So about 3 or 4 months ago I noticed a spot of mold on one of my shotguns, so I wiped it off and inspected the rest of the gun and found no other signs. It's been over a year since I've shot it but it got a good cleaning/oiling about a year ago (maybe slightly more). So, fast forward to now and I have what looks to be a serious mold issue. All these pictures are in my basement only in two rooms. I can't find signs of mold on any concrete or framing in the house but it is showing up on shelves, a cd book, some laminate flooring, and a couple of my guns.

It's a poured concrete basement with no AC. The floored room is a smoking room I finished off a few years ago so it is well ventilated with a couple of 400 CFM exhaust fans. I'm in there pretty regularly so this stuff popped up extremely fast. I placed a hygrometer in the room and it is showing around 70% humidity give or take 5% as it's not calibrated, but it's about the same as my humidor which stays right at 70-72% during the summer. I have no idea where the source of this stuff is. I had a very small water leak behind the TV about a year ago but it was cleaned up immediately after it happened. There is not much noticable mold in the place where the water fell (underneath the TV).

How do I get rid of it for good and do you have any pointers on figuring out where it is originating?

I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures. It's our only camera and it's not a good one.

Edited to add that I have not seen any wet spots or standing water any where in the house and definitely not in the storage room or smoking room. There is vapor barrier plastic underneath the laminate flooring. There is also a sewage drain pipe that exits out of the concrete in the storage room, but no leaks or anything. I do have some old 2 liter bottles and 7 gallon water containers full in the storage room, but I don't see any standing water anywhere and the lids are all on tight. No noticable mold in the area around the water containers, but I haven't pulled them all out yet. I will be doing that next weekend.

CD book which has now been tossed in the trash





This shelving unit was covered in dust/cob webs a couple months ago in another part of the basement. I just cleaned it off maybe 2 months ago. Mold is now collecting along the bottom.


This is underneath an old tv. The white spots on the TV are just left over dust from when I was doing drywall. The spots on the floor appear to be mold as well. It was under this spot that I had to clean up the water that dripped last year. I pulled the TV out and there are just a few small spots underneath. Nothing crazy.


This is on a couple of guns. The mossberg 500 shotgun and an old winchester single shot .22 that I inherited from my grandfather. Both were cleaned/oiled about a year ago. They are not currently in a safe.






I'm assuming a dehumidifier is in my future.

Bleach. Wipe everything down and get a dehumidifier.

V

Toss some cat litter in some coffee filters for a cheap moisture grabber.

I run a dehumidifier 24/7.  It probably is a significant part of my electric bill, but probably quite necessary around these parts.

Also, a cheap box fan is kept running to circulate the air.

70% humidity is pretty high. I'd say you need to run a dehumidifier to bring that down.

I'm off to find a dehumidifier this week. I read that using borax instead of bleach is more effective at removing mold since it leaves a residue that prevents mold from growing but does anyone know if that is ok to use on guns? Is bleach ok to use on guns? I would wipe them down and oil them afterwards of course.

I had a very similar issue occur this summer in my garage. Here are a few hings that helped. I wiped all of my guns down with those clorox cleaning wipes and then cleaned them. I bought a few tubs of the damp rid and put that in the safe. I also raised the safe off of the floor.  If the bottom of your same is touching the cool floor and the air in the safe is warm, it can create condensation. I also had a few boxes sitting on the floor that began to mold right where the cardboard was touching the floor. Your photos appear to show the same.

my basement ranges from 74-84%.  I recently had some basement work done and they put on vapor barrier.  I thought that was supposed to help with humidity.  


what else can be done to permanently reduce humidity in a basement?  I dont see running a dehumidifier constantly as a long term solution.


 

I'm running between 65-75 in my basement with a dehudifier running and the walls drylocked.    Tagged because I'm not sure what else to do.  There's no water coming in that I can see.  I got a furnace guy coming to see if he can get me more air changes in the basement.

Your exhaust fans are pulling in the warmer humid air and it condenses in the cooler basement.

"Borax" or boric acid may leave a residue in powdered form but the residue (just left over powder) is white and easily comes off.  Just wipe the guns down with a rag and you will be OK on sealed stocks and metal.