Anybody deal with house mold ?

[camobob]

About 6 months ago I took one of the two mattress off my bed and placed it against the wall in my room. I meant to put it downstairs but shortly after I tore my rotator cuff and just never got to it. Well today we were doing a bit of spring cleaning and I decided to pull that mattress out of my room and when I moved it there was a rectangle of black mold the size of our kingsized bed on the wall. It looks like the condensation from the window few the water into the bed and it just went downhill from there. Now the misses has had a headache for a couple weeks now (no not that kind smartass) and I have been sick on and off for the past month or two all respiratory with the worst of it being a cough for the last week that just wont leave and a lil blood from time to time. We are both going to the doctor tomorrow, I already bleached the wall but should I tear out the sheetrock? I took a few sample to take to the doc tomorrow . There was a patch of black spotted stuff, som fuzzy white stuff that looked like a spiders nest(but wasnt) a little slimy green stuff. All dissapeared after the bleach but Im worried about the kids and it being in the wall now. Any suggestions ?

[camobob]

kinda looked like this but not as severe

[jeepron]

i found some when i removed my drywall, i just put bleach in a sprayer and layed it on, chances are its behind your drywall to, time to play demolition man

[GySgt Hartman]

Check here:

http://www.epa.gov/mold/mold_remediation.html

http://www.cdc.gov/mold/stachy.htm

[twisted]

its nasty stuff but i thought it wasnt dangerous unless disturbed and then it releases its spores.

[crcoppens]

You best best is to just remove it, the spores can stay within the walls. My wife just dealt with this on a house she sold and it was a PIA. Mold experts had to test and retest after the remediation.

[Jslick]

block walls or drywall?? Had to deal with that type of mold at my place, our house was built in 1903 and the basement was always damp and smelled funny. when we got a hard rain there would be a stream down the middle of the floor. Some of the drywall that divided the basement looked like that mold and we had to have a specailist come in and do all kinds of stuff to get it remediated bleaching, bakingsoda pressurewashing and other stuff. before that happened I broke out the sledge and went to town and removed the drywall and studs. this type of mold loves to eat celulose, paper/wood. First I would start with a dehumidifier, this has made a world of difference and has taken the dampness out of the air. We wanted to use the basement so we had the basement floor removed, dug down and had a drain system put in with a sump pump. We have not had any issues since we removed the moisture and had the treatment. Hope this helps.

[camobob]

It wouldnt have happend if I didnt leave the bed next to the window. The moisture from the window was wicked away by the bed and it just got moldy. The bed is now gone , so it sound like I should be ok if I just bleach it a few times. Hope I start feeling better now , this shits getting old.

[nuckle]

Watch the king of the hill mold episode! You caused the mold and you took care of it. It is a billion dollar industry that it takes common sense and a little bleach to fix.

[camobob]

Im coughing so bad that it's making me gag and puke. Im not sick to my stomach its just the gaging from the constant coughing I cant sleep . Im gonna try and get tequilla drunk and get some shut eye .

[J.DUKE]

Nuckle's right!
I own a flood/mold remediation company.
Bleach won't kill everything. It brightens and looks nice though.
Microban is a great product available at most janitorial supply stores taht kills all mold. Clean, wipe, disinfect everything that was wet/moldy with microban.
The long term solution with the mold is to fix the water problem.
Once the water problem is fixed, any mold in the stud bay will go dormant and die after several weeks. More than likely, theres no mold in the wall. Or, so little its of no consequence. Opening the wall will only release spores into the living space, worsening symptoms, and creating more work for you.
Some signs of significant moisture present:
- swelling mdf baseboard.
- caulk on baseboard top edge swelling or pulling away.
- dark/discolored carpet tack strip.

I would definitely toss the mattress if you haven't already.
You may need to peel back the carpet and spray the backing with Microban. Toss and replace any wet carpet pad.

Thats a solid start.

