# black mold



## property (Jul 31, 2007)

HI ALL

Stop Black Mold
What Is Black Mold and how do I remove mold from my home?
Dealing with mildew and black mold has been quite a challenge for some time.  The main reason because mold grows so fast and in areas where most do not notice.  Place like black mold in a crawl space, inner wall cavity and many others.  The spores of toxic mold have been around since day one.  The good news is it can be removed and prevented if done correctly and your home, or office is maintained. 

What most home people who suffer black mold allergens should know is that mold becomes a problem when the indoor spore count is higher than the outside spore count. Black Mold Count is usually identified scientifically from a mold test by a professional or a easy way is to understand if there is visible black mold in the room and it appears to be be noticeable, you may have a problem.  So when living in a confined space, such as your home or bedroom, the area needs a certain percentage of clean breathing air. 

When you begin having black mold spores over populate the air that is when the area becomes a problem and most likely you may have a black mold problem.  Removing black mold can become an expensive process if mold has grown and amplified in your house or office over a long period of time.  You can always look into a Mold Inspection and Testing or Mold Remediation Company if need be.


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## jqgs214 (Jul 31, 2007)

Sorry but how is this hearth related??  and blatant advertising is not allow unless approved by Web.


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## keyman512us (Aug 2, 2007)

Ummm..I have to agree. Thanks for the link, but this isn't a spot for advertising...perhaps you should read the rules there "Mr. Property"...


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## restorer (Aug 3, 2007)

My two cents worth is, just because the mold is black colored it isn't necessarily "toxic black mold". The poster did a half-_** reference to it must be tested. But truth be known, a 10% solution of bleach and water will control most molds. I think this forum is beyond being scared by BI type threats.


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## Mo Heat (Aug 3, 2007)

Well, I was going to delete this until I read UncleRich's comment. It just so happen to have some mold in my bedroom window sill that I wrote extensively about, about a month ago. I think I'll mix up some bleach water and go after it.

I'll leave this one for BG, MSG, or Craig to delete.  :roll:


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## Harley (Aug 3, 2007)

Good call, Mo

UR was right on with the ID issue first and the "bleach solution" - it works in most cases.


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## GVA (Aug 3, 2007)

MO wear a respirator anyway (toxic or not) once those spores in volume get airborne you can get sick pretty quick.  Kinda like allergy season to the nth degree.


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## Mo Heat (Aug 3, 2007)

GVA said:
			
		

> MO wear a respirator anyway (toxic or not) once those spores in volume get airborne you can get sick pretty quick.  Kinda like allergy season to the nth degree.



Unfortunately, the window sill, and the mold (not a whole lot, but enough to smell) has been exposed for the last few months. Since I haven't been wearing a respirator while I've been in the bedroom, I figure I'll just spray some bleach solution on it and things will at least be better. Unless... spraying the mold somehow mobilizes the spores. Is that what you mean?


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## Mo Heat (Aug 3, 2007)

BTW: I'll bet our new member "property" never makes it to "Fire Starter" in his post count. Any takers?  :coolsmirk:


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## restorer (Aug 3, 2007)

To properly protect your lungs use a medical mask or a hepa filtered mask. Usually if it growing on a surface exposed to light is is not the real toxic kind. Open the windows and door, set a fan to exhaust and have at it with a gentle spray. Because I do restoration work, I take the opposite approach and drown wood in oxalic acid. Same effect, but acidic, not alcaline.

Toxic mold mostly grows inside the walls and is hidden until the condition is serious, sounds like you have a standing puddle and leak.


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## begreen (Aug 3, 2007)

I moved the thread to DIY and left it just for you Mo. It's a good DIY topic that affects lots of homes. We've seen some little threads of black mold forming in the shower in a couple of the joints. So far I've just used bleach in a spray bottle to address it. 

This does seem like a one-post stand for property doesn't it?


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## keyman512us (Aug 3, 2007)

Mo Heat said:
			
		

> Well, I was going to delete this until I read UncleRich's comment. It just so happen to have some mold in my bedroom window sill that I wrote extensively about, about a month ago. I think I'll mix up some bleach water and go after it.
> 
> I'll leave this one for BG, MSG, or Craig to delete.  :roll:



I would agree it is a good topic...it just should have been posted as such. Black mold should be tested to determine if it is Stachybotris (SP?) or not...very nasty stuff. StachyB once it takes hold...very hard to iradicate. Very good incentive to address moisture problems in a timely manner. If more than your basement "Smells Musty" you are headed for problems. Regardless of what "The Experts" EPA etc...have to say, living with that moisture is far worse to your health than smoke could ever be.


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## Gooserider (Aug 4, 2007)

We have a long standing problem in our first floor bathroom with peeling paint and some sort of black stuff growing on the walls in the bathtub area above the surround and the bathroom ceiling.  It's been on my "Honey-Do" list, but hasn't been a big priority - it got bad for a while but I replaced the bathroom fan with a better unit and it's been better since.  

