Fungus on the wall

kingaaa

My bedroom wall has developed some sort of fungus in a corner tha meets the partition wall where the shower is on the other side. It is also in an area where the flashing is on the exterior side of the wall. I've had a look at the exterior wall and it seems to be fine, and the shower is fully tiled so I'm at a loss as to where the damp is coming from. Now I want to go through my home insurance with this, I'm sick just paying for a policy that I'm afraid to use in case my premium goes up. Anybody any advice what way to proceed? who do I contact first, insurance company or builder? Does anybody know of a good builder on the northside that handles insurance claims and deals directly with the insurace company?

sydthebeat

your insurance contract will have a defined set of incidents under which you can claim.... you need to read your insurance documents.

i would be highly surprised if this situation is covered, unless it can be shown to be caused by a break in the weather proof layer causing water ingress.

your first port of call is to your insurance company.

daver123

do you have a extractor fan in the bathroom?

kingaaa

daver123 wrote: »

do you have a extractor fan in the bathroom?

yes, have an electric one.

dathi

when you say fungus do you mean little strange colored mushrooms or black mold if its mold then it could be a ventilation problem in the room however if if its mushrooms its possible that you have a leak in the pipes supplying your shower which are concealed in the wall.

kingaaa

dathi wrote: »

when you say fungus do you mean little strange colored mushrooms or black mold if its mold then it could be a ventilation problem in the room however if if its mushrooms its possible that you have a leak in the pipes supplying your shower which are concealed in the wall.

yeah, its black mould., wipe it away and it comes back. cant see why there would be a ventilation problem though, nothings changed in the room and there is a vent?

MicktheMan

kingaaa wrote: »

yeah, its black mould., wipe it away and it comes back. cant see why there would be a ventilation problem though, nothings changed in the room and there is a vent?

How long have you had the problem?
Any changes made (insulation, windows, etc) to the house or occupant behaviour, say, within 12 months of first noticing the problem?
How long have you lived in the house?
What type of house (tf, cavity block, etc)?
Any sign of the problem anywhere else in the house (other rooms, walls, clothing)?
Is the house heated to the same degree now as to when you didn't have the problem?

sinnerboy

as above +

can air circulate freely at this place , or is there usually a box , or wardrobe or laundry basket or some other thing that restricts air movement local to the troubled spot ?

Surveyor11

Sounds like condensation which will cause conditions for mold to grow. Caused by either poor circulation, or possibly a cold bridge - this is where the wall is not insulated properly and although waterproof will cause condensation to form. Any chance you could post a picture of it? An insurance company will not pay out on this - it's either "poor workmanship" or "gradual loss" - both excluded from policies.

kingaaa

MicktheMan wrote: »

How long have you had the problem?
Any changes made (insulation, windows, etc) to the house or occupant behaviour, say, within 12 months of first noticing the problem?
How long have you lived in the house?
What type of house (tf, cavity block, etc)?
Any sign of the problem anywhere else in the house (other rooms, walls, clothing)?
Is the house heated to the same degree now as to when you didn't have the problem?

It's only been happening the last month or so, nothing is against the wall - I'm living there 19 years this April, its never happened before. Its an empty corner, nearest thing is the side of the dressing table 2 feet away. There has been no changes in heating, windows, wallpaper/paint. I would imagine its cavity block - the house is circa 1970. no problems anywhere else in the house.

kingaaa

Surveyor11 wrote: »

Sounds like condensation which will cause conditions for mold to grow. Caused by either poor circulation, or possibly a cold bridge - this is where the wall is not insulated properly and although waterproof will cause condensation to form. Any chance you could post a picture of it? An insurance company will not pay out on this - it's either "poor workmanship" or "gradual loss" - both excluded from policies.

I'll try get some pic's up soon

kingaaa

Here are some pics :

MicktheMan

Leak.
If the shower is the far side of that wall, and you have ruled out the roof, then I would suspect this as the source, either pipework or tiles. I don't think insurance will cover, but I'm no expert.

kingaaa

MicktheMan wrote: »

Leak.
If the shower is the far side of that wall, and you have ruled out the roof, then I would suspect this as the source, either pipework or tiles. I don't think insurance will cover, but I'm no expert.

Definitely not the roof, the only other thing is the flashing for a kitchen extension (was there when I bought the house) is on the exterior wall behind the mould. If it is a pipe leak surely the house insurance would cover that?

