re: Mold experts of the ot

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Bleach is mostly water.


Because the active ingredient, sodium hypochlorite, is highly toxic retard.

Bleach is an anti microbial, a cheap and effective one at that.

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He is right, you are wrong. Bleach isn't the proper form of treatment. A true antimicrobial is. You can buy a cheap one for small areas in a spray bottle at any home improvement store.

I’m glad your knowledge of bleach extends solely to what you just read from google.

Foster 40-80, Concrobium, et alia are EPA registered anti-microbials.

Bleach is not.

wall aids

Is there is an ac duct in the floor at the window? If so i bet moisture is coming from the duct if no duct than carry on paint and move on

Somebody works for Serv pro

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No it doesnt. It freaking kills it. In small applications like the OP has it’s perfectly fine. Holy cow we got so many scaredy pants on this board about mold.

Concrobium is .95% sodium carbonate. So basically 1% mold killer plus water.

Clorox bleach is 6% sodium hypochlorite the rest basically water.

Yes mold killer like Concrobium are better, but the idea they are heat seeking missiles for mold is absurd. It’s better, but for small home spot killing bleach is fine. If you are treating a bad water leak or something like that certainly buy the better stuff.

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All I know is this:

In renovating my home I pulled wallpaper off the walls in the kitchen and in my son’s bedroom. Both had mold/mildew behind the wallpaper and on the Sheetrock. I did the kitchen before the big Baton Rouge flood of 2016 and figured spraying and treating the kitchen with bleach would suffice. It did, at first. All was well. I retextured, primed, and painted. A year later it was back.

The flood of 2016 hit. I didn’t flood but I had tons of family who did. I learned all I ever wanted to know about mold remediation and learned that bleach will NOT kill mold for good. You must use a mold killer rather than just simple bleach.

Fast forward to a couple months after the flood. I renovated my son’s bedroom. Removed all the wallpaper in there and found mold behind it on the Sheetrock. I used mold killer from Lowes on his walls. We’re three years later and it has not come back because it was effectively killed. The mold in the kitchen came back a year later after using bleach to “kill” it. I had to redo the kitchen.

Bleach will not completely kill mold.

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Both had mold/mildew behind the wallpaper and on the Sheetrock. I did the kitchen before the big Baton Rouge flood of 2016 and figured spraying and treating the kitchen with bleach would suffice. It did, at first. All was well. I retextured, primed, and painted. A year later it was back.

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Mold doesn’t grow on dry areas, it needs moisture. In your circumstances it’s more likely it wasn’t completely dry or somehow got wet again before it started to grow mold again.

But, in your situation where you are remodeling and have major water intrusion then absolutely some specialized mold killer like Concrobium is better. But in the OP’s situation where it’s most likely just surface mold/mildew from condensation then normal household bleach is perfectly fine.

You HAVE to dry the area completely additionally. Get the moisture content down. You can use a non diluted solution of the best mold killer out there and if it stays wet the mold will eventually grow back.

I'm glad I found this thread....we just had a mold assessment done in our house and found that we have mold. The levels seem pretty high but I dont know how bad or what I have to do.

I cant seem to find anyone that will shoot me straight.

Here is what I have in the report....maybe someone in this thread can decipher it for me

In room #1 spores.m3
Ascospores 79
Cladosporium 25,000
Other brown 38
Penicillium/Aspergillus types† 11,000

Master Room spores.m3
Ascospores 400
Basidiospores 160
Cladosporium 18,000
Other brown 19
Curvularia 19
Penicillium/Aspergillus types† 4,900

A certified fungal laboratory analyzed the air sample of the indoor air quality that was taken form
the middle of room #1 which revealed that the indoor mold spores were extremely high with Cladosporium
and Aspergillus along with other mold like spores.
Master Bedroom/Master Bath - A certified fungal laboratory analyzed the air sample of the indoor air quality that
was taken form the middle of Masterbedroom which revealed that the indoor mold spores were extremely high with
Cladosporium and Aspergillus along with other mold like spores.
Outdoor Sample - Sample was taken from outdoor as a baseline comparison.
CAUSATION
1. Water intrusion from the hardy plank over time has created very moisture conditions behind the wall paper.
2. Condensation from the warm air in the attic space is meeting cooler air from wire chute hole. The moisture is
being trapped and unable to dry out.
3. A/C closet - it is recommended to have a licensed HVAC mold remediation contractor who specialized in this
area.
DAMAGE ASSESSMENT
It is difficult to determine the extent of water damage between the wall cavities. A further intrusive inspection
should be done by opening parts of the wall for a visible inspection and additional testing be done.
REMEDIATION SUMMARY
Primary damage caused by fungal contamination, water, or moisture is listed as follows:
In room #1 the doors, shelving should be removed, treated, sanded and encapsulated. Seal the hole with wires
coming from attic to the inside of closet.
1. Master bedroom, remove all wall paper. If drywall it should be removed, treated with a biocide and HEPA
vacuumed. Encapsulate all open wall cavities, membranes and studs. If plaster, protocol should be to remove
wall paper and treat with biocide/fungicide and HEPA vacuum. Preoxide-based solution should be applied and
HEPA vacuumed.
2. Neegative air pressure and containment barriers must be used in remediation process. Master bathroom closet, it
is recommended to leave the exhaust fan running for one hour after shower to allow to air out.
3. Precautions should be used by remediation company. Containment is a must. Negative air devices must be used
for a minimum of 5 days.
4. Precautions should be used by remediation company. Containment is a must. Negative air devices must be used
for a minimum of 5 days.
5. All walls and hard surfaces should be cleaned with anti-microbial chemicals.
6. All contents should be professionally cleaned.
7. Pack out is recommended.
8. Because of the extent of visual mold and air borne samples take, it is recommended that a license mold
remediation company be retained.
9. After remediation is complete and all machines are turned off for 24 hours and before rebuild , a re-inspection
and test should be done.

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Where are the results for the outside air?

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I’ll post those later.

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Moldy AC closet? I'd start there.

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The moldy AC closet is downstairs and doesn’t control the air upstairs. The other 2 rooms are upstairs.

Were moisture readings taken in these areas? Wallpaper on Sheetrock can trap moisture but you’d be crazy to rip out all the rock just to find out if it is wet.