columbine

They informed the landlord who fixed and clean up the place twice (their unit at Quayside). Twice they had to go away. They signed a 2 year contract, but had to terminate and forfeit the deposit. Sorry not able to tell you which company the landlord hired.
If you have noticed, the foyer from the parking has the moldy and musty smell too, more so when it's school holidays as more people rent the place or owners come for holiday. The smell is camouflaged by air freshner that emits from an automatic dispenser by the elevator. I told my son and daughter-in-law it's considered a "sick building" as the air ventilation is so faulty and mould spores keep building up in the ceilings and spreading every where. They were hoping for the best until daughter-in-law started to get sick constantly and then realised they were fighting a losing battle.
Now I inherited their 3 Sharp Heppa and Activated charcoal air purifiers, but I threw away the filters as Im sure they are saturated with the mold spores. Each set of the Heppa and Activated charcoal filter cost about rm900! I'm not going to replace with 3 new sets for now. I have the same air purifier that I used during the bad haze in Penang and that was sufficient. The 3 they had couldn't rid the place of the mold and musty smell. Some thing to ponder about. Some people are more susceptible to the musty smell and effects of the mold, but it's still not healthy over time. Health comes first. Take care.

Just to share another incidence: (Any place with bathrooms that have no windows and the ceiling vents that don't vent out, but vent into the ceiling above the false ceiling is a red alert for mold build-up and health hazard).
We were renovating our newly bought house at SQ a few years ago. The master bathroom has a false ceiling and a set of ceiling to bathtub window. One would need to close the windows to take a bath there or a shower in the shower stall, but moisture would build up. I asked my renovator to install a ceiling vent and I asked him how he would do it. He said just cut a hole in ceiling, installed the square vent and connect electrical supply to the light switch. I asked him where would the moisture go? He said just into the space above the ceiling board. I told him that's not the way I'd like him to do it, wanted him to connect the square vent with a well fitted pipe, make a hole on the exterior wall, connect the pipe to the hole and seal the joints well so no moisture can escape from the pipe to the ceiling space above the ceiling board. I explained to him why...he scratched his head and said that's not how they do it here in Pg. I said I didn't care how they do it here, but that's how I wanted him to do it.
My neighbor across the road did the same thing had a vent put in but not vented out! I saw it and told him why he needed it to vent out. Immediately he got his renovator to make a hole in the outer wall and install a connecting pipe. That shows the renovators and builders here don't consider ventilation of moist air out of living enclosed space an important health issue.

JustAnotherFerringhi

Thanks. Bummer. I guess moving to a different SQ condo would be a bad idea?... Really like the place. I suppose they all have the same faulty bathroom construction.

Do you know if Quayside has similar issues?

stepen

Could you just keep the bathroom window open, would that solve it ?

columbine

My son and dtr-in-law were in the tall tower at Quayside, one of the 5 towers closer to Tesco (3 tall and 2 lower ones). They love the place. As long as they have the same faulty bathroom construction with vents that don't vent out and there is no windows in the bathrooms, I'd say it's a bad idea.

I looked at the plans and show units when the developer was promoting SQ and Quayside quite a few years later. I noticed there's one plan that has windows in the bathrooms at Quayside, but the rest don't.
As Stepen pointed out if there are windows you can open them to ventilate and facilitate with a fan while keeping bathroom door closed. But turn off the built-in vent and block the vent opening in ceiling to prevent rising moist air entering the ceiling space.
My son and dtr-in-law were staying at my place but were too impatient to rent a place of their own while I was out of the country. Tough lesson learned.

JustAnotherFerringhi

Ah, they were at Quayside. Not SQ itself. I've seen a few of those condos, sad to hear they have problems as well.

There are no windows at all in my two bathrooms. First order of business will be to get some impartial expertise and have an analysis done, then take it from there. If at all possible, I'll try to survive the remaining 6-7 months (from now until June and Sept to Dec), but obviously won't risk serious health issues. I had a quick look at air purifiers and dehumidifiers today, but will obviously need someone who knows what they're doing to examine the place thoroughly and, if possible, clean it & add whatever it takes to keep it dry.

I've notified the landlord but he lives in China. Will have to talk to his agent, we'll see how it goes.

Where in Penang would one expect to find a decent selection of air purifiers etc.?

columbine

Similarly, their landlord was Singaporean so had to deal with his brother in Penang who arranged for every thing. Well, not long to go for you to endure this.
We get ours from Harvey Norman and SenQ (top floor of Gurney).
All the best

JustAnotherFerringhi

Thanks, I'll have a look at HN and SenQ.

Haven't been able to find any companies dealing in mould detection/removal in Penang, and my landlord is being less than responsive. I found Mould Busters in KL and they're currently looking into whether they'd be able to help me even though they normally only operate in KL, doesn't sound too promising.

I guess it is as you say, Malaysians tend not to regard mould as an issue.

SushiFan

As a comparison could you also take a look online, at Lazada.