A ground floor flat smells of fungus or damp.. what can the housing association do to help get rid of smell..?

Question

A ground floor flat smells of fungus or damp.. what can the housing association do to help get rid of smell..?

Answer 1

Sounds like the ground needs damp proofing not something that can be avoided.

Answer 2

The smell will go when the root of the problem is discovered and dealt with.

Answer 3

Use it to grow mushrooms!

Answer 4

Damp can be rising damp, soaking up the wall or through the floor from the ground, like a wick.

It can be caused by penetration, leaking in around a door or window frame or coming directly through the walls due to defective brickwork.

There may be faulty plumbing, check the washing machine supply pipes, they often leak. Check under the sink and around the bathroom too.

Condensation can occur when the moisture produced inside a building, for example by cooking, showering or just breathing, is not removed. Check that any extractors in bathroom and kitchen are working and that any ventilators or air-bricks are not blocked.

Once all these have been checked you should have identified the source of the damp, this must be rectified to avoid the possibility of dry-rot developing.

To dry the flat out quickly, leave the heating on for a few days with at least one window open slightly (but don't give burglars a way in).

Alternatively, and this is better, buy, borrow or hire an electric de-humidifier and keep it running in each room in turn until they have dried out. You can tell when it's time to move it to another room because the rate of filling will reduce. If you are using a de-humidifier it is better to keep all the windows closed to improve it's effectiveness.