What I'm not sure about is the optimum fix so that it won't happen again.  I'm assuming the best bet would be to remove all the sheetrock and replace it with Hardibacker or Durock, then put what? over it to finish?

Gooserider

(As a minor suggestion - I have Mod powers on the Mass LP board, and what I've done a few times with borderline spam posts is gone in and removed the link, but otherwise left the content...  This keeps the spammer from benefiting (including from link-spam) but still lets the users get whatever other benefit the post might have had to offer...)


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## restorer (Aug 4, 2007)

Gooserider said:
			
		

> We have a long standing problem in our first floor bathroom with peeling paint and some sort of black stuff growing on the walls in the bathtub area above the surround and the bathroom ceiling.  It's been on my "Honey-Do" list, but hasn't been a big priority - it got bad for a while but I replaced the bathroom fan with a better unit and it's been better since.
> 
> What I'm not sure about is the optimum fix so that it won't happen again.  I'm assuming the best bet would be to remove all the sheetrock and replace it with Hardibacker or Durock, then put what? over it to finish?
> 
> ...



Goose:
Dry the air out first. You may need an even larger fan, or even a separate fan for a shower/tub enclosure. Had the same problem years ago and installed a three speed fan, high during shower, medium to clear the remaining air for about fifteen minutes and the low (almost silent) to maintain. The bath had no window, so there was no cross ventilation possible.

If your paint is peeling, it may not be the board it's on, but the base coat or primer used. There are special paints for wet environments. Check with a quality paint store. You may have to dp a bit of prep, but shouldn't have to re-sheet. I have an oil base gloss enamel on the walls around my rinse tank/booth (powerwash) and have had no problem for almost ten years.

Last I think eliminating the link is a very good idea. Wouldn't want it to mine my computer, that's why I haven't clicked it, but ithers may not be as cautious.


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## begreen (Aug 4, 2007)

link? what link?


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## GVA (Aug 5, 2007)

Mo Heat said:
			
		

> GVA said:
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MO exposure to the mold may not be bad unless it is disturbed.
Spray the mold and wipe it away, but not all is eliminated some is airborn It can be a bad experience.....toxic or not..

May be a bad example but look at a pile of dog poop that is a week old, it doesn't smell till you step in it... ;-) JK


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## Gooserider (Aug 5, 2007)

UncleRich said:
			
		

> Gooserider said:
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The fan is a single speed fan/light unit that is located over the bathtub/shower stall - this has a shower curtain but isn't enclosed otherwise.  It's one of those one piece molded tubs with ~6' walls on three sides.  I forget the exact rating on the fan, I think it's around 80cfm but it's on the high side of the range reccomended for our relatively small (~8 x 10) bathroom.  The fan vents via a 4" hose through the outside wall at the foot of the tub - I would estimate the vent run at about 3-4 feet total.  This unit replaced a smaller fan/light combo with a 3" vent that was initially put in the house when it was built.  We normally run the fan any time the shower is in use, and after until the steam is gone from the bathroom mirror. (10-15 minutes)  This seems to keep the situation stable if not great, which is a BIG improvement over when the paint was actively peeling, etc.



> If your paint is peeling, it may not be the board it's on, but the base coat or primer used. There are special paints for wet environments. Check with a quality paint store. You may have to dp a bit of prep, but shouldn't have to re-sheet. I have an oil base gloss enamel on the walls around my rinse tank/booth (powerwash) and have had no problem for almost ten years.



Well there appears to be visible deterioration of the surface of the board above the tub surround - it looks like the paper surface of the sheetrock is rotted, and it has this white crystalline stuff on it.  It looks to me like the walls in the tub surround area need to be replaced for certain, and possibly the ceiling directly over the tub.  I don't think the rest of the walls (currently covered with a wallpaper that is kind of ugly, but appears intact otherwise) and the balance of the ceiling are much of a problem.  The other problem is that I dont have any idea what sort of materials were used to finish the ceiling, so I'm not sure what the best stuff to repaint with would be.

What I've been playing with in my head is to rip out the walls between the surround and the ceiling, put in a waterproof backing board of some sort and tile or use some sort of waterproof panelling.  Possibly do something similar with the ceiling over the tub itself, and then re-paint and / or paper the rest of the ceiling and walls.  While I had the ceiling around the fan open, I might try replacing the flex hose vent with rigid ducting on general principles, and possibly upgrading the fan unit itself (part of the current constraint is the wiring between the fan and the switch - only one run of 14/2-w/G Romex...  Can't run the fan and light seperately, and only a single speed on the fan.)



> Last I think eliminating the link is a very good idea. Wouldn't want it to mine my computer, that's why I haven't clicked it, but ithers may not be as cautious.



I'm not worried about getting mined - one of the advantages of a Linux box is that they are fairly immune to such things.  The reason I like dumping the links is that links in posts connect you to the spammer's website, and we don't want to give a spammer any business on principle.  An even more subtle detail is that of "link spam". Google bases parts of its ratings on how many sites link to you.  By sticking links to your site all over the web, you increase your Google ranking (and thus how early you appear in the returns from a given search) even if nobody ever actually uses them.  I want to avoid rendering ANY kind of aid to spammers.  A "robots.txt" file would keep the links from getting counted, but Craig (IMHO quite properly) doesn't use one of those since he wants to get as many Google hits as he can in order to increase traffic to the Hearth.

