Rental house with mould and moisture damage

Moisture damage and mould are very annoying. Finding the right cause is always essential.

Mould of an considerable amount is unhealthy. So it is vital to deal with this problem.

Problem:

The owner of the building notices condensation on the angled side of the roof with mould as a result.

Investigation:

The investigation and moisture values point in the direction of leaking of the drain pipes. A thorough forensic leak detection was recommended to find the right cause. Our recommendations were proposed to the fire insurance of the owner. The company sent an expert to check our observations. The explanation of the expert of the insurance company was that this is mostly condensation. There needed to be placed more heating systems. The occupants would not ventilate enough.

The owner doubted this conclusion and let Humida execute a thorough leak detection. A pressure test was performed onto the water supply pipe, from which it seamed that the water pressure dropped very quickly. After some checking, it seemed the valve of the outside tap was leaking. Whet shutting it the leak stopped.

The groud level zone was checked because the floor in the whole house measured very wet. There wasn't a water repellent membrane anywhere. Also the joints between the façade stones under the ground where open. The duct was not waterproofed.

The drain pipes underground where inspected with a smoke gas test and a high resolution camera. Between the driveway and the house there were 9 cracks and obvious root growth, always on the connections.

Conclusion:

There you have it. The expert from the insurance company concluded occupant behaviour as the cause. Humida found because of a complete leak detection some causes covered by the insurance.

On the top floor there is mould in both bedrooms on the ceiling. The floor of the whole downstairs measured very wet because of the leaking ground zone level around the building, so that the vapour pressure rises up to very high values. The present moisture in the floors condensates and ends up on the ceiling of the room above. Here occur waterdrops and mould onto the plaster.

The rain pipe is not connected onto the drain pipe and ends into the grass. The control walls of the kitchen and after the septic well are not waterproof anymore an display a lot of cracks and tears.