Moulds, fungi and lichen are a very common problem to be overcome when undertaking any internal or external decorating.
A very easy and simple thing to overcome but so often just painted over, causing even more problems in years to come.
Mould is the black, powdery, musky smelling stuff you will find in corners of rooms and around damp windows and rooms (i.e. bathrooms).
Fungi and lichen are found outside on exterior walls and other surfaces. Fungi is a green and furry coating. Lichen are small roundish crusty plants in various colours like purple, red, yellow, etc. and always found on render or roofs.
All of these are plant forms and grow back very quickly through any paint or coating applied over them. There is only one way to deal with them and that is to kill them, either with a ready made fungicidal wash which you can buy or using a bleach and water wash.
Lichens are very tough and may require pressure washing first before treating in the following way;
With your fungicidal wash, treat all of the infected areas to at least 1 metre around the infected area. Leave this for a few days to see if it regrows, if so then repeat the process. Then wash the surface down with clean water and you should now be ready to decorate.
The image shows mould I discovered under old wallpaper I was stripping in 2010 – the worst I have seen or smelt!