[camobob]

No carpet, (tile floor) it stopped abou t6-8 inches from the floor due to the bed leaning against the wall . There was no leak just the condensation from the window from the cold outside and the warm house temp. Nothing is leaking thank god. I will look into the chemical you recomended, thanks

[RANOVRU]

Im actually in the finishing stages of replacing the bathroom ceiling at my parents-in-law from a mold issue. Replaced the old drywall with a more updated version thats supposedly mold resistant. Also got paint with a built in sealer thats supposed to be specifically for bathrooms. Once I got the old ceiling down it was obvious what the cause was. The exhaust fan had no duct running outside the house and moreover was pointed directly towards the HVAC duct blowing air into the bathroom, just a few inches beside it.

They have the same problem in their kitchen but I wont be doing that. Their bathroom is just a little 6x10 and will have taken about a week in spare time to complete after all is said and done. Kitchen is HUGE and will more than likely require professional help.

[GRIMGREG]

Originally Posted by jduke31+6

Nuckle's right!
I own a flood/mold remediation company.
Bleach won't kill everything. It brightens and looks nice though.
Microban is a great product available at most janitorial supply stores taht kills all mold. Clean, wipe, disinfect everything that was wet/moldy with microban.
The long term solution with the mold is to fix the water problem.
Once the water problem is fixed, any mold in the stud bay will go dormant and die after several weeks. More than likely, theres no mold in the wall. Or, so little its of no consequence. Opening the wall will only release spores into the living space, worsening symptoms, and creating more work for you.
Some signs of significant moisture present:
- swelling mdf baseboard.
- caulk on baseboard top edge swelling or pulling away.
- dark/discolored carpet tack strip.

I would definitely toss the mattress if you haven't already.
You may need to peel back the carpet and spray the backing with Microban. Toss and replace any wet carpet pad.

Thats a solid start.

Glad someone else with some real knowledge spoke up. I kept reading all the "use bleach" comments just shaking my head. All bleach tends to do is bleach the color out of the mold. If you mist water onto the spot you bleached the next day, it would look like you sprayed miracle grow on it.

Once it is cleaned off the wall apply a coat or 2 of a good sealer primer to the wall, it will help keep any mold that might have gotten into the wall board from reemerging.

[crawlhog]

i had the same problem bob TEAR OUT THE DRYWALL thats the only way to be sure. then check everything in the area that mold will kill you

[TexasSP]

You should probably have a sample of the mold tested to see what type it is your dealing with. Been through this before and you want to make sure it's not one of the more harmful types.

[JeremyH]

Just leave it.....it will probably go away on it's own...

[GRIMGREG]

Originally Posted by crawlhog

that mold will kill you

You can tell that by his description?

There are deadly varieties, but they aren't that common. Most "black" mold isn't the deadly kind. Any mold can cause breathing/sinus issues, just depends on the person (just like not everyone has the same allergies). It's always a good idea to clean any kind of mold up quickly, but it is also better not to over react to it either.

[entropy]

Originally Posted by TexasSP

You should probably have a sample of the mold tested to see what type it is your dealing with. Been through this before and you want to make sure it's not one of the more harmful types.

The "mold scare", is pretty much a scare, if not BS. I have friends that work, and have worked for the Health Dept, in the sections that deal with it. Can they give you allergies, or make you sick, its possible, and it does happen. Are you going to find some deadly fuzz, and keel over - pretty much a giant, NO! The only time things really get dicey is if you are immunocompromised, and are exposed to one of the pathogenic forms. Thing is, if you are that immunocompromized, its usually due to one reason, and if thats the issue, you have a lot of other things, worse things to worry about - hepatitus, tuberculosis, pneumonia, etc.

[J.DUKE]

The risk of mold harming your health does exist, but its extremely rare/minimal. Usually, its just allergy/respiratory symptoms.
I've been at this for a decade, and I've only seen one person hospitalized, and she had a pin-hole leak in a water bed, near the headboard. So she slept all night with her face just a foot or so away from the mold. And it still took about a year for her health to react. With some heavy meds, she was up and at it a few weeks later. And you guessed it, no more water bed!

If you'd really like to know what kind of mold you have, run down to Home Depot and grab one of thier test kits. Its $10-15, plus another $25 to send it to the same lab my tests go to!!!
For the same test, I charge $150 per area, and do a minimum of three areas:
One test in the affected area.
One test in the far end of the house.
One test outside the house.
The last two are control tests so you have something to compare the main sample to. You'll get two main things from a lab test; Name and description of spore types, and a mold count, elevated, normal, etc...