MOLD!! what, how, who,when - Posted by Jason

Posted by mildred teeple on June 12, 2003 at 15:43:55:

have just discovered mold in my basement on the baseboards, can i just paint over it with kills, and will it return, any help will be welcome

MOLD!! what, how, who,when - Posted by Jason

Posted by Jason on July 12, 2002 at 16:00:25:

I’m needing some info on the issue of mold in a house’s basement that I am considerring purchasing to rehab. What is the proper way to clean it up? Who does this work? What is the broad scale pricing? The basement is concrete and the lower parts of the drywall are showing mold (pointing toward a problem possibly with the floor surface leaking or a foundation leak). The property has been vacant for some time (over a year) and that is why the mold has been there and been allowed to get worse but the overall damage is not major. To buy and rehab this house I know that I will have to correct this problem properly and not just bandage it up. This deal has alot of equity in it. Any help and advice is welcome!!

Thanks
Jason

Re: MOLD!! what, how, who,when - Posted by Jim Locker

Posted by Jim Locker on July 12, 2002 at 22:58:19:

You cannot eliminate mold. You are breathing the spores now, and if the proper conditions appear it will grow. Damp basements are ideal.

The clorox/water mix is the way to go. I think that 50/50 is too strong, but really it doesn’t matter that much. Spray the mix on the walls using a pump sprayer then go away and let it dry.

If you are concerned about the back of the drywall (in a basement this is certainly a consideration) make a small hole in the drywall between each pair of joists that seems to be affected, stick the sprayer through the hole, and spray the backside of the drywall and the basement wall with your clorox solution. Then, after you have allowed it to dry, drop a few moth balls into the hole(s) you made in the drywall, and patch the holes. Paint the drywall with a shellac based stain blocker (Kilz) and repaint the walls. Problem solved, for awhile.

Run a dehumidifier in the basement to keep it dried out so that the problem does not come back.

About a year and a half ago, I had two vacant apartments side by side in the downstairs of a 12 unit. Someone upstairs flushed a washrag, that didn’t make it through. Since the apts were vacant, we didn’t know there was a problem until the downstairs hall carpet became wet. You can imagine the condition of both apts.

We cleared the drain, and closed the apts. It was winter, and we didn’t have time to get to them. Six weeks later, I went into those apts again. They were black, literally, from floor to ceiling with mold - which I really hadn’t expected since it was cold outside and the heat was not on in the apts.

The cleanup was - as you might imagine - a real thrill. When we got down to the end, after having the ducts cleaned and cleaning/painting every surface in the apt, we had a residual problem with mold inside some of the walls. We treated it as I describe here, and the problem went away.

Re: MOLD!! what, how, who,when - Posted by vince

Posted by vince on July 12, 2002 at 19:57:25:

First question I have is “has there been a Mold test done?” If so, now you have a disclosure problem when you sell it, so the steps to fix are very costly because of the need for a clear test. If no Mold test has been done, I would recommend pulling out the damaged drywall section, bleach the heck out of the wall and replace the drywall.

Re: MOLD!! what, how, who,when - Posted by Space Available

Posted by Space Available on July 12, 2002 at 17:28:38:

I’ve solved this problem for surface mold by spraying walls with a 50/50 mix of Clorox and water - this kills the mold - then scrub and sponge off the walls with hot soapy water. Then turn on a good dehumidifier for a few days. Be careful though, mold may be lingering on the opposite side of the drywall. If that’s the case you will probably need to bring in the pro’s. At the very least try to remove a section of drywall to see the extent of the problem before you commit any $$$.

Re: MOLD!! what, how, who,when - Posted by peter

Posted by peter on July 12, 2002 at 17:10:17:

i have seen a purifier that claims to remove mold and mildue as well as almost all odors. i have tried one on odors and it works. So, maybe it will work for the mold and mildue too. i can’t wait to try it on a odor problem house(smoke ect.). As far as the damage well, i’m a newbie sorry. I hope this will help.

if you would like some info on the purifier just email me