Hello all,
I currently have a problem in two corners of my external wall in my flat with mould which seems to be coming from underneath the paint. I tried treating it with bleach but it made the paint dry and crack revealing the mould growing underneath. Sorry if this doesn't make sense i am no expert.

In addition, I'm suffering with a musty mouldy smell coming from behind the wardrobe which is quite heavy and cannot be moved. I think this is caused by a hole in the bottom corner behind the wardrobe where previous owners had run some cables through to the next room. It's about 1" diameter and I can't get to it to block it. There has also been some draft coming from behind the wardrobe because of that. I believe that has caused the mould behind the wardrobe. I can't actually see much behind it but the smell is suffocating.

I think i'm being slightly paranoid but I swear I could also smell it from the carpet as well but that was greatly reduced by hoovering. Having said that, i'm planning to replace my carpet with laminate flooring and I thought I would seek advice with regards to mould/damp proofing the laminate so that I don't have to replace it next winter

Any advice on how to mould-proof my laminate as well as get rid of the mouldy smell from behind the wardrobe would be much appreciated

many thanks in advance

heeelllooo and welcome thecrater


is the hole to the outside or another room??

in general a 1" hole wont make much difference

the damp is more likely to be coming through the wall or the floor if the dpm is breached
unless its hot air meeting a cold surface
i assume you are on the ground floor what do you see on the outside wall opposit the dammage??

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

Hello mate,
many thanks for your welcome and your reply. I am actually on the second floor and the hole mould is actually on the top corner of the external wall. The hole is in the partition wall between the bedroom and the living room and the wardrobe is adjacent to the partition wall. There is a very strong mouldy smell from behind the wardrobe.

regards,

Are there any marks on the other side of the wall? If it's just an internal one I imagine you'd see it on both sides.

Are you on the top floor/in the loft, damp at the top of the wall is usually a leak in the roof. Get up in the loft and see if you can see anything.

Hi all, good idea about checking the loft. I did take a quick glance at that corner the last time but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The insulation seemed OK and tidy on that side and it didn't look like there was anything leaking. I'll take a thorough look next time. In the mean time, i attached a picture in case i've got something wrong. Sorry it's not a pleasant thing to look at.

RE: the crack, i don't think it's a structural thing as the Home Buyers report I paid a fortune for did not indicate any problems.

Crack could just be as a result of the damp. Try going up in the daytime, you'll be able to see any missing tiles that way, also have a good feel round, you're unlikely to see dripping unless its pouring with rain outside.

Our old (rented) house had something very similar looking, caused by 3 missing tiles and 5 or 10 cracked ones.