Bathroom totally ruined with mould

Landlord Discussion
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Ok will keep looking

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Got it I think. So those boards go up and plasterboard on top.

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Yes they can be glued on or drilled with mushroom headed fixings that are hammered into the brickwork Then skimmed up or tiled direct onto the plasterboard Every bathroom, kitchen and utility should have a fan. The weak point is the tenant. They have to use the fan

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Hi. Thank you Colin. Bathroom only three years old so a bit reluctant to start again. The fans from Target are wired into the electrics so tenant can’t switch it off I understand. You said about the spare fused board thing. Unless they turn it off at the mains I guess. Have the shop now that sells the insulating boards so have the info where to get them. Shame the builder who installed the bathroom didn’t mention it at the time. But maybe this will help someone else who may be reading to avoid problems further down the line.

1 Like
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You can change your name at any time on your profile page.

Sam

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Hi Sam
Thanks but still confused.
Joined OR as Mr T.
But no worries.
Clare!

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Hi Clare, you’ve probably accidentally signed into separate account. Try logging out and back in again.

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Ok thanks will try that.

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Hi Colin, you have HMO’s dont you i recall, if so, do you ever have any excessive condensation in them, hence high humidity issues?

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Always issue a Notice to Access and keep re-issuing it, royal mail signed for, email & text message as if you need in then you must always be able to prove your self trying every method and this i find works well for awkward tenants

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Hi Andrew, Thank you for that. I hadn’t heard of of a Notice for Access.
I did explain, but they said they had to work and didn’t want people in the house. I am guessing if they carry on saying no, I have no right of access, it’s just proof that I tried ?

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I only ever send email stating its a 24hr Notice for Access as it implies that you may just turn up even if they dont reply to it, however in the real world if they dont reply you still can not enter the said property.
The notice issued means you can prove that you attempted to gain lawful entry to resolve an issue when the council or a court become involved, which is usually the case for tenants whom dont communicate.
Do also note that failure to comply with access for a important job as damp and mould can and should be upscaled to an Emergency as mould is hazardous to the building fabric and/structure and hazardous to health and can be server yet you better be ready for a tenant fall out if you do go ahead and enter and a possible court case, however if you can prove beyond any reasonable doubt that you have tried to gain entrance through proper means and allowed enough reasonable time for a response etc including taking loads of pictures and possibly an experts report you should be covered legally yet there still could be an argument over the classification of an Emergency.
get in contact with Shelter and the local housing department for health with your local council to try and get them involved before making your final decision of entry and lastly, do make sure 100% that you are acting without any ego involved in your decision as if your ego is involved it may all go petetong for you.
If you are unsure then dont make any move until you have sought correct advice from shelter and CAB at least so you can make a informed decision, funny enough i entered one of my tenants property for almost an identical issue the other month and they kicked off, yet i was ready and i had everything in place to defend and strike out their vexatious correspondence which i received shortly after and i was ready to go all the way, luckily my defence paperwork and knowledge was as tight as a nats ass so all was well in the end for me.

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“24hr Notice for Access”

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My places are all well insulated walls included so no condensation

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Hi Andrew,
Thanks again for the advice. I didn’t know mould could potentially be escalated to emergency status- although rightly so.
In this particular instance when we got into the house the mould was so far advanced we didn’t need extended access as there was nothing we could do as lay-people. Had an Envirovent fan fitted yesterday.
But have had the problem with previous tenants of not being able to gain access for routine inspections/maintenance. It’s a real pain.
With these ones they had a few weeks notice and only objected the night before, a few hours before we were due to embark on the day long journey. You would think they would want it sorted out!

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Well mould requires a few elements to grow;

  1. Lack of airflow.
  2. Excessive Humidity.

well if you concentrate on the fact that there is high humidity and/or condensation to the degree you describe i would use to my advantage the fact that humidity/condensation is actually water molecules therefore its fair to presume there may well be a leak, and a leak suspected is an Emergency, thus access is legally ok for you under the property if you first bombard the tenant with a plethora of notices for access and plea emails, calls and texts stating your suspicion and the need for urgent access asap to investigate the matter swiftly which you are also bound to do anyway by the local authorities so if you doo all as said im sure your good, but i bet they will communicate back when you communicate in a panic and URGENT EMERGENCY fashion.
I have done just this prior regarding mould and excessive condensation yet to a much lesser degree to which you described…

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Hi Andrew,

Thank you again yes that’s a very good analogy. The fan is now in so the next step is to get a professional to spray all the walls and someone to hack out all the grouting and silicone and then redecorate. If I may pick your brains further, I am covering the cost for all remedial work, as obviously it needs to be sorted, despite the fact the whole house was recently refurbished with no signs of mould etc. prior to these tenants. Would you be asking them to contribute? I have accepted we will have to bite the bullet, in order to save the investment from further damage, for health and to avoid arguments etc. just asking out of interest as to what others would do, as a new bathroom after two years is having a big impact financially. (House is up north so small rent but labour appears to cost the same as anywhere else. Especially once they know it’s a rental. I am down south, hence the day long drive) Thank you!

