Anyone know about household mold?

[speeder]

A friend of mine is experiencing some pretty significant mold in his house since the big rains here in L.A., and asked me for help/advice. I don't know much about it, other than it is bad and can make you sick, so I am putting it to the brain trust here.

The house was significantly remodeled maybe 10(?) years ago, if that is relevent, and the mold is appearing on drywall in the garage/guest house area, visible on the interior walls in places.

He called a "mold expert" from the yellow pages who basically offered to test his house for mold for $600, (like he doesn't already know that he has mold), , so how does one get rid of it? Any help or advice is appreciated, TIA.

[Victor]

It's probably caused by a phenomenon known as "rising damp" much $ to fix once it gets past foundations and into brick / stone work.

[turbo6bar]

Bleach gets rid of mold. You have a moisture problem. Find the moisture, and you begin to solve your problem. Mold is overblown. Most mold is not toxic, and even the dreaded black mold is only toxic (allergies, respiratory irritation) to a portion of the population.

Is this isolated to the past few weeks only? If so, it's probably a simple fix. If it has been ongoing, you might have some real trouble. Has the house ever been flooded?
jurgen

[juanbenae]

a buddy of mine was doing the mold testing thing for a while. his motto was "mold is gold,,, baby!". the testing will determine if it is a mold that will make you sick or not, although people react different according to what effects their system. i just know the testing, aside from the sampling time and equipment, the testing at the lab was like $40.

I would look for home test kits, maybe a google search? If they direct you how to sample, and have a place for you to send the spoors for the sampling maybe you save? I think my friend had mentioed that was something coming on the market, if not it should be, eh?

A new court house here in the bay area had to be abandoned and demo'd because it became uninhabitable due to mold. When I say new, i mean like 5 years.

best of luck

[tabs]

Originally posted by k911sc


A new court house here in the bay area had to be abandoned and demo'd because it became uninhabitable due to mold. When I say new, i mean like 5 years.

Only in the SF Bay area would they do something like that!

[speeder]

Thanks, guys. This was the type of info that we are looking for, keep it coming.

[Kevin Taylor]

Mold............get rid of it as soon as you see it.
Some people are getting very sick from it.

K.T.

[smoak]

Originally posted by turbo6bar
Bleach gets rid of mold. You have a moisture problem. Find the moisture, and you begin to solve your problem. Mold is overblown. Most mold is not toxic, and even the dreaded black mold is only toxic (allergies, respiratory irritation) to a portion of the population.

This is some very sound advice! Forget the mold detection people. You need a water intrusion person. Eliminate the source of the mositure then you can remediate the mold. Even if all the drywall on that wall has to be removed and replaced its not that big of a deal. Ripping a house down to its foundation is ridiculous and unecessary even in bad cases of mold. Bleach can be used to help clean surfaces but the best bet is to remove the affected drywall, clean any surfaces behind it that have mold on them and rehang the drywall. Again, make sure to find the source of the moisture first. Also, make sure there is no vinyl wall paper or mirrors that cover any of the exterior walls in that area too, these are large culprits in many situations.

[Joeaksa]

Get rid of it as soon as possible and do not tell anyone!!! Bleach the hell out of it and keep it dry at all costs. Would try to do it yourself first to keep your address off of any "home mold repair" computers.

If the insurance company finds out about it they may cancel your coverage and its impossible to get it back. Loads of houses in Texas and along the gulf coast being torn down due to mold and its the last thing you want to find.

JoeA

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Isn't this what we call "mildew"???

[RickM]

I believe it's referred to as Black mold. It's been repeatedly reported on the news that many developers have spent major bucks demoing parts of new houses to alleviate mold problems. Things like improperly installed vapor barriers, insulation and shoddy building techniques supposedly create the problem.
Health problem? I think for some it may be but as mentioned probably overblown.
I think the "pros" use a spray bottle of bleach (and another chemical...>???) to kill the stuff. I'd think the use of TSP (Tri sodium phosphate) would work as well.....but dont mix with bleach.

[asphaltgambler]

Current construction methods try to ensure a thermally efficient building. Sometimes too much. Materials like the plastic house wrap can make the home too air tight, trapping moisture if the contractor is not experienced. There has to be some circulation or venting.

[Superman]

What Asphaltgambler said. Today's building methods involve wrapping walls with plastic. This can be done so well that the wall is basically sealed hermetically. Perhaps that's fine if moisture never gets in, but in the real world moisture is in there. Walls need to have some ventilation.

Yes, bleach kills mildew (which is black) immediately right in front of your eyes. Even diluted with plenty of water, bleach kills the poop out of mildew. Again, I'd suggest ventilating the walls somehow, and also finding out how the moisture is getting in.

[RickM]

Here's a very informative site: http://www.startremodeling.com/Mold_Midew_Page.htm

Includes DIY clean-up.

There are many causes of mold development.

[legion]

Originally posted by Joeaksa
If the insurance company finds out about it they may cancel your coverage and its impossible to get it back. Loads of houses in Texas and along the gulf coast being torn down due to mold and its the last thing you want to find.

JoeA

Unfortunately, a lot of the problems in Texas arose because lawyers were telling people (after flooding in the Dallas area), "Let your house sit for a few months (with mold), and I'll get you a new house!" (Not to mention a hefty fee for myself.) This led to the insurance companies putting mold exclusions in their policies. This was to encourage people to clean up water damage immediately, and to end the cash cow for certain greedy lawyers.

Most of these "mold specialists" are snake oil saleman. I recently had water damage to my house (flooded basement). I cleaned it up that day and no mold formed. I even brought in a drywall contractor who recommended that I simply repaint.

Mold needs a constant source of moisture to form (or at least a source that isn't evaporating). Cleaning up the mold is the easy part--figuring out why it formed in the first place is the critical issue.

I would take care of this yourself and avoid telling your insurer. Some will try to cancel your policy, others will just see this as your problem (because of the exclusion).

[Dantilla]

A couple of years ago the apartment / housing industry was scared into thinking mold was right up there with anthrax, and insurance companies were all going to go broke tearing down half the country's buildings.

False alarm.

While there are some people who are at risk of illness from mold, like what was already stated, squirting it with bleach is all that is needed.

[azasadny]

You have to kill the live mold (using bleach), then get rid of the dead mold too! Ventilation and moisture control are needed to prevent the mold from coming back.

[juanbenae]

i used to build houses and the lumber in the center of units that never dries was covered in mold. they still went in the house to hybernate

[gaijindabe]

Do you think FEMA will buy me a new shower curtain??

[Hugh R]

Dennis

I used to do mold inspections, among other things. What others are saying is true. Mold needs three things to grow, food water and oxygen. Eliminate the water source. If you can see the visible mold, you don't need to test, you know you have it. 10% bleach and water solution, mechanical scrubbing, try not to spread it through out the house. Use plastic sheeting to separate mold growth areas from other parts of the house, wear a N95 dust mask from Home Depot. As someone said, insurers have common databases, and a claim now may make the house uninsurable in the future. I have a moisture meter and air sampling equipment which you can borrow. But I'll be out of the country on a Tech Scout for Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3 all next week.

Hugh