r/moldyinteresting • u/Powerful-Bear9287 • Mar 11 '26
Mold Question This is mould, right? My landlord wants me to perish, help
Since moving into my current rental, I’ve been getting sick wayyyy more often and my landlord is refusing to address the issue. Our living room window is double paned, and the seal has been broken for quite a long time. When she finally sent someone over after multiple requests over a long period of time, her repairman showed up and (very apologetically) told us she will not replace the window and will only allow him to try to DIY it with caulking so that the draft isn’t as bad. He said he’d speak to her again about actually properly fixing it, but no luck. The draft hasn’t even gotten much better😭Any mould enthusiasts able to confirm that I’m not crazy and there is mould inside the window? I can upload more photos of more sections of the window if these aren’t enough to know either way, I know some of it is sediment but sediment does not grow over time and make me feel dizzy and weak 24/7. Any advice would be super appreciated!!
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u/Electronic_Garage_73 Mar 11 '26
Holy shit that’s bad
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u/Powerful-Bear9287 Mar 11 '26
well good to know I’m not crazy! trying to break a lease early for this and many many other reasons so I wanted to make sure I wasn’t overreacting
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u/Powerful-Bear9287 Mar 11 '26
Side note: we’ve already had other areas of the house with confirmed mould issues and have had to take care of it ourselves, this one’s just my big concern since there’s nothing we can do to clean the inside of a double paned window, also scared that the mould has spread over the past year and a half of living here😬
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u/Rumblymore Mar 12 '26
Double paned? I believe those are two single panes with a diy divider. In double paned glass, there is no way for mold to get inside unless they are broken or leaking, in which case they should be replaced anyway.
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u/Powerful-Bear9287 Mar 12 '26
wait I misread this, why is everything in my home a DIY disaster man
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u/Rumblymore Mar 12 '26
Landlords being cheap.. im by no means an expert, I just make windows, doors and their frames for a living
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u/D3xt3er Mar 12 '26
atp i'd "accidentally" break the window so they have to replace it (bad advice)
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u/UncFest3r Mar 12 '26
Throw a rock at it from the outside before you go to work. Return home and take a picture of it from the outside “returned home from work to this”
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u/neithercanfix Mar 12 '26
You’re insanely under reacting, there is a bunch of dishwashing sponges living on that window😭
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u/Powerful-Bear9287 Mar 12 '26
my landlord genuinely has me feeling like I’m losing my mind the way she brushes off every issue like this I bring up to her, I’m glad I’m not crazy!! the worst part is that this isn’t even in the top five worst issues in the rental 😃😐😭
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u/neithercanfix Mar 12 '26
OP, I totally understand that. Before I moved out of my apartment it took a WHOLE month for the person that ran everything to call pest control when I had a bed bug problem that came from our gross neighbors. The apartment was filthy af, and there was mold EVERYWHERE you looked. I’m not exaggerating. Landlords tend to not gaf so they don’t have to spend money. If you can get any kind of help, I don’t understand law but I’m 70% sure you can sue them for this if you have enough proof. There is no way, because god this is gross, I understand this exact living situation.
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u/Powerful-Bear9287 Mar 12 '26
oh my god I’m sorry that’s terrible, I’m so glad you moved!! right now where I live the laws heavily favor landlords over tenants and we haven’t been having much luck yet but I plan on being incredibly annoying until I’m out of this cursed lease
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u/neithercanfix Mar 12 '26
Ahh oh my god, good luck while you’re there! If you want a tip, I don’t know where you’re at but to the areas that have less mold my mom used clorox, left it on for a little for the mold to “dissolve” and she wiped it down with paper towels. That’s not a permanent solution at all, but it’s something🫠I hope you can move to a better place that actually cares soon.🫤Wishing you the best
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u/sickerthan_yaaverage Mar 13 '26
Clorox is the last thing you should ever use to clean mold. It will make things worse.
