Originally Posted by
SD07
The flat is pretty cold so I wonder if the heating on more often would help at all. I might see if the letting agency have dehumidifiers we can use. Could leaving the window slightly open for ventilation make any difference? Apart from when we have the light on on the bedroom we tend not to have the curtains open so daylight doesn't really get in very much. Could put a net up so can leave the curtains open during the day though.
THat only works during the warmer months... doesn't help during the colder ones. If fact during rainy periods (yeah I know it's the UK it rains a lot). Heat might help... and I understand the risk of open curtains when people waling by might look in to see if there is anything to steal...
Air circulation helps usually... sunlight helps... (its the UV that helps more than the simple fact of there being light). However open windows will render a dehumidifier ineffective.
Do you have a humity meter to know exactly how much relative humidity you are dealing with? As in what percentage it is? The thing with mould is it's a fungus... like mushrooms that propegates through spores that get everywhere and wait a long time for the right conditions... and its difficult to deal with.
The masonary walls common in much of the world also like to hold and disipate moisture. I know it's a very difficult thing to deal with, depending on how bad it is it might be impossible to completely resolve.
On tactic used by my inlaws in italy (who had a ground level flat, (no basements as the water table was far too high) was to open the windows an hour every day... leave open the cupboards (armadio or closet) open that long and never close them completely to help airflow.
It won't completely resolve the issue... but it will help minimise some of the problems.