Depending on the season, there are different ways to avoid bathroom mould

BY DICKIE & LYMAN LLP WHO PRACTICE LANDLORD/TENANT LAW AND OTHER AREAS OF LAW

Q: In July, I moved to Ottawa from Phoenix, Arizona. I rented the top floor of a duplex, while the owner lives on the bottom floor. I find a number of things strange here. One is the humidity. Another is how we’re supposed to deal with it. My landlord seems to be giving me contradictory instructions. In late August, I complained about mould in my bathroom, and my landlord said I needed to leave the window open to let the humidity escape. Now in October, my landlord asked me not to leave my windows open for fear the pipes will freeze. Which request is right? How I am supposed to avoid the mould if I can’t let the humidity out?

A: Strange though it may seem, your landlord is correct both times. When there is no risk of freezing, leaving a window open to let humidity escape will reduce the level of humidity and help to avoid mould. Other steps to avoid mould include wiping the shower down immediately after each use with a cloth, sponge or squeegee, or a combination of those tools. That works year round.

Another step that will help to avoid mould is to run a dehumidifier in the bathroom during and after each shower. Periodically cleaning the shower stall thoroughly with a disinfectant to kill mould can also help.

And as your landlord said, leaving a window open to air the room is useful. However, that can only be done safely when there is no risk of the outside temperature falling below freezing. For comfort’s sake, most people stop airing the bathroom well before there is a risk of freezing.

When the outside temperature will fall below freezing, people in Ottawa must not leave windows open, not even a crack. Especially when there are water pipes or heating pipes near a window, even a crack will allow enough cold air in to freeze water that is not moving through a pipe. When pipes freeze, that is an emergency. Sometimes a plumber can thaw a pipe so that it does not burst, but unless the situation is caught quickly, frozen pipes can burst and flood a whole apartment, and the apartment below, or even a stack of apartments in a highrise building.

If that happens, the damage can run to $20,000 or more for each of several units. Absent special circumstances, any tenant who leaves a window open and causes pipes to freeze would be responsible for the cost of repairing all of that damage.

If a tenant has tenant insurance, that cost would likely be covered by the insurance company. In Ottawa, a typical tenant insurance policy costs $30 to $40 per month and covers up to about $30,000 worth of damage to a tenant’s own personal belongings, and $1 million in damage that the tenant causes to another person.

Tenants in Ottawa are expected to be aware of the need to refrain from leaving windows open when frost is possible. However, landlords who know they are renting to people from hot climates are well advised to notify them of the need to close windows during the cold months apart from a limited, careful and occasional airing of an apartment.