Help!

I have a rental property, a 1900 end terrace. It is standard brick construction and slate roof, the exterior is rendered.

I rent the property out and for the last 3 years have had a single mother and 3 children living there, last year she complained about mould growth on the walls of the upstairs bedroom so I asked a local company for advice and they advised installing extractor fans in the lounge and dining room, kitchen and bathroom (all downstairs) and air bricks in the upstairs rooms which I did.

This year the mould seems to have come back with a vengeance and I don't know which way to turn now. The guy who does my maintenance says that the ridge tiles need repointing and therefore the roof is leaking which is causing the water to ingress into the walls and make the mould worse, so I got a surveyor to have a look and he categorically swears there is no holes in the roof but has advised to replace the soffits and fascias as there is absolutely no ventilation in the roof. There is also mould in the roof. He cannot understand why the walls are so mouldy as with the ventilation in the rooms, plus the tenant opening windows all the time there shouldn't be a condensation problem which is what it looks like. He tested the walls upstairs and said there was no sign of damp at all.

I don't really know which way to turn now, I was wondering if it was coming through the rendering but surely the wall would show up as damp if this was the case? I don't know whether just to go for it and put in a condensation control unit in the loft, get the ridge tiles repointed, replace the soffits and fascias, get the outside of the house painted with a silicone paint to repel water and line the internal walls with insulating plasterboard but I know this will cost a small fortune and I don't even know if it will solve the problem?

I am not sure what can be causing it, has anyone come across this at all?

condensation is caused by drying washing on radiators having baths and showers without extraction and or with doors open
also can be caused by things like cooking badly fitted tumble dryer or paraffin bottled gas heaters

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we are all ------------------still learning

I understand that but surely with extractor fans, air bricks, windows open, a condensing tumble drier etc. it shouldn't be happening, that is exactly my point!

do you dry any clothing indoors this includes towels after use ??

do you air the damp rooms on a daily basis??

do you keep the doors shut between the damp rooms and the rest off the house??

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we are all ------------------still learning

She possibly dries the wet towels indoors after use, who doesn't?

Rooms are aired every day, she nearly always has upstairs windows open (which is where the problem is), you can't really open the downstairs windows for security reasons as the house is directly on the path.

The only rooms you can shut is the bedrooms, none of the other rooms have doors (apart from the bathroom which is always kept shut), I don't know about the bedroom doors being shut all the time so will mention this one.

I just can't believe it is JUST condensation causing it as the mould patches are floor to ceiling!

is it continuose and the same floor to ceiling or is there a not so bad band in the middle ??
because hot air rises the dampness will tend to be in the lower half off the wall and iff the top half is mouldy i am guessing its in the area where the roof meets the wall??

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we are all ------------------still learning

As you can see, it's a lot worse at the bottom and kind of tails off at the top. It is very much in the corner at it worst although there are spots under the window too, the mould is on everything, in the wardrobes on clothes etc.

You say the outside is rendered. What with? If the house is built with lime then the walls need to breathe to let moisture evaporate, but if it has been re-rendered with something cement based, then the walls cannot breathe.

that is bad is there any thing against the wall normally ??

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we are all ------------------still learning

I have no idea what it is rendered with I'm afraid, it was rendered when I bought it 6 years ago and all the houses in the road seem to look the same.

There did used to be a tall narrow pine chest of drawers on that wall and it was when it was removed that she noticed the extent of the mould, she wipes it down all the time and hasn't put anything back against or even near the wall but every few days it's back, it's a nightmare, I can't seem to find the cause and I feel awful as I don't want her to have to live like that!

I'm not surprised you do not know which way to turn, that is a really bad case!

Does the house have central heating?

Has the mould been cleaned off using a specialist mould removal chemical (not bleach)?

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DIY | Donnas dream house

does she use a bit off bleach??
if she wipes it down often and uses loads off water it may exacerbate the situation

i personally would remove the wall paper and have look underneath

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we are all ------------------still learning

Spec savers have some special offers on at the minute

Has the mould been cleaned off using a specialist mould removal chemical (not bleach)?

I'm trying to ascertain if the mould has ever been treated with a proprietary fungicide (not bleach as it is not effective)

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DIY | Donnas dream house

need a few more brain cells

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we are all ------------------still learning