Unable to identify damp source but musty smell in fully converted cellar and wood smell all over Victorian terrace
It’s been two weeks since I moved into the new house, and somehow this wasn’t obvious when I viewed in September and March, even on completion end of March. Then I didn’t really move in until beginning of May. During April I came over a few times to paint and didn’t notice much, but I’ve also had all windows open every time i was there in April.
Then May came when I moved in, I noticed it’s very musty every time I go into cellar, this laundry detergent smell grew stronger, to a point that the first day I sat by the dining table in the dining room next to where the door leads to the cellar, I started getting a headache and felt dizzy after hours of sitting there and opening the cellar door to check if the smell was from there…The cellar has technically been converted into the third bedroom previously. Ive noticed dark stains in between what looks like cut out pieces of vinyl, and peeled it up a little bit to have a look underneath, there seem to be some boards with black scattered marks embedded, apparently thar could be mould or glue? and some yellow oily marks on one of the walls attached to another house, it could be stain or condensation from when previous owners stored things against the wall.
And the bathroom has a very mouldy smell after hot showers, the window and fan had to be switched on otherwise i start to see water on walls (didn’t realise this the first night), and that’s when I noticed there are big patches of mould stains on the back of the original Victorian wooden door in the bathroom, supposedly where previous owner hang their towel.
In the rest of the house I also started to smell scents that were hard to describe, maybe like an old house smell in all the rooms including upstairs bedroom. It makes me think of rotten wood. Which also seems plausible because I couldn’t identify any airbricks anywhere underneath the exposed subfloor (being used as regular floor), only the stairs in the middle are carpeted. I was hoping it‘s the smell or their cats and dogs at first, also not sure if the tiredness came from moving or mould spores in the air.
Since last week, I’ve figured out central heating and kept it between 15-20 degrees the entire time. Kept the cellar window open for two days straight with a dehumidifier running, it didn’t collect much water, and measures the humidity at ~45% in there, after two days I figured out a way to keep the window ajar but locked and kept it like that, it was fine for the first few days, after a week the musty smell was strong again when the window is left ajar. I can also smell it in the living room directly above when the window was left closed in this room for a couple of days. I was trying to open most windows for half an hour first thing in the morning, but may have forgot about the living room one for a few days. Kitchen thermostat measures the humidity to be 50-56% every time I checked.
Now I’m left wondering if I’m imagining this, or is it really trapping moisture somewhere? or could there be structural damage and how could I dentify the source of mould? I’m terrified by mould and don’t want to get sick. I just didn’t want to admit that this house I’ve poured my life’s saving into is having all these issues as soon as I move in, and the roof has also started leaking since this weekend so can’t make up my mind on where to spend money on next when the next pay check comes in. Anyone got advice please?