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Green mould in Garage advice

Hi, first time poster and complete novice gardener. In the last 10 months we've bought our own house which has a lovely mainly paved back garden.

Long story short there's been a problem with green mould in the garage, we had an old worn down summerhouse next to it. I was advised the issue was water pooling at the back of the garage cause of the angle that rain was coming off the summer house roof. So last summer I tore the summer house down leaving some old decking which I've just started taking up and once done making some kind of plant bed.

In respect of the garage I've scraped all the mould off the walls, re-sealed the garage, used anti-mould paint and got a dehumidifier in there.

So the advise I'm after is, what would you recommend to put down to increase absorbing the moisture? What are low maintenance plants? Any more tips to help reduce the mould in the garage? Cheers Cat 🙂

Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Is there a damp proof course? Does your decking breach it?
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    If the excess water was coming from the summerhouse roof, that should help now that you've removed it.  :)
    In our old house, the garage was permanently wet because of it's position, and it also had the down pipe just sending water down the back of it. We created a raised bed with rock, leaving a gap between it and the route the water took from the pipe, and just gravelled that part so that the water could filter away. 
    You'll probably find that once you remove the rest of the decking base, you'll be able to create a bed there no problem. You'd need to factor in how/where you create it, so that you can access it well for maintenance etc.  :)  
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited April 2022
    I was advised the issue was water pooling at the back of the garage cause of the angle that rain was coming off the summer house roof.


    Have you been tracking the changes since you took down the summer house? How has the garage been since then? How is the mould inside and out?

    If I understand right, you shouldn't have a moisture problem any more as the cause was removed last year. 

    Does the garage have good/new/strong guttering? It's useful to have it on structures, to direct rain away from problem areas.

    Welcome to the forum, Catherine.

  • owd potterowd potter Posts: 979
    B3 said:
    Is there a damp proof course? Does your decking breach it?
    That would be my bet.
    if not the decking, then the screen block walling behind looks very high compared to where the dpc should be.
    Just another day at the plant...
  • Hi, thanks for the tips, please treat me as a complete novice gardener/DIYer!

    I think there is/was a damp proof course but as mentioned we've only been in the house ten months so not 100%. The garage has decent guttering and since I did the mould proof paint and garage seal the mould doesn't seem to have come back but it's still early days.

    In respect of the plant bed once I've removed the decking and dug it out, do I do chipping at the bottom and earth on the top to help with the moisture? Thanks again Cat
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    When the decking is out, I would closely examine where the DPC is before planning anything. Don't add any layer or structure that is above it or close to it.
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