Black Mold

We had that problem in one of our bathrooms. My we had out insurance adjuster out. We couldn’t of course get any money for the damage, but, he gave my husband some good advice.
“Tear all the sheetrock out, linoleum and wood flooring out, and use a solution of 1 cup chlorine bleach per gallon of water and wash (wear a mask and rubber gloves for protection against the spores) the walls, ceiling and floor thoroughly with the bleach. Let dry. Wash a 2nd time with 1/2 cup bleach to 1 gallon water to make sure the mold is all dead and gone.
Otherwise, you’d have to hire someone who does that again.
The mold is caused because of lack of ventillation in the room(s). Moisture gets in and cannot get out.

You can do it. Tear out the drywall. Then use a sealer on the walls. To keep it from coming back you need to remove the moisture, probably with a dehumidifier. For more about mold check out the indoor air quality page at my source.

On letting your insurance pay: If you have an insurance claim for basement mold, you will be listed in the national registry for moldy basement. That will devalue your home at sale time. So dont do it.

Black mold or any other mold for that matter is harmless to most people. If you are allergic to molds, all molds should be removed from your basement. That includes black mold which, to most people is harmless. That is according to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta. That BS on CBS on black mold is just BS.

To keep mold out of your basement, make sure the downspouts off the gutters drain at least 20 feet from your foundation. Then AC the basement and that will keep it dry. Another help is to get an electrostatic air filter into the furnace or air handler . That filter will remove mold, mildew, bacteria and even viruses from the air, that includes your foul smell in the basement also. An electrostatic filter on your furnace or air handler will rid you of a musty smelling basement.

On removal, simply a good washing with bleach will do it. You can buy the non chlorinated bleach and avoid the stinky smell. Soak down the walls good with a garden sprayer then flush with a hose clean. If you have drywall or paneling in the basement you need to gut the whole basement to remove that molding damaged materials.

Before you remove the mold or have it removed (a company will require this of you anyway), test it to see what kind you are dealing with. This will help you to know how to deal with it and to get estimates if you don’t do it yourself. A test kit for under $10 is available at most do-it-yourself stores.

Before you begin, find the moisture source. If you don’t have an active leak from plumbing, you will need to find out if mositure or water is seeping in from sprinklers, winter snow, or a water table present below the ground.

There are plumbers, water leak detection companies and home inspectors that have special equiptment that detects water behind walls and hidden areas. This costs under $300 and is worth investing in if you don’t know the mositure source. You wouldn’t want to repair the damage only to have it happen all over again.

Even if the mold is stachybatris (the kind everyone fears), you can do it safely yourself if you set up the removal correctly and dispose of all the moldy dry wall etc.. into 6 mm plastic bags that are sealed prior to taking them out of your basement.

Upon moving in to our home 4 years ago, we too found mold onl most of the drywall behind wood paneling. It was stachybatris. The lowest of 8 estimates for the 18x 26 foot room (468 sq feet) was $8300.00. We had a lower estimate, but we were not confident that they knew what they were doing and were afraid they would spread mold spores into the rest of our house.

We rented a air purifyer and shut off the basement’s air from circulating to the rest of the house.

We purchased respirators (about $40 each) at home depot, disposable paper fiber coveralls from a paint store, shoe booties etc. and did it ourselves.

Afterwards, we had an environmental company test our air at the cost of $140.00 and saved ourselves thousands. Go to the govt’s epa site for instructions on how to DIY.

Good luck.

You can fix this just like a pro, here’s how.

First you scrub the walls with 50/50 bleach water mix. This kills the mold. Then you have to fix what has caused this problem and that can only be done with a water based epoxy sealant. This is what mold pros do. They just charge you ten times more for it!

I have a cool and unusual product I would like to
suggest for your concrete basement. It is Top Secret Coatings 1 Part Epoxy. It is a silicone based mono-epoxy with alkyd and urethane in it making it a blend. We came up with this product because of the problems associated with two component epoxy and urethanes. 1 Part Epoxy retains the desirable aspects of two component epoxy and urethane
without the mixing. Like typical epoxy it has the highest possible adhesion rating, its waterproof and has excellent chemical resistance. It is tremendously flexible and hard making it durable. It takes heat to 400F, impacts to 500PSI and won’t crack, peel or chalk. It is a high performance, low build coating so it goes on much thinner than paint. In fact it will cover white with black at only 1 mil which is unheard
of. A sheet of paper is 4 mils. We’ve seen people get
well over 800 sq ft out of one gallon because it
covers so well. That makes it very economical to use.
Since it is so flexible, has such good adhesion and
low film build it can be applied direct to almost any
surface including fiberglass, aluminum, copper,
composites, plastic, steel, ceramics even vinyl sheet
goods!

I hope this information is useful.