Gooserider


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## jjbaer (Aug 10, 2007)

I've found two things that guarantee no mold in the tub area:

1) run the bathroom fan on high during and for 10 min after you finish showering
2) hang a 12" squeegee in the tub and squeegee the tiles and the glass of all standing water immediately after showering. 

Never had any mold after doing the above as the squeegee gets 95% of the water off the walls and the glass and the fan helps dry out the remainder and evacuates the damp air from the room.....


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## Highbeam (Aug 10, 2007)

There are also cool humidistats available to control the bathroom vent fan based on desired humidity levels. They take the place of a switch and are rated for 7.5 amps typically. Another option is the switched timer. Not the wind up timer of old that would tick like a clock but an apparently normal looking switch that has an adjustable off delay. On as normal and off is delayed by up to an hour. Both are like 30$. The humidistat is ideal in a perfect world but the downside is that there is no on-switch to provide cover noise and odor removal in the event of a lady's visit. I currently have only windows for ventilation in my old house but had the roofers install the 4" roof jacks so I've been investigating. I hate excess moisture, mold, mildew, and the smells.


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## GVA (Aug 11, 2007)

Highbeam said:
			
		

> There are also cool humidistat available to control the bathroom vent fan based on desired humidity levels. They take the place of a switch and are rated for 7.5 amps typically. Another option is the switched timer. Not the wind up timer of old that would tick like a clock but an apparently normal looking switch that has an adjustable off delay. On as normal and off is delayed by up to an hour. Both are like 30$. The humidistat is ideal in a perfect world but the downside is that there is no on-switch to provide cover noise and odor removal in the event of a lady's visit. I currently have only windows for ventilation in my old house but had the roofers install the 4" roof jacks so I've been investigating. I hate excess moisture, mold, mildew, and the smells.


Actually just run a standard light switch in parallel with the humidistat and that would take care of those stinky situations


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## eernest4 (Oct 27, 2007)

http://www.alerg.com/page/A/PROD/MOLD/AF2550#reviews

This is not spam, Im just trying to show you a machine that works & i dont care if you never buy one. also , the link is safe, i been there many times.

the cheapest model is like 60.oo , so dont fall for the 240.oo one, unelse you want that size.
but airfree is the only one that really works. 
(i do patch in edit here)
Above is a link to the air free platimum air sterlizer. there are cheaper air free sterilizer models to buy on other web sites, do a ask.com search for them.

basically this unit has a 50 watt dynamic ceramic core that has like 30 air tubes inside it and it takes air from the floor and heats it to 400 degree for a length of time & then releases it to float up from the top of the machine . Then it takes another volume of cold air off the floor & heats it to 400 deg & releases it.

It keeps cycling the air over and over until all the mold and otherstuff floating in the room air has been incinerated by the high temps.

usually takes 8 to 10 days per room.

By the way, a hot air heat exchanger on a wood or pellet stove will do the same thing, but its pretty tough to move the stove from room to room, let alone installing all those 6 inch flue pipes
back to the chimney.

and the air free sterlizer can be picked up in 1 hand and moved from room 2 room.

If you have a mold problem or allergies that you think are associated with bad air in your house,
these work qiute well.

They dont kill the mold on surfaces, only the mold floating around in the air.

Use the 10% bleach solution for surface mold cleanup.

I had a nasty mold problem, which after a year and stripping a basement room bare and installing a new cement floor over the old dirt floor, I finally found the cause of the mold.

I had several holes in the cement in the basement wall that when it rain , ground water would come through the holes and get soaked up by the dirt floor.

unfornatuley, I had a lot of good lumber stacked , 2 x4, 4x8 plywood  & such, that got wet and grew mold because of those holes in the cement wall letting in ground water.

The moldy dirt is covered by 3 inch of cement now and the lumber is all outside in the rain
waiting 4 me to wash it with either bleach or oxalic acid and then be dryed out and brought back inside.

I still have to mix a batch of cement up and fill the holes because I just descovered them this week, but we have had 4 days straight rain so nothing will start getting done until sunday when rain stops.

the point is ,usually, where there is a mold problem , there is a water leak close by. it may take a year to find it, but keep on keeping on & in the meantime the airfree sterilizer will allow you to be in the room without getting sick.


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## velvetfoot (Oct 29, 2007)

Mold, the new radon.


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## GVA (Oct 30, 2007)

This is actually interesting....
The wife and I saw something on DSC not too long ago and found out that mushroom farmers use this stuff called "gypsum" to accelerate the mushrooms growth........................  Yep that is what most of the new homes are made of  (drywall).......   Very interesting........
Forget radon it's the new lead paint..................
I can't wait to see what happens to the # of claims over the next 10 years :grrr:


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