MYSTERIOUS MOULD AND MUSTY SMELLS!

Why does mould start to grow on ceilings, walls and in wardrobes?

By physics, moisture and dampness are drawn towards a heat source, much like the way the sun heats up the ground and evaporates water out of it. The heat in your home you can be doing the same thing. It seems quite natural to most of us that if we live in a damp house, we should heat it up to dry it out.

It has become apparent to us after several years of inspecting damp problems in over 30,000 Sydney homes that heating your home is in fact the main way homeowners find out that they have a damp problem.

Like most of us, when winter comes along, we close the windows and doors in our homes and put on the heater. By doing this it blocks off alot of the natural internal ventilation and causes evaporation through the timber floors into the house.

There are two main problems that cause moisture to enter your home. Poorly ventilated damp sub-floor areas, and internal moisture that we create by the use of showers, cooking, free standing natural gas heaters and the most common and over looked source - the internal un-ducted clothes dryer.

Damp sub-floors:

When the ground under your home is damp it releases moisture and mould spores into the sub-floor space. If this area is not sufficiently ventilated when you heat your home the spores that travel with the moisture are evaporated through the timber floors into your home. This heated moist air then drifts from the warmer rooms through your home to the colder rooms - usually your bedrooms.  It then condensates back down causing the growth of mould on ceiling, walls and on your clothes in built-in wardrobes.

By properly ventilating the sub-floor area with fans, you can reduce the amount of moisture and musty smells being evaporated into the home from the subfloor area.

Internal moisture can be addressed by making sure the bathroom, kitchen, laundry and gas heaters and vented properly to external air.

The mould growth or fungi can be cleaned with a mild detergent solution on a microfiber cloth then wiped over with naturally brewed white vinegar. The use of a carbon filtered face mask, gloves and non breathable overalls are recommended.