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DeeZAM!! Help with MOLD!!

12K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  atnas 
#1 ·
This story starts the decline of my week before it started.

First off, my wife hollered to me last night, from upstairs, "Honey why would the carpet under (our daughter's) window be damp and smell "musty"?

So, I went upstairs and felt the carpet...didn't feel wet, but definitely smelled wrong right under the window. SO, I stuck my moisture meter on the baseboard and it read 16-18 in each spot below the window. I checked other spots in the house, and below other windows read around 8. So I knew that the window might be leaking, but it doesn't show on the drywall. I decided I would just watch it the next time it rains hard.

So THEN........I know it is completely unrelated because the rooms are on opposite sides of he house......but anyway. I was in the master bath today and noticed some black spots on the wall above the side splash on my wife's counter-top........and once I opened the doors to the cabinet I realized that the ENTIRE cabinet if full of black mold. Apparently my wife had put a make-up bag in the back of the cabinet and at some point the faucet started leaking and once that bag got wet, the mold started growing.

My question is, what now? I have dealt with this in customer's homes before, but not my own. Not that I would treat them any different, but damn I want to make sure to do the right thing now.

Anybody dealt with this black mold before? It is growing off the walls of the cabinet and off of the sheetrock in the back of the cabinet like cotton. It is bad.

Thanks!!
 
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#3 ·
Check with your HO's insurance as some of the damage may be covered. Until you get an adjuster or other means to proceede seal off the bathroom NOW!!. No one but you goes in. PITA I know but better safe than sorry. If you go in wear a respirator & disposable gloves. First thing to get determined is that it is actually Black Mold & not just mold spores that are black. May take a professional remediation company to remove & certify space is safe for occupancy. For your own records take lots of pictures. You may want to consider living some where else until this is resolved. Good Luck
 
#7 ·
Hardly, it looked much worse inside the cabinet. The mold we found inside the walls doesn't look all that bad, YET. I am afraid it will get much worse. In fact, I know it will unless I do something to stop it. I am not sure you have seen the other thread that I posted after I found out that it was in the walls too, but here is a link:

http://www.contractortalk.com/f3/vapor-barrier-question-83614/
 
#13 ·
What, a little bleach and it's all gone....... right? :laughing:

Yep, we got a specialist in there. It seems many moons before there was a fire on the top floor of the building and the fire department hosed the place down really good. All the water crept down through the walls and the building owners didnt bother rehabbing anything but the floor that burned.
 
#14 ·
Bob is right, but you should also be sure to cover the HVAC vents with plastic to avoid cross contamination throughout the living areas of the structure. I myself never say that mold looks like any type just from the visual. It has no basis without lab testing. However, if there's mold, I don't always perform samples for lab testing, providing there is no lawsuit or health issues that would require documentation. Its mold, and it needs to be remediated so why blow money on testing. In these instances I take the tests at the end of the remediation, as part of the "Post Remediation Criteria", which ensures that the remediation was successful and will not reoccur, at least not in the areas that were inspected and addressed. 'Black Mold' is only a term with no actual facts to support it. Many molds are black in color. People tend to use the term to describe 'toxic mold.'

Aspergillus, Penicillium, Cladosporium and most of all Stachybotrys are among the most dangerous molds to find due to the fact they produce mycotoxins. Approximately 25 species, out of over a hundred thousand, are usually found in a structure. NYC Guidelines has a rule that if they find 1000 spores of Stachybotrys per cubic meter in an air sample, the entire building is evacuated immediately. These molds contains around 125,000 spores per square inch! There's a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to mold and its remediation. Folks have way too misleading information that they don't realize is untrue. More than 10 square feet of visible mold warrants calling in a trained inspector do his thing. He'll carry the burden of providing the proper Remediation Plan and the Post Remediation Criteria.

Bleach, which many use to 'kill mold', is nothing more than a temporary fix at best. EPA Guidelines do not condone bleach whatsoever for mold. It's a biocide, and they want you to use a sanitizer. Bleach can only kill what's topical and also changes the color as it does on our laundry to appear as if the mold is gone. On the high side, let's say bleach killed 90% of the mold. The remaining 10% is called 'mycelial fragments', which is another word for dead vegetation, or dead mold. These mycelial fragments are a prime food source for mold. The 10% now has a field day and then active mold growth begins and mold colonization occurs at an even faster rate then in the beginning.

Finally, food for thought. Of all the chemicals and such that are found in structures naturally or found in products that have been used in the building industry for the last century or so, just four have been found to be dangerous enough to humans where they need to be removed from the structure completely. Radon, lead, asbestos and mold. That fact alone makes me realize just how dangerous mold is. It should never under any circumstances be taken lightly.
 
#15 ·
On our particular job I mentioned above, the bleach spray was used to keep it down as we removed the plywood subfloor. We cut the floor out until we saw no more visible mold. Any drywall that had a little mold on it, was removed after being sprayed and new drywall installed. the cause of the moisture was fixed a year or two ago according to the HO. and the area was dry but still had old mold growing because it was dark under the cabinets.

What is a good spray to use other than bleach to help remove the mold. Not all jobs can just be stopped immediately to wait several days for a remediation company to come in and clean up the place. When people have no kitchen, we are trying to get it back together as soon as possible, that also goes for bathrooms, when it's their only bathroom. Normally when we find bathrooms with mold we take out all the walls, ceiling, floor etc. after it got sprayed down and the room taped off with plastic.
 
#18 ·
Ah mold, let the panic begin. So was it tested? Was it actually dangerous? I'm sure you all know molds are always present in every environment, only a select few are dangerous. Went through this earlier this year in one of our rentals. Had to do with high humidity and excessive rainfall/wet basement. Tennant was nervous, as was I. Tests were done by a remediation specialists, (300.00) and it was found to be of a variety not dangerous to humans.

I think we all do a dis-service to customers when we expose mold and panic, start calling for extreme measures, etc. Mold has been around for years, it's even referenced in the bible. It's the type of mold that can harm you. And the term "Black Mold" is very misleading. Just because you see black mold, you cannot make the assumption it is dangerous. Kind of like the asbestos scare tactics, or lead based paint for that matter. Whie all of these things can and are harmful, seems a little common sense could be used once in a while.
 
#19 ·
No Abel, I've only ever used Cal-Brite. It kills and cleans in an environmentally safe manner. No odor, safe for kids, elderly and pets. Never has it performed less than 100%. The wood looks as if it is brand new, as well as any other surface it's been applied to. My Post Criteria testing from independant companies have always passed.
 
#20 ·
I looked at a small job today. Re/re Exterior door. The wood brick-mold at the bottom was deteriorated due to constant exposure to moisture. I am replacing the door with composite bm and composite jamb. I recommended reworking the landscaping also, his problem is he gets lots of snow and with his driveway beside the door, he has a hard time keeping all the snow away from the door. I am going to cut a small area of the old jamb out to look at the framing.(Door is from outside to inside a garage) I am worried of what I might find. If there is extensive mold, I would rip off drywall cut out moldy framing and re-build with new lumber. What if there is a small amount of mold? What would be the best thing to do? Also, what makes certain molds dangerous and others not?
 
#21 ·
Straight vinegar will kill mold. Spray mold with the vinegar and let sit for ten to fifteen minutes. Then neutralize the vinegar with water and clean up the area. Let area dry completely before covering, painiting, etc.
 
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