damp and mould. It’s a real problem for Yorkshire’s landlords and homeowners, who can’t be expected to know how important ventilation is; it isn’t written on the door when they arrive.
Most of my ‘damp’ surveys are the result of mould growth, caused by condensation. The video below is typical of what I find, even on pretty new developments in and around Yorkshire (this one’s in Leeds).
Communication is key and all tenants should be supplied with a simple guide on condensation and what they can do to help reduce this ‘designed in’ problem.
Where tenants don’t want to or can’t help, there are many excellent products available to combat the problem – each house is different and the first thing to do is inspect and identify the true cause. Then a range of measures can be used to eliminate the mould problem completely.
Often (as in the featured case from Leeds), it’s a no brainer, but occasionally careful data monitoring and testing is needed.
There is always a solution and it’s rarely expensive. However, the worst thing any landlord can do is procrastinate or worse still, blame the tenant. I’ve seen many quite small issues end up with fall-outs, legal wrangles and unhappiness and expense all round.
If you’d like to get your teeth into the techy stuff have a look through the ‘condensation’ tags. I can help you with any mould problems with advice via this blog or, if you are in Yorkshire, I can pop along and diagnose what’s happening and why.
Dry Rot