AitchBee
Member
- Messages
- 5
- Location
- West Yorkshire
Discovered Fungal Growth in My Cellar - Seeking Advice
Hi everyone,
I’ve decided to start a new post rather than jumping into another thread, as I’d like to get some specific advice about my situation.
Earlier this summer, there was a small leak from my neighbour’s house that made its way into my cellar. At the time, it didn’t seem like a big issue, so I wasn’t too concerned. However, recently I noticed a residue on the floor of my cellar, which I assumed was brick dust. I didn’t think much of it at first, but on Saturday evening, I found the same residue on my washing machine, which is raised off the floor and located at the opposite end of where the leak occurred.
For context, my cellar is only under the kitchen, but there’s a crawl space that extends under the lounge. The leak happened in the middle of the house, near the corner where my neighbour’s wall meets ours and the wall that blocks off the crawl space.
When I started moving things around, I discovered something far more concerning: a gunky fungus coating the leg and underside of a wooden bench my dad had built for storage. The fungus had been blocked from view by some artificial Christmas trees I had stored in the cellar, so I hadn’t noticed it until I began clearing things out.
In a bit of a panic, I turned to Google to figure out what this could be. Google didn’t exactly help calm me down, but it did confirm I was dealing with a fungal problem. I immediately started clearing the area, binning everything I could, and bleaching the rest.
Over the weekend, I made three trips to the tip to get rid of things and, unfortunately, had to throw away the bench, which had started to rot and grow mushrooms. After that, I cleaned everything with bleach as best I could.
I live in a draughty Victorian terrace and have never had any issues with damp before, so this has really caught me off guard. After clearing the space, my brother crawled into the back cellar and found it was worse than I had feared. The fungal growth is fruiting on both the soil and walls, especially in the corner where the crawl space connects to the main cellar. Thankfully, the roof joists still seem dry and unaffected.
I’ve kept the window open and the dehumidifier on full blast, but I’m unsure what to do next. Is bleach enough to deal with this, or should I take further steps? Should I be concerned about the structural integrity of my house?
I’ve spoken to my neighbour, and it turns out they had the same issue with brick dust in the summer. They’ve since tanked their wall to prevent moisture problems, which makes me wonder if I should be doing the same.
My brother sprayed the affected area with bleach and will return tomorrow to scrape off the growth.
I’m also unsure whether my home insurance would cover this, especially since the leak originated from my neighbour’s property.
I was panicking on Saturday night, imagining the worst—that my house might collapse or that I’d be looking at a huge repair bill. But finding this forum has been such a relief. Thank you for helping to calm my nerves!
Any advice on what to do next, would be greatly appreciated—especially regarding insurance!
Hi everyone,
I’ve decided to start a new post rather than jumping into another thread, as I’d like to get some specific advice about my situation.
Earlier this summer, there was a small leak from my neighbour’s house that made its way into my cellar. At the time, it didn’t seem like a big issue, so I wasn’t too concerned. However, recently I noticed a residue on the floor of my cellar, which I assumed was brick dust. I didn’t think much of it at first, but on Saturday evening, I found the same residue on my washing machine, which is raised off the floor and located at the opposite end of where the leak occurred.
For context, my cellar is only under the kitchen, but there’s a crawl space that extends under the lounge. The leak happened in the middle of the house, near the corner where my neighbour’s wall meets ours and the wall that blocks off the crawl space.
When I started moving things around, I discovered something far more concerning: a gunky fungus coating the leg and underside of a wooden bench my dad had built for storage. The fungus had been blocked from view by some artificial Christmas trees I had stored in the cellar, so I hadn’t noticed it until I began clearing things out.
In a bit of a panic, I turned to Google to figure out what this could be. Google didn’t exactly help calm me down, but it did confirm I was dealing with a fungal problem. I immediately started clearing the area, binning everything I could, and bleaching the rest.
Over the weekend, I made three trips to the tip to get rid of things and, unfortunately, had to throw away the bench, which had started to rot and grow mushrooms. After that, I cleaned everything with bleach as best I could.
I live in a draughty Victorian terrace and have never had any issues with damp before, so this has really caught me off guard. After clearing the space, my brother crawled into the back cellar and found it was worse than I had feared. The fungal growth is fruiting on both the soil and walls, especially in the corner where the crawl space connects to the main cellar. Thankfully, the roof joists still seem dry and unaffected.
I’ve kept the window open and the dehumidifier on full blast, but I’m unsure what to do next. Is bleach enough to deal with this, or should I take further steps? Should I be concerned about the structural integrity of my house?
I’ve spoken to my neighbour, and it turns out they had the same issue with brick dust in the summer. They’ve since tanked their wall to prevent moisture problems, which makes me wonder if I should be doing the same.
My brother sprayed the affected area with bleach and will return tomorrow to scrape off the growth.
I’m also unsure whether my home insurance would cover this, especially since the leak originated from my neighbour’s property.
I was panicking on Saturday night, imagining the worst—that my house might collapse or that I’d be looking at a huge repair bill. But finding this forum has been such a relief. Thank you for helping to calm my nerves!
Any advice on what to do next, would be greatly appreciated—especially regarding insurance!
Fingers crossed it all works out and i can keep my washing machine and clothes drying down there ...yieks!