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Regarding damages and your question surrounding such please do note that your question is only ever relative.

What this means is asking others what they would do should not hold bearing for what you would do unless your affairs and situation was almost identical which it will not be more than likely.

So to try and answer you as best as I can with simplicity then I shall try;
I personally more than likely would however it would definitely depend on the situation, The situation has to include being fully aware of the AST and the inventory and being absolute that all paperwork were filed correctly and on time at the commencement of the AST along with enough documented evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the damage was not there before and furthermore the most difficult part may be for you is for you to be able to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the cause of the problem was due to the tenant not acting in a tenant like manner, as if the tenants are switched on they may just turn around and say that your existing extractor fan was inadequate to match the new lifestyle, if this did happen you would then need to prove otherwise which would be almost impossible unless you have documented evidence throughout the tenancy and upon intermittent inspections detailing and showing that you have been catching them leaving the fan off and the door closed for instance.

Put aside your ego and commercially calculate the cost involved and the fact that you will not have any downtime in switching tenants and adding to the equation that you have learnt something from those tenants which you may class as a big learning curve yet trust me it’s probably only a small learning curve of education for you which always comes at a cost.

I do think the best way for you to deal with this without knowing more details about your relationship with the tenants are they staying or going how old they are what their jobs are etc then I think it would be fair and reasonable for you to approach them informally and let them know that you are prepared to split the total cost of the bill if they are to pay you immediately upon completion of the works carried out and this is a mere gesture of good will otherwise you may have to charge the whole bill to them, this will leave you open to the option of attracting at any time you realise how understandingly flexible there going to be hence you can make your final decision based upon that if you know what I mean.

If the tenants were vacated or being affected I would most definitely without any doubt be chasing them for all of the money yet please remember all my paperwork is always in order and my pictures are all time and date stamped as I operate a very tight ship.

Do make sure all of your paperwork has been filed and served correctly throughout as if you enter into battle With the tenants by accident due to this issue outstanding you need to make sure that they cannot just open you up like a can of worms and get thousands of pounds from you in a court just for not filing a specific document like a gas certificate for the EPC or you not being compliant with the with the tenants by accident due to this issue outstanding you need to make sure that they cannot just open you up like a can of worms and get thousands of pounds from you in a court just for not filing a specific document like a gas certificate or the EPC or are you not being compliant with the ICO etc as I see a lot of people going into battle nowadays and they are all throwing rocks at the enemies greenhouse yet they usually forget that they themselves live in a greenhouse too.

I hope my long story gives you a much better insight and understanding towards being able to make the most appropriate decision for you and your situation as it’s extremely difficult for someone to tell you what you should do or for you to copy what someone else does without having absolute clarity of situation and circumstance.

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Hi Andrew, thank you very much again.
All paperwork, inventory etc. is in order. Inventory actually states ‘no mould’, in the bathroom notes, it was pristine and no trouble with previous tenants. But like you say I don’t know how I can prove they haven’t ventilated the property sufficiently - which is why i ended up sorting the mess out as the house is now very damaged and I needed to minimize my losses.
I suppose I am asking you as a more established landlord because I really do not think it was anything I have failed to provide. I also don’t think it’s my ego, but have just seen the You Tube you suggested, so need to watch that and may eat my words, but at present, I think i am too soft (again why I asked you) and need to grow a thicker skin.
Too date the Envirovent fan has been in nearly two weeks and was told by the company that by two weeks the mould will die and then it can be chemically washed off and redecorated. I had video from tenants yesterday showing the mould has spread significantly so what Envirovent said was rubbish.
Just wondering Colin3 or anyone else with knowledge what do I do now? I know Colin3 you mentioned insulating boards so am I now at the stage whereby I have to rip out a very relatively new, although obviously very damaged bathroom and start from scratch? Am very worried the mould is going to spread throughout what was once a very dry and clean property. Thank you all in advance.

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Hi Andrew8,
I have just read your post to Carole2 regarding the app which monitors humidity levels, so will look into that. Thanks, it sounds useful.