Posted: 4/7/2005 7:06:03 PM EDT
| My wife and I think that we have found some black mold in the corner of a closet next to a bathroom in our house. Anyone know what to do with this stuff or how to determine if it is or not? Thanks |
Shoot it with bleach...then it'll be WHITE MOLD!  Seriously, it can be nasty stuff and is probably in more than the area where you see it. I don't know if you can take a sample to, say, a University Lab or something, but 'black mold' can cause some respiratory problems. Had to deal with that once, so I'm not just bein' a smart-ass. Check it out and get it taken care of. Good Luck. |
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Firelotus, in your case the mold is just a symptom of a problem more than anything else. If you've got mold, you've probably got water getting in behind that wall. From your description it sounds like a localised problem rather than just high ambient humidity in the room (in which case it would probably be growing in more than one place). Identifying it is a total waste of time and effort (99.9% sure the lab comes back with something that would be classified as a 'common environmental isolate' like Aspergillus or Cladosporium. On the other hand I suspect that you'll soon be tearing out and fixing your shower surround, tile wall and/or drainage pan. Use a filter mask when you're ripping out the wall, apply bleach or Lysol liberally to the moldy areas (and allow to sit long enough to do something...ie read the directions). Let everything dry before sealing the wall back up. Get rid of the dampness and you'll get rid of the mold. End of story. I realize it's currently very 'in' to worry about mold infestations in your house but I personally wouldn't go all panicky just because you found a spot of black mold growing next to the bathroom. The mold probably isn't going to harm you unless you a:don't fix the water problem and it gets worse/more established or b: disturb it without disinfecting it first and breath in the spores and mold dust. Unless you're already sensitized (which you would almost certainly know) you probably breath in tens of millions of mold spores everytime you cut your lawn or rake up leaves. Don't freak out, just get the water problem fixed. -Observer (former microbiologist) |
| The mold reports in the press the past few years completely blow the "problem" out of proportion. Molds have been around longer than we have and rarely cause problems in humans (and yes, I'm aware of Aspergillus, Histoplasma and Coccidioides imitis). Take care of the dampness, and the mold will go away. Insurance fraud is rampant in the name of black mold. |
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"The mold probably isn't going to harm you unless you a:don't fix the water problem and it gets worse/more established or b: disturb it without disinfecting it first and breath in the spores and mold dust." well, there were some books in the area that we saw were damp, so we grabbed them and threw them in the trash can nearby and then sealed off the garbage bag. then sprayed a shit load of lysol in the room, let it dry for a good 1/2 hour or so, and then sprayed lysol again on the carpet, the garbage can and all around the area there was mold on. do you think that is enough for now? do you think grabbing the books and throwing them in the garbage can disturbed it too much and that we breathed it in cause of that? thanks for your advice. |
That's what I'm talkin' about. We MOVED OUT. The problems we had with respiratory distress went away. It was WHERE we lived that was causing the problems. BURNING the place down would've been a good idea! Instead, a retired contractor bought the property, then GUTTED the place and rebuilt it. I hope he got all the mold... |
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We've got lots of mold here. The foundation leaks, so the basement is wet except for a short time during the heat of summer when it doesn't rain for a while. When the basement door is opened the musty smell is quite obvious, and most of our window frames (old wood) upstairs are several colors of mold. We clean them, but it comes right back because conditions are so good for growing. It's a 1950s Sears Kit House that we're renting, but we're looking for a house to buy soon partly because of this. |
