Hello.
I was hoping for some advice on another of my property’s long standing issues – mildew in the kitchen!
My house is a mixture of 1850’s construction (brick walls with I think slate DPC) and 1980’s/1990’s construction (DPC type unknown). The whole shebang is coated in white exterior paint, which is “cauliflowering” and flaking in places, but mostly good. The newer portions of the property may have cavity wall insulation – judging by what appear to be regular drill holes on the exterior.
So what is the problem?
Essentially all of the low level cupboards in the kitchen whether they be attached to an internal or external wall from either periods of construction seem to be suffering from mildew (green-ish smelly mould), not black mould. The high-level cupboards do not seem affected.
Now I know the house has a few issues. The 1850’s wall that the sink is attached too has high damp level readings and is clearly moist with flaking paint (not sure how to resolve this – beyond improving ventilation) and the stop **** under the sink seems to be half buried in the plaster and looks damp. Also a wall between the hallway and the kitchen (1850s wall) seems to show higher damp level readings on the kitchen side to the hallway side (the hallway side has been treated with something like stabilising solutions as the bare brickwork does look like it was previously crumbly but is now firm).
When I moved in I fixed a leak in the roof and some black mould in one area, but generally looking under and behind the cabinets there is no black mould, just the smell of mildew and presence of green mould.
So the question is how to I diagnose the source of the mildew and how do I get rid of the smell form the cupboards?
The kitchen does not have an extractor fan, but I do run a dehumidifier to remove excess moisture.
Thanks for any thoughts that you may have.
Damp near sink..
Under sink..
I was hoping for some advice on another of my property’s long standing issues – mildew in the kitchen!
My house is a mixture of 1850’s construction (brick walls with I think slate DPC) and 1980’s/1990’s construction (DPC type unknown). The whole shebang is coated in white exterior paint, which is “cauliflowering” and flaking in places, but mostly good. The newer portions of the property may have cavity wall insulation – judging by what appear to be regular drill holes on the exterior.
So what is the problem?
Essentially all of the low level cupboards in the kitchen whether they be attached to an internal or external wall from either periods of construction seem to be suffering from mildew (green-ish smelly mould), not black mould. The high-level cupboards do not seem affected.
Now I know the house has a few issues. The 1850’s wall that the sink is attached too has high damp level readings and is clearly moist with flaking paint (not sure how to resolve this – beyond improving ventilation) and the stop **** under the sink seems to be half buried in the plaster and looks damp. Also a wall between the hallway and the kitchen (1850s wall) seems to show higher damp level readings on the kitchen side to the hallway side (the hallway side has been treated with something like stabilising solutions as the bare brickwork does look like it was previously crumbly but is now firm).
When I moved in I fixed a leak in the roof and some black mould in one area, but generally looking under and behind the cabinets there is no black mould, just the smell of mildew and presence of green mould.
So the question is how to I diagnose the source of the mildew and how do I get rid of the smell form the cupboards?
The kitchen does not have an extractor fan, but I do run a dehumidifier to remove excess moisture.
Thanks for any thoughts that you may have.
Damp near sink..
Under sink..