Mould Removal in Nicosia

Why a wipe-down rarely works in Nicosia

In the capital, mould tends to be the result of many winters rather than one. A flat gets damp from December onwards, the patch is scrubbed or painted over in spring, the dry summer hides it, and the next cold season brings it back a little further into the wall. After a few rounds the growth is no longer sitting on the paint; it is living in the plaster and the gypsum board underneath. That is why a fresh coat looks fine for a month and then darkens again, as our piece on painting over a mouldy wall explains.

The places it settles in

• Ceiling corners on the top floor, where the flat roof above is the coldest surface in the flat during winter.
• Behind kitchen units and built-in cupboards fixed to an outside wall, where nobody looks until a door is taken off.
• Low on the walls of older houses inside the Venetian walls and in the older quarters around them, where thick masonry draws damp up from the ground.
• Around pipes from the rooftop solar water heater, where a slow drip runs down inside a wall or along a ceiling.
• Under the window sill, after years of condensation running off the glass.

Removal or a lighter treatment?

A first-winter spot on a sealed surface can usually be handled with surface treatment from €125. Removal, from €175, is for growth that has soaked into porous material: plaster that crumbles when pressed, board that feels soft, paint that lifts away in sheets, or a stain that returns in the same shape every year. If you are not sure how far it goes, our guide on spotting mould that has got inside a wall covers the signs to look for. You can also send a few photos for a quote with no visit needed; a specialist prices the job and calls you back.

The job itself covers three things: the growth is removed, the cause is repaired and the surface is finished in an anti-mould system. The source is found before the mould is touched, so the work holds.

Making it last through the next winter

Because the trigger in Nicosia is usually the cold season, the real test of a removal comes the following December. The repair for a condensation problem is often an upgraded extractor in the bathroom or insulation over the cold spot that kept attracting moisture. For an older house with ground damp, the answer lies in the wall itself. Either way, it helps to know why mould returns after a clean, so that heating, airing and furniture placement work with the repair rather than against it.