I live in an apartment building with 4 units. Our unit is on the first floor and runs the entire length of the building. We have a terrible mildew problem on the interior of almost all of the exterior walls (that is, inside the apartment but not on the walls we share with the neighbor). The problem is mostly confined from the lower sill of the windows, continuing to the floor (it seems to grow down from the windows). The exception is the middle room; it also has mildew in the closet, which has no window. The windows are long and probably about 1 foot off the ground. Ours is the only apartment with this problem.

I've notified my landlord, but he's not quite sure what the problem is or who can solve it. This probably isn't a very complex problem, but we live in Los Angeles and must be just about the only people in this desert with this problem.

The building was probably built in the twenties; the windows were all recently replaced (mid-90s). We regularly have morning condensation on the windows. The wall that runs the length of our apartment faces north.

I wash the walls every so often with a bleach solution, but I can't keep up with it; frankly, I'm looking for a more permanent solution. My roommate is from England and he says there are "damp proofing" services available there, but there are none listed in our yellow pages.

Who would be the best person to consult for a permanent solution to this problem? What does my landlord need to do?

If you need more details to help in diagnosing this, write to me at senecal@usc.edu.

Nikki Senecal

Thanks