How to combat mould in your common parts

When inhaled, they can be a potential health hazard for asthma sufferers and those with respiratory illnesses. This is one reason for mould being listed along with asbestos as a potential health and safety hazard in the Housing Health and Safety Rating System.

2. Mustiness - The second frequent ‘leave-behind’ is the mustiness created by mould. It’s a smell that can put off potential tenants as well as visiting friends and family.  

Happily, there is a thorough and fast way of removing both nuisances which has other health related advantages.

The recommended solution kills 99.9999% of germs by vaporising the germ-killing liquid in the air. It can kill airborne germs even on difficult to reach surfaces. The treatment is proven to kill all known pathogens with minimum disruption in a matter of hours. Spores, fungi, yeasts and all kinds of bacteria and viruses capable of causing such headline making illnesses as salmonella, spp, E coli, listeria, MRSA, C dificile, swine flu can be exterminated.

The treatment is used routinely to treat NHS vehicles and school buildings and to help keep professional footballers safe from infection while training as well as others who use communal facilities. Also, in empty homes, where food stuff, often including milk, have been left out for months, strong smells disappear immediately after the vaporization treatment. Whereas common disinfectants disable organisms by changing the external membrane temporarily, this process kills by breaking through cell walls and destroying DNA and RNA. The antibacterial agent used is non-corrosive, non-tainting, non-hazardous, bleach-free, kinder to the environment and is safe for people and animals.

Vaporisation should be part of any standard mould eradication service.  The extra effort is worth it. Mould is a major problem affecting some 10 per cent of homes in the UK. Left unchecked and with the right conditions it can blacken rooms, destroy fixtures and fittings and affect residents’ health.

Mould eradicaion begins with identifying the cause(s). Favourite conditions for growth are damp, humid conditions, where the relative humidity is greater than 70%, the temperature is ideally between 10 to 35C and the air is still. Unsurprising, frequently infestations appear in kitchens, bathrooms and in the corners of external walls where warm and colder air meet. Woodchip wallpaper is another favourite, the wood, paper and adhesive are all sources of food. Sites therefore need to be surveyed to measure the moisture content of walls and to check if there are any damp causing defects.

Importantly as well as removing mould from the surface, the 80 to 90 per cent that lies beneath must also be treated to avoid mould returning quickly. Merely scrubbing won’t do. Fungicides and biocides must be applied to halt growth, followed by vaporisation to do a thorough job.

Mark Cosh is European Director at 24/7 property and people protection specialist SitexOrbis