Fungi Problems in New Build - any ideas?

PMOLeary

We're living in our new build house with 3yrs and recently we've noticed some Fungi growing on the 2 exterior block walls of our bedroom. We self built our home and had the outside block walls dry lined. There is no sign of dampness, both walls are nowhere near the ensuite and there's no water tank or similar in the attic above this area. Also, it's only happening in our bedroom and not the other rooms in the house.
Does anyone have any ideas what could cause this or what we could do to get rid of it, really concerned there's a bigger problem here!
Thanks in advance.

sinnerboy

could it be a rad leak ?

Mellor

Pesky Dolphin

ircoha

Can u post some pics/ give some detail of where the fungus is?

Fugus in bedrooms is not uncommon behind the bed/wardrobes/ bedside units if there is poor/no ventilation in the room as 2 adults produce a lot of water vapour just sleeping:)
Also, is the bed room near the kitchen?
Do u have a extractor fan in the ensuite/kitchen?

This was discussed some time ago here and one of the mods described the concept of warm, vapour laden air moving, due to partial vapour pressure differentials, from the kitchen/bathroom to the colder bedrooms. This will happen without a draught

RKQ

Sounds like condensation to me.

Ircoha is right, afew photos would be very useful!

PMOLeary

Thanks. I can't post a pic at the moment, I can try describe it. It started in the corner of room, which is the north facing corner of the house. It's don't very dark or obvious, but it's starting to get more obvious and spread from the corner along the 2 exterior walls. The walls are painted cream and the fungi is a light grey colour, in various sized dots on the wall.
Dont think its a rad leak. Maybe it is condensation, we do have vents in the windows but maybe they're not enough...

muffler

Without seeing it obviously I would tend to agree with ircoha's thoughts on the issue. It is most likely is condensation.

A couple of tips: Try to get more ventilation into the room either by leaving window vents open or the windows themselves. If you have bedroom doors opposite each other leave the doors and the windows/vents in each room open to allow for an flow to be created.

Move beds, lockers, dressing tables or whatever is along the wall out by approx. 300mm (12") to allow for air flow.

You may need additional vents if the problem persists.

To get rid of the fungi/mould mix about an eggcup full of vinegar to a basin of water and rinse a cloth in the mix and wring out. Wipe the affected part of the wall down with the damp cloth. You would need to repeat this daily for 2 - 3 weeks.

The above is all based on the assumption of the problem being condensation but from what you have described it sure seems like it.

NickTellis

Do what muffler suggests to remove the mould and if you find that leaving a window open is out of the question I'd recommend investing in a dehumidifier. You'd be amazed at just how much water it collects in a few hours. :eek:

Eurorunner

PMOLeary wrote: »

Thanks. I can't post a pic at the moment, I can try describe it. It started in the corner of room, which is the north facing corner of the house. It's don't very dark or obvious, but it's starting to get more obvious and spread from the corner along the 2 exterior walls. The walls are painted cream and the fungi is a light grey colour, in various sized dots on the wall.
Dont think its a rad leak. Maybe it is condensation, we do have vents in the windows but maybe they're not enough...

Had exactly the same problem. Mould in north facing corner of coldest bedroom in house adjoining bathroom. Have rented room out 3 times over the last few years - with two out of the three occupants, they were convinced there was a leak/water ingress and were trying to convince me of the same. However, when room is unoccupied (as it is now) or when the third occupant was in there - there was no problem. The difference being that 1 of the 3 utilised the window vent - the others didn't.
House builders are trying to turn out more airtight builds now - hence no vent in the room (which i'm glad about) - but in turn, this leads to a ventilation problem.
I think ircoha's point about partial vapour pressure differentials is part of the problem too (as room is next to bathroom). Other than getting occupants to manually ventilate by opening vents/windows in bathroom/bedroom, not sure what else can be done? I know in a new build scenario, heat recovery systems and consequently controlled ventilation would solve the problem. But in an existing situation, what else can be done?
BTW, get rid of that mould immediately. A bucket of bleach and a cloth did the job in my case.

NickTellis

Eurorunner wrote: »

BTW, get rid of that mould immediately. A bucket of bleach and a cloth did the job in my case.

I hope you mean a bucket of water with a capfull of bleach

Eurorunner

NickTellis wrote: »

I hope you mean a bucket of water with a capfull of bleach

LOL . thats right :pac: