Winter viewing · reading the pattern
Where the mold sits, and what it points to
A building cause stays with the flat. A cause in the way a room was used often leaves with the seller.
Where you see it
Points to
What to check at the viewing
Vertical band at an external corner
Often from floor to ceiling
BuildingPillar or corner acting as a thermal bridge
Does the same band appear in other rooms on that façade?
Strip along the top of an external wall
At ceiling level
BuildingBeam or slab edge running cold
Is there a balcony or terrace slab on the other side of that line?
Border around a window, stained sill
Worst below the glass
BuildingSingle glazing or frames without thermal break
What glazing does the energy certificate describe?
Patch above a window
Where the shutter box sits
BuildingRoller-shutter box (caixa de estore) set into the wall
Were the shutter boxes or windows replaced, and when?
Behind a wardrobe or bed
Against an external wall
BothCold wall with no air moving across it
With the furniture moved, does the pattern carry on along the wall?
One room only, on every wall
Bathroom or a closed bedroom
OccupancyMoisture produced with no way out
Is there extraction or an opening window, and how was the room used?
The test for each patch: would a different household, with different habits, still see it on that wall next winter?