a family from Pas-de-Calais desperate to deal with the humidity in their home
In their house in Coulogne, the humidity rate often exceeds 80%. A situation that even has repercussions on their health.
More than a month, Régis and Jessica For days have been forced to take out towels and buckets every day. A material used not for cleaning their accommodation but to cope with the very high humidity of the house, located in Coulogne (Pas-de-Calais).
“If we don’t put the towels on the floor, it’s full of water on the floor. We have to put the towels against the walls, put the buckets when it leaks because otherwise it leaks everywhere”, castigates Régis in showing the bucket installed on the windowsill.
80% humidity
Here, the humidity level regularly exceeds 80%. Régis, Jessica and their three children, aged 5 to 11, often have to live with the windows open in an attempt to lower the humidity in the home.
This unbearable situation is also not without consequences for their health and especially that of children. “The eyes that burn, the throat that hurts. My son is allergic to mold, to all that. We have to clean the walls constantly. As he is allergic, he is under treatment, you have to be careful”, explains Régis to BFM Great Coastline.
These leakage problems started at the ceiling level of the children’s bedrooms before gradually spreading to other rooms.
“The window is brand new, it’s a year old, but it’s leaking. We don’t know why. I sent this message to the owner, he already knows it but it hasn’t been done, nothing has changed “, laments Jessica.
“I’m afraid it will crack”
No intervention has yet taken place to improve the situation. For safety, the couple decided to condemn certain rooms. Today, part of the family is forced to sleep in the living room where the mattresses have been placed.
For her part, Jessica fears that this increasing humidity will one day lead to a collapse of the ceiling or the floor.
“I’m afraid it will crack, I’m afraid of falling with my daughter. If it falls will my children be down, will it fall on them, will I lose a child ?,” worries, on the verge of tears, the mother of the family.
A difficult start
Jessica now has only one wish, that of leaving this house that has become unsanitary. However, despite requests for social housing in several towns in the area, the family has still not received a favorable response.
“They close the doors to me everywhere, everyone tells me that there is no accommodation”, laments Jessica.
While the town hall of Coulogne has also been asked to help this family, Jessica hopes that a solution can be found quickly.
Contacted, the owner of the accommodation in question ensures that building professionals will establish a diagnosis of the house in the coming weeks. however, he also questions the behavior of the couple.
Near The voice of the North, he claims that the tenants plugged all the vents with silicone, preventing the house from breathing. However, the owner concedes the presence of a problem in the roof.