Fitted Nolte Wardrobes - Mould Best Practices to get rid?

[loziv]

Hi

It's Lauren here..

We have had our Nolte Fitted wardrobes for about 6 months now and I just noticed today that on the join at the back of the wardrobe there is black mould growing. (I cant access the actual wall because the wardrobes are so large but there might be mould on there as well?)

The triple wardrobes were installed nearly the full length of the wall and a 15-20cms away from the ceiling, and they cannot be moved to an internal wall.

The wall the wardrobes are on is an external cavity wall and does feel cold.

How can we stop the mould growing and get rid of this condensation problem

1.) I have just ordered 250g Silica Saches to store at the bottom of the wardrobes

2.) Would cutting ventilation holes in the wardrobe help? If so what size should these be and where should the cuts be made?

3.) At the moment they are very close to the wall, reading the forums and web this evening a lot are mentioning that the wardrobes should be 50mm away from the wall so that air can circulate around properly.

And should Nolte should have done this on install?

4.) Would a wardobe heater help? Or would the Silica saches or moisture trap do a similar thing?

5.) Would having cavity wall insulation help remove the cold external walls around the house thus removing the condensation problem within the wardrobe

 

[foxhole]

Ventilation is required, top and bottom to promote air movement.

 

[loziv]

So solid fully backed carcusses are not that great then? Fitted wardrobes should have ventilation holes in the unit?

Also is it recommended that the backs should be 18mm MDF as I am not sure that the Nolte one is they are really thin backs, could this also cause the problem

 

[foxhole]

Fully backed carcass is fine unless it's against a cold exterior wall.Thin or thick backs make no difference as they both restrict air movement.

 

[loziv]

Thanks

What about if I insulated the back wall of the wardrobes with the polystyrene type insulation? which would keep it warmer and result in less condensation forming on the back mdf wall of the wardrobe

Or would this just cause condensation on the exterior wall?

 

[foxhole]

Insulation to rear may help but you still need good ventilation.

 

[loziv]

Ok thanks

So the wardrobe needs better ventilation? Would you say this is a design flaw of the wardrobes?

As for £2k wardrobes I don't think I should have to resort to cutting holes in it after 6 months

 

[rjm2k]

This is a worrying thread as I just had Symphony full carcass robes fitted to an external wall! They were previously sliding robes with no back, wall is cavity insulated, am I likely to get this issue too? It's pretty difficult to check behind now, guess I can lift some of the tops and see if there's anything near the ceiling.

Should the sales guy have mentioned anything about this?

 

[foxhole]

Sliding wardrobe doors offer full length ventilation as they never seal off wardrobe so they would not have given problems the new ones may, only time will tell.Salesman is just that, knows diddly squat about problems his sales may cause.[and I doubt he would care]

 

[loziv]

The company and installation team should have advised us that this could be an issue if installed against an external wall

In my mind the goods are not of satisfactory quality as per the sales of goods act

If you were going to complain what would you say, that the wardrobes have a design flaw as no ventilation?

Installed too close to wall and not sufficient air gap?

Backs of wardrobes are too flimsy and thin and because of the low r value this is why condensation is forming at the back

Anything else ?

 

[summerman]

we had this problem when we moved into a new place a couple of years ago, we had tried cutting ventilation holes into the backing but not an option for you as yours are new and altering the fabric of the wardrobe would invalidate any guarentee you have.
We tried the sachets and yes it did help a lot and did collect a lot of moisture but after a while the clothes did start to smell of damp.
In the end we just took the backs of the wardrobe out and painted the back wall