DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi Everyone.
Ok will try and keep this as short as possible, I'm living in a brick house that I think is quite old. I've been here for 2.5 years (private rented, don't want to mention the owners)
I have a number of things that have been present for after about the first few months of living here as the house was painted before moving in.
1. I HAVE BUBBLES on the kitchen Walls, Also on the bedroom wall behind my headboard
2. Black mould on a pipe in the bathroom, under the bath panel I can see bricks but can't pull the panel off....
3. The walls are peeling in one or two places.
4. I have cracks in the bedroom as well as the kitchen.
5. The Walls ( especially the bathroom ) have areas where it looks lumpy and others around the scirtings are not right like indents, can't really explain it.
Now the best bit...
The landlord have decided to update the houses on our estate and are doing the empty ones at the moment as a few houses have damp??? I have complained about one area where the paint is peeling off the walls and a guy came round and just painted over it....when I showed them the bubbles about a year back they said it's fine, nothing to worry about.

For the last two years I have suffered with dizziness, visual disturbances, constant ringing in my ears, fatigue and a ton of other things, my doctor didn't know what it could be and but it down to anxiety. I'm starting to think its something else as the medication didn't work.

Is it possible I have a damp problem. If they had painted over it would the walls still look ok, there isn't any discolouration just very odd looking. Could there be toxins in the air?

I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIND someone on the Internet that can come out and give me a report, I don't want the landlords to look as I don't trust them. Problem is the ones I find charge £190-£300...I don't work (IT'S NOT A COUNCIL PROPERTY) and I don't want to pay such a massive amount if it ends up them saying it's fine...no problem

ANY IDEAS? Would really appreciate your help!

X

your symptoms are nothing to do with the damp.If there was black mould all over the place then yes it may cause health problems.Bubbling walls in certain areas is a sign of damp but it can and does happen in most old houses.
To clear the mould use neat bleach on it and ventilate the rooms as much as possible.

To second the previous reply only the thick black mould over time can cause problems to health particularly asthmatics. However it seems as though (like said before) the ventilation is causing surface moisture. Opening your windows once a day will solve this. If the paint continues to bubble and the surface behind is dusty you may need to apply Alkli Resisting Primer to the effected areas.