mould in houses

[karminski]

i moved my bantams into another house as thier house was getting caked in mould and i have just been checking on my other houses and now the big girls house has mould starting to form i know this is mainly to it being so blimming wet and damp but is there anything that be can done for it , the house has plenty of ventiliation , theres onduline roofing and a 6 inch wired gap thats 4 ft long above the door , i have decided on how the run is going to be changed but i cant start doing that tell it drys up and once its done most of the mud will be well away from the girls am changing the run to a massive U shape which i am hoping for by next winter all of the 4 pens will be roofed the bantams sectioned run will be done next week but the other sections will just have to be done over time but i want to sort out this mould , its bad enough that my old chicken shed converted into a hay shed at the stables is covered in the stuff and thats not good as i am having to risk using it for storage of hay etc same for the chocks though bad all round for them and horses .

 

[Margaid]

When you say "mould" do you mean balck mildew? I know how to kill that in houses but it means using ammonia which needs lots of ventilation. Once mildew gets a hold it is very difficult to get rid of - I know this weather is dreadful but you need to try and work out why it's happening.

Whereabouts is the house is the mould - you seem to have lots of ventilation high up, so if the mould is low down it would indicate that maybe you need a vent low down somewhere.

The "mix" for getting rid of it is 16 parts water to one part household ammonia and you MUST add the ammonia to the water, not the other way round. I discovered this as it is a recipe for softening polystyrene tile glue - I put it in an old spray bottle and sprayed about 1 square metre at a time (any more than that and the fumes were too strong as the room was very small. Left for 10 mins it softened the glue so it could be scraped off without damaging the plaster. It was a few months before we did anything else to the ceiling and the mould didn't come back.

You could maybe do the walls of the hay shed a bit at a time which might stop the hay going mouldy -but don't get it on the hay, and wherever you use it make sure there is plenty of ventilation for you.

 

[karminski]

its not black mould its very light green as if someones sprinkled it on the walls most of it is up the top of the coop , i just used a flanel to wipe it of with as i didnt know what else to use but now i am paranoid as i have never had this in 6 yrs of keeping chocks .

 

[Margaid]

Can't help there Karminski, but I think we have the same stuff on some of our furniture stored in the container. We never discovered where the water got in and it hasn't happened since, but some of the wood has this greenish white stuf that does seem to wipe off.

I'd just like to get everything out even though the house isn't finished - we've cleared space in the wooden building but we need to wait for dry weather.

How are things otherwise?

 

[Bickerton]

You could try a soda crystals solution and a scrubbing brush. Bag of soda is readily available at supermarkets in the laundry products aisle by colouring and biotex kinda things usually, costs peanuts.

Would a weak bleach or chlorine solution be safe to use, gobbles up mould instantly and assume not much fumes as its not something it reacts strongly with like it does toilet splash back.

 

[karminski]

things are up and down at the mo with the funeral happening monday i cant work out how i feel ethier so with all this with the animals aint helping much , bickerton i have read about neat bleach but i am unsure on using that the smell must hang about and i cant really leave the door open for the house to air as this weather is in for at least another 4 days yet might try the soda crystals though doesnt sound to harmfull to the girls as long as i am very very carefull will pick some up tomorrow ehtier that or i just keep wiping the house day daily with some towels but i did think about rubbing vaseline everywhere earlier :lol:

 

[Bickerton]

Popping some white vinegar I'm a spray bottle should also work, don't use it with soda tho

 

[Icemaiden]

If you do spray with soda or ammonia, be sure to wear safety glasses or goggles. Any alkali is seriously bad news if you get it in your eyes

 

[Icemaiden]

All the best for Monday by the way Karminski.
We'll be thinking of you.

 

[Margaid]

Me too.

 

[karminski]

thanks guys i like the vinegar idea love the smell of that at the mo its bright so hopfully the wind and some sun will help air things out .

 

[chrismahon]

Did the vinegar work Karminski?

 

[karminski]

i havent even tried it chris and tell you the truth i completely forgot so much as been going on here , i was meant to do so much over xmas as we have 11 days of but being ill hasnt help not done one single thing yet that i had planned but once the banties an favs are moved then i am going to get the big girls another house all this wet has dampened the wood so much , i did manage to cupinrol the shed down the stables last week as that was covered in mould and so far so good if it stays mould free for another week then i'll do the coops never know might have some energy then :lol:

 

[Margaid]

Be careful not to over stretch yourself Karminski, you've been through a really tough time recently and need to take care of yourself. The human body can keep going while it's under a lot of stress but once the stress eases a bit it seems to collapse. My OH was going slowly blind over a 2 year period and I didn't even get a cold during that time. Once he'd had surgery which restored vision in one eye I had a succession of cold sores and styes, neither of which I'd had for years. I know you desperately want to sort things out for your birds but doing anything in these weather conditions takes twice as much energy. Cosset yourself if you can and you'll recover much more quickly.

 

[karminski]

thanks for that margaid mum had a sore throat to start with and i always end up getting the bug pretty much straight away but always always come of worse then anyone in the family what ever it was has now turned into a headcold which is stuck solid :lol: we have had so much stress which has probably brought it all on .
once the ground drys { not holding my breath for that one :lol: } i am going to get some sand and very slowly start leveling the big girls run and slab that we have about 200 small pavement slabs that needs removing from a plot we had to give up so i can use them but i'll only do about 10 at a time i wont be rushing it but everything will be done by the end of next summer .