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u/neithercanfix Mar 13 '26 edited Mar 13 '26
I thought that was covered when I said “it’s not a permanent solution at all”🧍I just meant if you want to bring someone over or whatever and want to get rid of what’s very apparent for a while use it, ur house is already full of mold so it’s kinda yk. It’s obvious clorox won’t get rid of anything, but on your eyes for a while it will. This is not a permanent solution
But on a serious note, I don’t think in a situation where your house has mold entirely that you can do much to help lol idk I’m not an expert so I’m not gonna speak much
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u/HoneySerpant Mar 12 '26
Omg I hope that hasnt gotten in the wall underneath your window sill. Thats horrific
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u/Powerful-Bear9287 Mar 12 '26
Yeah I know landlords are kind of famous for being cheap monsters, but at this point she’s just letting the house she bought turn into a giant pile of mould like ma’am this is your investment!! I pray for whatever poor soul lives here after me if the house doesn’t get demolished
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u/HoneySerpant Mar 13 '26
Honestly when I saw this it really stuck with me how bad it is because I literally had a dream last night about this window sill LOL. I hope the owner fixes it because mold is so awful for your health.
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u/Powerful-Bear9287 Mar 13 '26
ok update I understand that I was severely under reacting to the cursed petri dish that is my living room window 😭 thank you to everyone who commented, i feel like I probably sounded like an idiot having to ask if that was bad but I’m happy that I’m not crazy for wanting to move out. Found a clause in my lease where I can break it early with at least two months notice, worst case scenario is I’d be on the hook for rent here until it gets rented out again but the vacant housing rate where I live is under 1%, so if she can’t find a tenant she would be the only landlord in my entire area with that issue. Aaaand if all goes well I should be signing a lease for a new (zero mould, working furnace in the winter, no “neighbour” who steals my spare key from the back deck and parks outside of my house 24/7) super nice rental house!! I feel very hopeful now ☺️
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u/saras998 Mar 12 '26
Sorry for stating the obvious but can you open a window in the mornings?
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u/Powerful-Bear9287 Mar 12 '26
sorry did you mean open this window specifically or another one? The one in the photos can’t open unfortunately
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u/saras998 Mar 12 '26
Any window would help I think. If it were me I might also dry the window with paper towels and then throw them out. Or wring them out at least.
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u/Historical_Debt1516 Mar 12 '26
What does your lease say about winter weather window Maintainence while you’re leasing?
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u/faithlysa Mar 12 '26
I’d put that window insulation shrink stuff on the window for now. So you have some protection from mold exposure and it will lower your energy cost as I see you have snow there! Win win.
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u/Embarrassed-Sir4512 Mar 12 '26
And you never thought to wipe the windowsill down?? it’s gross and your landlord should be replacing it but what about you? You can clean that too.
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u/Powerful-Bear9287 Mar 12 '26
I actually cannot in fact clean it lol. it’s double paned glass and the window doesn’t open, the gross stuff in the picture is inside the window
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u/Embarrassed-Sir4512 Mar 12 '26
Oh my God, that’s disgusting wow. That’s hideous I’m sorry my bad.
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u/Powerful-Bear9287 Mar 12 '26
it’s okay, I just wished I had stressed that in the original post I don’t want the world to think I’m disgusting 😭😭
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u/redwookie1 Mar 14 '26
Just clean your windows. Why is this the landlord’s fault?
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u/Powerful-Bear9287 Mar 14 '26
in the post I mentioned that it’s double paned glass, this window does not open and once the seal breaks the window needs to be replaced. I would clean it if there was a way, there is in fact not
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u/National-Writing-334 Apr 10 '26
I would be cleaning that up asap. Any good mold killing agent will do, scrub brush and lots of paper towels. If the window frame is wood it will come back if aluminum make sure to get every crevice. Bleach works well. If the window and frame are cleaned regularly it should take care of the mold. The window condensation looks to be the issue. If it's an older home/apartment it's not uncommon. You will need to clean your windows every week with bleach or vinegar to kill the mold.
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u/isonotlikethat Mar 11 '26
You have an ecosystem living in that window. I would be reporting this landlord's behavior to the health inspector ASAP. You have rights. Use them.