Don't fill in all the gaps - why a draught here and there is not always a bad thing
Gaps in your home can create a draught, but what happens if you fill them all in? If your property has no ventilation?
It makes sense that to keep your home nice and warm, you should eliminate draughts as much as possible. You want to insulate your property as much as possible so that the heat stays in and fill in any gaps so the chilly outside air can't get in.
Draughts are traditionally thought to be a bad thing. We buy draught excluders and add insulation to stop them. Keeping hold of all of our warm air as long as we can. Warming our homes up, closing doors and windows, and turning on the heating, so we are not cold.
But, it could be that a draught here and there is not such a bad thing. Yes, gaps in your home can create a draught, but what happens if you fill them all in? If your property has no ventilation? You get mould!
If you keep the doors to your rooms closed all the time and block up all the cracks and draughts to prevent cold air from coming in, there is no air circulation within your home. Moisture cannot escape, so the water in the air will find somewhere to settle when it cools down. This is how you end up with mould and mildew.
As a conscientious landlord, it is possible that you have filled all of the gaps and insulated your rental properties to within an inch of their lives. This will keep your tenants happy because the property will be warmer, especially when heating our homes is very expensive. Also, it will improve the rating of your EPC, which is vital when the legislation is changing, and minimum rating standards are being set.
Click here to read how to improve the EPC in your rental proeprties.
So how disappointing to find that after doing what you thought was the 'right thing', you now face a property filled with mildew and very unhappy tenants.
Don't despair. There are things that you can do to keep the warm in and the mould out.
- Trickle vents - adding trickle vents to the windows will allow a tiny 'trickle' of airflow. Not enough to make the home cold but enough to allow the warm, moisture-filled air to escape.
- Electric extractor fan in the bathrooms - have an electrical extractor fan connected to the light so that it comes on when turned on and runs for 30 seconds or so after the light is turned off. We use the baths and showers with the door closed, keeping the steam locked inside. An extractor fan will circulate that air and allow the steam to escape so that the moisture doesn't settle in the room when it cools down.
- Insulation - Ensure that your property has enough insulation in the loft space and that the air can still flow freely. If areas are not insulated in the loft, there will be a cold spot that will likely have mould growing.
- Guttering - if your gutters are filled with leaves, the water will not flow as it should and can spill over the edges directly onto the property's walls, which could cause water ingress. Keep your gutters clear!
- Tenants' lifestyle changes - during winter, it isn't possible to dry your washing outside on the line, so there will likely be clothes airers drying wet washing. This is clearly creating moisture in the air, so if there is washing drying on radiators, ask the tenants to leave the door open in that room.
- If a tumble dryer is used, ensure it is properly vented. If the vent simply blows the warm air into the property, then moisture is added to the atmosphere that can not escape.
- Extractor fan in the kitchen - cooking creates steam, so make sure that there is an extractor hood above the hob, or at the very least, an extractor fan of some sort in the room.
Put simply, a property must have ventilation to prevent mould from growing, but it is difficult to tell your tenants to open the windows during winter. As they watch their heating bills increase, the last thing they will want to do is open the window to let all of the warmth out.
Advise your tenants of this information so they can be mindful of ventilation and how to manage moisture in the property. Also, consider what you can do to the property to improve the insulation to reduce the cold spots. And you should be able to eradicate the problem quite quickly.
If you have a rented property that is suffering from mould and you would like some help in managing the tenancy and rectifying the issue, get in touch with our team of property experts to see how they can help.