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Mold in crawlspace
Posted on 11/19/17 at 12:07 pm
Posted on 11/19/17 at 12:07 pm
A couple months ago, I discovered that our chimney was leaking from somewhere up top down directly into the bottom of the firebox in the crawlspace. No water ever entered anywhere inside the house or the fireplace. It was sheer luck that I found it as it was hidden behind a bunch of insulation. The area where the water had clearly been leaking to in the crawl had developed a bit of white mold growth. The guy that I had repair the chimney went under and scraped off the mold that he could and then sprayed it down with a bleach solution (which I have since read doesn't really do a whole lot to kill mold as it can't reach into the pores of the wood to kill the actual mold membrane). He also sprayed it down with something called Mold Control (sodium carbonate, I believe).
I went to check it out about a month later and it looked like this:
Some of the white mold was still there, as you can see above. So, I sprayed it down with distilled white vinegar which my research indicates is better than bleach for this type of thing. That was two weeks ago. Today, I went back under to check again and found this:
It looks like the white mold did die, but if you look at the upper and lower left corners and couple of other spots, you will notice a new turquoise-green color/growth. My question is, what is this? A different mold variety? Mildew? Some sort of color change that white mold goes through when dying/dead?
Need some input on what's going on here and some insight on how to fix it. I've read up on a few mold remediation companies here and found they use hydrogen peroxide. Have also heard copper sulfate works, but have seen other information indicating mold can adapt to higher copper ion levels and thus, not be significantly affected by it.
Any advice is appreciated!
#inb4yourhousehasAIDS
I went to check it out about a month later and it looked like this:
Some of the white mold was still there, as you can see above. So, I sprayed it down with distilled white vinegar which my research indicates is better than bleach for this type of thing. That was two weeks ago. Today, I went back under to check again and found this:
It looks like the white mold did die, but if you look at the upper and lower left corners and couple of other spots, you will notice a new turquoise-green color/growth. My question is, what is this? A different mold variety? Mildew? Some sort of color change that white mold goes through when dying/dead?
Need some input on what's going on here and some insight on how to fix it. I've read up on a few mold remediation companies here and found they use hydrogen peroxide. Have also heard copper sulfate works, but have seen other information indicating mold can adapt to higher copper ion levels and thus, not be significantly affected by it.
Any advice is appreciated!
#inb4yourhousehasAIDS
Posted on 11/19/17 at 12:10 pm to S1C EM
They have some excellent mold killer(Mold Control) at Home Depot. A bit pricey, but it works. Other than that, torch the house, save the family, and take only what you can carry. 
Posted on 11/19/17 at 12:11 pm to Sarge
quote:That first pic is a month after he applied that stuff.
Mold Control
quote:
Other than that, torch the house, save the family, and take only what you can carry.
Posted on 11/19/17 at 12:13 pm to S1C EM
Honestly, I just looked at the pics and read the first two sentences. Apologies, but maybe have him apply it more than once?
Posted on 11/19/17 at 12:19 pm to Sarge
I'm gonna try it again for sure. What about hydrogen peroxide? And any idea why the white in the corners turned green?
Posted on 11/19/17 at 12:20 pm to S1C EM
I would run air testing and maybe a swab test to see exactly what type of fungal growth you are dealing with.
Might not be a big deal...at all
Might not be a big deal...at all
Posted on 11/19/17 at 12:44 pm to S1C EM
Is the wood still wet? It looks that way from the pics.
Posted on 11/19/17 at 12:48 pm to Capital Cajun
Not as far back as I can reach. I believe most of that is staining/the dead white mold. I was under there during a heavy rain after the chimney repair and saw no evidence of the leak still being present.
Posted on 11/19/17 at 2:55 pm to S1C EM
You have to control the humidity down there or you're not going to have any luck controlling the mold. Get a hygrometer
Posted on 11/19/17 at 2:59 pm to S1C EM
Typically bright green mold is new mold growth, get a moisture meter and test to see if the wood is dry...
Posted on 11/19/17 at 3:15 pm to puffulufogous
quote:
You have to control the humidity down there or you're not going to have any luck controlling the mold. Get a hygrometer
Will look into this. It's not humid down there and there is already a dehumidifier close to that area. Still worth checking.
Posted on 11/19/17 at 3:18 pm to wickowick
quote:
Typically bright green mold is new mold growth, get a moisture meter and test to see if the wood is dry...
Interesting. We had rain since he first sprayed the mold control and just had that white stuff (which, according to mold control's label, overspray can leave a white residue.....). It wasn't until after I sprayed the vinegar and the white disappeared that the green showed up. Odd. I did go down and spray more mold control about an hour ago. Definitely need to test the wood for dampness.
Posted on 11/19/17 at 3:20 pm to S1C EM
Buy some Fiberlock Shockwave (RTU disinfectant) and a pump sprayer. Spray once every other day for a week. If you want to prevent from ever happening again, spray with Kilz primer.
This post was edited on 11/19/17 at 3:21 pm
Posted on 11/19/17 at 3:21 pm to S1C EM
You've done your due diligence, but I can't comment unless I know what species the mold is. You may need more specific testing.
Posted on 11/19/17 at 3:27 pm to S1C EM
Kilz was made for stuff like this.
Posted on 11/19/17 at 3:45 pm to STLDawg
quote:
You've done your due diligence, but I can't comment unless I know what species the mold is. You may need more specific testing
I'm going to let that last application of mold control dry and check again in a week or so. I'll see about getting someone to moisture test the wood after that. My concern,is whether or not there is still a leak in the chimney. It's just odd because I saw no evidence of such when I was down there and it was raining.
Do you agree that the green I'm seeing is new growth? If that is the case, there's got to be something going on for it to be growing in spite of the vinegar application. You'd think it wouldn't grow so readily after that.
Posted on 11/19/17 at 6:23 pm to S1C EM
What about that RMR-86 product, rapid mold remover sold by Lowe’s, Home Depot, and The Walmarks...
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