Surveyor11

Yeah, looks like a leak if it's just materialised, looks like water damage there causing that. WOuld need investigating - in this case, the insurance company may consider a claim. You'll need a report from a professional / qualified person - a plumbers one might suffice. The onus on you as the insured is to prove loss.

kingaaa

Surveyor11 wrote: »

Yeah, looks like a leak if it's just materialised, looks like water damage there causing that. WOuld need investigating - in this case, the insurance company may consider a claim. You'll need a report from a professional / qualified person - a plumbers one might suffice. The onus on you as the insured is to prove loss.

So do you reckon a plumber? I would have thought a builder! if it is the shower that probably means the tiles will have to be pulled off the wall - aren't there companies that come out to inspect damage and then they deal with the insurance company?

Pottler

kingaaa wrote: »

So do you reckon a plumber? I would have thought a builder! if it is the shower that probably means the tiles will have to be pulled off the wall - aren't there companies that come out to inspect damage and then they deal with the insurance company?

unlikly a plumber would deal with this, when you pull off the tiles you will likly find the plasterboard or ply behind are sodden and mouldy. The tiles will need to come off, the plasterboard replaced with a waterproof one and be re-tiled. if the damp is coming through into the other room, the sheet of board on that side is probably also ruined.. You need a builder, it's not a big job, but it's not quite as small as people often think either. We no longer use plasterboard on any area that might ever be exposed to water from a leak. There's better materials out there in sheet form. Then again, we hardly ever use tiles anymore either, for the same reaons.:)

Surveyor11

You could try a loss assessor (not an adjuster - they work for the insurance company and generally try to minimize the insurance company's loss)- they will normally come out on a "no foal no fee basis", but they will take a percentage of the claim - usually 10%.

It may be the case that the assessor looks for a report - so either a plumber that can expose a few tiles, or else engage a surveyor to do a check. Either way, you're going to have to spend a small amount to proceed the claim - as I say, you have to prove your loss. Any way you could do this yourself? Com;ining a claim is not a major deal, and this would be a relatively small one.

kingaaa

Surveyor11 wrote: »

You could try a loss assessor (not an adjuster - they work for the insurance company and generally try to minimize the insurance company's loss)- they will normally come out on a "no foal no fee basis", but they will take a percentage of the claim - usually 10%.

It may be the case that the assessor looks for a report - so either a plumber that can expose a few tiles, or else engage a surveyor to do a check. Either way, you're going to have to spend a small amount to proceed the claim - as I say, you have to prove your loss. Any way you could do this yourself? Com;ining a claim is not a major deal, and this would be a relatively small one.

I know I cant get any reccomendations on the thread, can anybody pm me a number for a good loss assessor? I'm in Dublin 5 if that makes a difference?

dathi

a picture tell a thousand words ok just to be clear the wall with the socket on it is that the wall which has the shower on the other side of it ?and the wall with the leak damage is an external wall? if the wall with the damage is an external wall then you probably have a leak in flashing or broken tile. if the damage is on the wall between shower room and bed room then its shower related. but dont take tiles of shower to fix it. fix it by cutting hole in plasterboard from bedroom side to expose pipes

kingaaa

dathi wrote: »

a picture tell a thousand words ok just to be clear the wall with the socket on it is that the wall which has the shower on the other side of it ?and the wall with the leak damage is an external wall? if the wall with the damage is an external wall then you probably have a leak in flashing or broken tile. if the damage is on the wall between shower room and bed room then its shower related. but dont take tiles of shower to fix it. fix it by cutting hole in plasterboard from bedroom side to expose pipes

yeah, the wall with the mould on it is basically the back of the house, and on the other side of it is a pitched roof from an extension - only thing is - the flashing is not the same height as the top of the mould? the wall with the socket is indeed a stud wall with the shower on the other side of it, but would this wall not also show signs of damp if it were the shower?

Pottler

Had a look at the pics, if that were somthing I was called out to look at, I'd take off that damp section of plasterboard straightaway for a proper look. Plasterboard is easily blended back in and the skirting board is badly done anyway so would be no harm to replace it. My version of what that is is the seam where the tiles on two walls meet in the shower enclosure leaking. The boards ruined anyway and the mould will only get worse so no loss to whip it off and have a good poke around.

fozz10

plasterer here. call a local plasterer to come out and take off the slab its no big deal bout half hours work. take it from there then. once its off you will see straight away where the leak is a decent plasterer should also spot where its coming from. it wont cost much to take it off and look. by the looks of it its not just a tiny leak so should be easilly spotted. if its from anything like shower,pipes what ever then call a plumber to sort it the get the plasterer back. certainly dont pay a builder to fix that