Mould removed, and the moisture feeding it dealt with.
Black and green growth stripped back, the surface treated and dried, and the water feeding it identified, so the wall is put right rather than painted over and left to spot again next monsoon.
- Free site inspection
- Written, itemised quote
- 1-year workmanship warranty
- Same-day callback
At a glance
How do you treat mould on a wall so it doesn't come straight back?
By dealing with the water, not just the stain. We take moisture readings to find where the wall is getting wet, strip the affected coating back to sound plaster, apply a biocidal wash and let it dwell, dry the surface, then prime and recoat with a fungal-resistant system. Skip the drying stage and the growth just comes back.
When this is the answer, and when it is not.
Sending you to the wrong service wastes your money and our time. This is how to tell.
This is likely right if
- Black or green spotting keeps reappearing on the same wall after every repaint
- A north-facing bedroom wall, or the wall behind a wardrobe, smells musty and has gone patchy
- The bathroom ceiling and the wall above the shower keep discolouring despite regular cleaning
- The leak or seepage has already been traced and rectified, and the wall now needs putting right
Something else comes first if
- The wall is still wet from a live source, a cracked terrace, a sunken bathroom slab, a leaking shaft joint or a failed external face. That gets traced and rectified first, and the wall dried, or the growth comes back through the new coat
- The growth is on gypsum board, plywood wardrobe backs or MDF that has swollen. Board holds water in its core where no surface treatment reaches, so it is a replacement job before it is a coating job
- The whole flat smells of mould and someone in the household is unwell, that needs the building fault investigated and medical advice taken ahead of any decorative work
What the service includes.
Moisture diagnosis
Meter readings across the affected patch and the sound wall beside it, plus a look at what sits on the other side, a bathroom, a shaft, a planter, an exposed elevation. Growth needs water, so this decides whether treatment should proceed at all.
Containment and protection
The room sheeted and closed off before anything is scraped. Dry growth releases spores the moment it is disturbed, so debris is bagged at the wall rather than swept through the house, and adjoining rooms are kept out of it.
Stripping back the affected coating
Growth roots into distemper, putty and old emulsion, not just the top film. The coating is scraped back to sound plaster and carried past the edge of the visible patch, where growth has already spread but hasn't yet coloured the surface.
Biocidal wash and dwell time
A fungicidal solution applied to the bare surface and left for its stated dwell period, then the residue taken off. Cut this short and living material stays behind, ready to grow through whatever is put over it.
Drying and re-reading
The wall left to dry and the meter used again before any coating goes on. Sealing a damp wall traps the moisture inside it, and the new film blisters or spots from behind within months.
Fungal-resistant primer and finish
A primer suited to the substrate and to what's left on the wall, then finish coats carrying a film preservative. That preservative protects the paint film; it works alongside the moisture being fixed, never instead of it.
Not included, or quoted separately
- Tracing and repairing plumbing leaks, and any work on concealed pipe runs or shaft joints
- Waterproofing of terraces, roofs, sunken bathroom slabs and external walls, quoted separately
- Removing and refitting modular wardrobes, kitchen carcasses and false ceilings to give access
- Laboratory identification of the species, and air quality or spore-count testing
- Cleaning or salvage of clothes, mattresses, furniture and soft furnishings affected by growth
The sequence.
Inspection and moisture readings
We read the affected area and a dry area for comparison, look at both faces of the wall where we can reach them, and work out what's wetting it, seepage, a leak, rising damp or condensation.
Agreeing the sequence
If the source is live, that work comes first and we'll say so plainly rather than take the job. Treating a wet wall is money spent twice. Where the source is already rectified, we agree how far the readings must fall before we start.
Contain and strip
Sheeting, covering and masking, then the affected coating scraped back to sound plaster and beyond the visible edge of the stain, with the debris bagged at the wall.
Treat and let it work
The biocidal solution applied to the bare surface and given its full dwell time, taken across adjacent sound areas as well, spores don't stop at the edge of the mark you can see.
Dry, re-read, and only then coat
Readings repeated on the stripped wall. We don't put primer on until the wall is at the level agreed with you, even when that means coming back for it.
Prime, finish and record
Primer, then the agreed finish coats over the treated area, usually carried to a natural break so the repair doesn't read as a patch. You get a written record of the readings and what was applied, and a written warranty with its conditions stated, those conditions include the moisture source staying fixed.
What moves the price on this job.
We do not publish a rate, because it would change once someone measured your property. These are the variables that decide it.
- How far the growth extends past the visible patch once the coating is opened up
- Whether the coating is scraped locally or has to come off the full wall back to plaster
- Whether the wall is dry enough to coat now, or needs return visits for drying and re-reading
- The substrate, cement plaster, a concrete soffit, or a gypsum surface that limits what can be applied
- Access: high bathroom ceilings, duct walls, shaft faces and walls behind fitted furniture
- Whether the whole wall or room is recoated so the treated area doesn't sit as a visible patch
Anti-Fungal and Anti-Mould Treatment — your questions.
Can you not just paint over it with an anti-fungal paint?
No, and that's the most common reason it comes back. The additive in a fungal-resistant paint protects the paint film; it doesn't kill what's already in the wall or dry the wall out. Growth left under a new coat keeps feeding on the old distemper and putty beneath, and pushes through, usually at the same spot, in the next wet season.
Why does the growth keep returning in the same place?
Because the water keeps returning to the same place. A patch that reappears in the same corner every monsoon is telling you where the wall is getting wet, a hairline crack on the external face, a leaking joint in a shaft, a sunken bathroom slab, or a wall that never sees sun and stays cold. Treat the surface without finding that, and you are on the same cycle.
The mould is only on the wall where our air conditioner blows. Why there?
That's condensation rather than a leak. The cooled wall surface drops below the dew point of the room air, moisture settles on it, and in a closed bedroom it doesn't evaporate. The fix is partly ours and partly yours: we can treat and specify a finish that resists growth, but the room also needs air movement and the wardrobe pulled off the wall.
Is the white powdery deposit on the wall fungus too?
Usually not. White, crystalline powder that brushes off is efflorescence, salts carried out of the plaster or masonry by water moving through it. It is a moisture signal, not a growth, and it needs a different response: repeated dry brushing over successive visits until it stops appearing, because coating over active salting lifts the new film off the wall.
Can we stay in the flat while the work is done?
In most cases yes, with the affected room closed off. Scraping disturbs dry growth and puts spores into the air, so we sheet the room and keep the door shut while that stage runs. If anyone in the household has asthma or a respiratory condition, tell us at the inspection, we'll sequence the work so they're out while the wall is stripped and treated.
Let us look at your walls first.
Tell us about the property and we will set up a free colour and wall inspection. You get a written, itemised quotation afterwards, with no obligation to go ahead.
- We call you back the same day to get a picture of the property and the surfaces.
- We agree a time and come out for the free inspection.
- You get the written scope and itemised quotation.
- Nothing starts until you approve it.