We recently bought a house and it has mold on most of the walls, mostly at the baseboards. We thought it was because the house had no ventilation (the windows were painted shut) and there was not a fan in the bathroom. We have since replaced the windows and let the house air out, but the mold wont go away! We cleaned the mold, primed and painted it but it still grows back. Any suggestions on how to get rid of the mold so we can rent it out?
Thanks…
What did you use to clean the mold? I know a lot of people say to use bleach…but bleach is NOT an EPA approved killer of mold on porous surfaces (ie drywall). The mold grows into the drywall and bleach only kills on hard surfaces. A Google search for mold killers or treatment should get you links to some things you can buy online.
We just bought a house that had minor mold problems due the previous owners running the humidifier at 100%. My wife & I stressed over the cleanup fearing it was behind walls, etc… Fortunately, we got money back at closing to clean the mold. We hired a professional to test and clean it for us. He used a two step process from Anabec (they only sell to contractors - we tried). He removed the baseboard where traces of mold were to make sure it was all treated and killed.
I know this was probably overkill and we paid more than we wanted, but I look at it as buying peace of mind. We are selling this place ASAP and wanted assurance that everything was treated properly so we can sell with a clear conscious.
Considering the stress we experienced I will never knowingly purchase a mold house again, no matter how insignificant it seems.
Just my thoughts.
Mattman
Hey Matt, how much did it cost?
I was wondering the same thing Fadiz. In case I run into that in the future…
We paid too much, I am sure. We got 2000 back at closing for remediation. I was hoping to get it done for maybe 1200, but in the end it cost us 1750.
The guy that did the work was professional and pleasant, but considering there aren’t any EPA guidelines for cleaning mold I’m sure he took advantage of the situation. We were anxious to get the work done and our other contractors never even showed for the estimates. That gave us little bargaining power too.
Though I would have loved to use some of that 2000 for other rehab projects, it wasn’t really money out of my pocket. Also, we just got the lab results and it wasn’t a toxic mold and all traces have been remediated. That in itself is a huge relief.
Hope that helps you.
Matt
I was recently informed by a licensed Mold Remediation Expert that, in order to remove mold you need to apply a specific mold killer. He mentioned ‘Fosters 40-80’, an anti-bacterial cleaner. He said that once the mold is gone, the area needs to be treated with an encapsulant which will help to prevent any future growth of mold, such as ‘Fosters 40-20’. A friend of mine found these or similar products on-line. They’re not cheap but are apparently worth the $ to eliminate the problem. My advice would be to have a professional mold expert handle the remediation…for the sake of your own health.
I hope this information helps.