During the cold, mould season, a viral fungus spread like the Black Death in the dank corners of our stone house. I blame this year’s unseasonal cold snap. We relaxed our rigorous ventilation routine in a vain attempt to keep the frost bite at bay. The external wall of our shower room sweated like a shallow waterfall in slow motion and nasty black spores infested every nook and cranny, crack and crevice. Cutting edge building technology like the humble air brick has yet to catch on in Turkey. At this time of year most houses are transformed into damp bunkers. Liam hit back with domestos-scented water cannon. He also told me to stop breathing.
Perking the Pansies 
I’ve become a bit mouldy myself this winter and for the same reasons (I mean my house, of course…I live in Kas). Do you know the cure? Love your page…x
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Hi Irene. The best way to get rid of it is to wipe down the affected areas with bleach to kill the spores then ventilate thoroughly. Now that the spring is just around the corner, you should be able to air your house without freezing too badly! Some people use dehumidifiers to capture the moisture but this doesn’t really work in damp rooms like bathrooms. Good luck.
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A timely post. I’ve been worrying a lot about mould recently and am quite concerned that it’s effects are not taken seriously enough here. I’ve had flu-like symptoms and a nasty cough for over a week now and am convinced it’s due to the mould in this house. There are websites dedicated to mould in the States. This one for example makes very disturbing reading: http://www.mold-help.org/
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We got hit BAD three years ago after we got rid of the wooden (full of gaps) windows and replaced them with the UPVC double glazed variety. Proper dry and cosy till the little black spots started to appear. We soon lost the battle and the house was covered, ceiling and all. Then I read on the internet that vinegar was good. IT WAS! Much better than bleach. (We used a good few bottles of the posh lemon variety from the supermarket and put it in a spray bottle. Imagine the smell!!). Then we painted everywhere with silicon paint. Now we keep windows open as often as possible and just wipe any mould that reappears with a cloth and it goes. We’ve got a couple of stubborn areas this winter but the trusty pain can shall be resurrected in May. 🙂
Julia
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Oh dear, oh dear. Doesn’t sound healthy at all… It sounds like the horrible basement flat (near a canal) in Oxford that I lived in as a student. I don’t know what the answer is. We have damp too, but it’s tropical and a little different. At the moment we are a desert, waiting for any kind of dampness that comes our way!!
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Feel for you. Same problem here. Who would have thought that Sydney gets more rain than London (in volume terms) and our house regularly floods around the garage area. As a result, we’re a bit mouldy too – and it’s summer! Time to speak with the plumber again… good luck beating the Black Death.
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We’ve just been introduced to anti-bacterial paint. We won’t be able to see the results until next year.
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diluted white vinegar works a treat. You can use it on its own a 50/50 mix or add a bit to the bleach/cleaning solution. it’s also whats used to diagnose cervical cancer as it shows affected area’s up as white spots!!!
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Same problem for us. Lack of ventilation because it has been too cold to consider opening windows for long, cooking, hot showers, breathing, and at times ice cold external walls all contribute to damp and mould. We have had condensation running down walls and some mould.
Wiping down the walls and ceilings regularly helps, as does doses of Cillit Bang. Fresh paint in another month of so will be the final solution for this year. We may explore some fungicide options for next year.
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Hilary adds: Frankly, we had worse problems with mould in London than we do here. There was one wall where the builders forgot to put in a damp course. We Cilit Banged everything there as well (it dried up and died in summer).
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Some sorry stories and health warnings but the Dunkirk spirit lives on with some great solutions to manage an annual problem that won’t be going away in a hurry.
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on a teknik level – air bricks require cavity walls to be of any use.On a ‘Duh!’ level – that’s called Stilton, enjoy it with a few savory biscuits!
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Cavity walls? What a splendid idea.
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We bought a dehumidifyer for our house in Gumusluk – it’s probably going into overdrive right now! The last pictures we saw, most of the damp in the basement had been kept at bay.
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That’s great news. I couldn’t think of anything worse than coming over for a holiday, opening the door and being hit by a carpet of mould. Yuk!
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I am a white vinegar convert, gets rid of mould everywhere, just used a solution on my garden swing awning, which has been in a shed with no fault since the last storm. lovely and clean now and in the pation how’s that for optimism from Scotland ,…
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felt not fault – too much chardonnay ,,
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😉
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