Mold - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

go iggy · 03-25-2008, 11:46 PM

Wondering is anyone has ever gotten mold and how they cleaned it up. I found mold in my garage behind the insulation. The insulation looks fine just a little damp so i took it out and am letting the wall and insulation dry. The mold is about 2 feet wide and runs from the bottom to the top of the wall. Its all spotted.

Do I use bleach?
do I sand it down?

Anyone know?

Thanks

GoinAllTheWay · 03-25-2008, 11:48 PM

Ok, for sure don't sand it, that would send it airborne and unless your wearing a REALLY good respirator, it's not the way I'd go.

Can't see bleach being a bad idea, not sure how the wood would react to it but it would kill the mold.

go iggy · 03-25-2008, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Ok, for sure don't sand it, that would send it airborne and unless your wearing a REALLY good respirator, it's not the way I'd go.

Can't see bleach being a bad idea, not sure how the wood would react to it but it would kill the mold.

Can I sand it and make sure I have a bag with a vacume attached to it?

photon · 03-25-2008, 11:58 PM

Bleach will likely not kill it either, depending on what kinds of mold it is.

really the only way to truly do it properly is to physically remove it, but as GATW said that can cause really bad problems with respect to air.

I knew some people who did this for insurance, and for houses what they did was seal it off from the rest of the house, create a negative air pressure zone so it didn't get everywhere else (i.e. everyone's lungs) and wear respirators and gear and sand/scrape the affected areas until it's all gone. Because it's in the garage you probably don't have to do the negative air pressure, just good ventilation and proper gear to protect yourself.

They said depending on the mold (and a house can have hundreds or thousands of different kinds of mold at any time) there really aren't good chemicals to treat it, it's really tough stuff. And putting chemicals on it just causes it to release its spores which can be toxic, and will grow again later if the conditions are ok, whereas physically removing it (sanding scraping) works better.

That's what he told me anyway how they did it for insurance.

photon · 03-25-2008, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by go iggy

Can I sand it and make sure I have a bag with a vacume attached to it?

Proper respirator gear (not sure what's proper, but probably beyond anything they sell at home depot), it's not something you want to screw around with, expense vs. long term health, do some searching on the 'net, some pretty nasty stuff.

photon · 03-26-2008, 12:05 AM

Taking a quick look at this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mold_gr...emoval_methods

It seems it depends on how big the affected area is, in the case I was thinking of it was pretty much the whole basement of an 800 sq.ft house, so that's why the extreme measures were taken, in smaller cases it looks like the the measures are less extreme.

Shin Pad · 03-26-2008, 12:10 AM

Question for you - When you took off the gypsum board, was there a vapour ######er over the insulation? If not - that's the problem. If you don't have a vapour ######er, moist air from within the house, will condense in the insulation space (actually on either the interior or exterior face of the insulation - usually the interior face), thus causing the mould problem. So once you clean up the mould (mold - is the american spelling), you need to get a vapour ######er in behind your gypsum board. You should check the rest of the exterior wall - if you don't have a vapour ######er, you have big problems.

Dan02 · 03-26-2008, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shin Pad

the mould (mold - is the american spelling),

mould may be A correct spelling but, this is one case where both the American or British version are standard in Canada and I would venture a guess that mold is actually the more common in Canada.

zukes · 03-26-2008, 08:36 AM

I am a property claims adjuster, I recommend calling a restoration company and getting an estimate and some advice. Most places will do a free estimate. Bleach works if it is a small area that is affected, however, there may be more in places that you can't see. It is not something you want to leave untreated.

burn_this_city · 03-26-2008, 08:46 AM

Shut down the grow op..

Aeneas · 03-26-2008, 08:51 AM

My neighbors are going through a terrible time with mold/mould. It looks like it will be a $20,000 bill when all is said and done. Had several companies come in to look, test, estimate. The initial problem was a tile shower/improperly fitted shower drain. So far they have pretty much taken out the entire bathroom, an outside wall, and ripped up the bathroom floor pretty much down to the dining room floor below.

There were poor readings all through the house. They have been out of the house since the last of the estimators came in and basically told them they may be risking their health and that of their children.

To be on the safe side get someone in to test your air quality, and see if your variety has spread to the rest of the house. If your garage has a door that accesses the house, I would not use that door anymore. Maybe seal it in some manner.

My neighbors were also warned by some good friends in the construction/renovation industry to be careful of a company that may play on your fears and get you to do more than is required. On the other hand it is not something to take lightly. That's why you'd better get several estimates, especially if free (though I doubt anyone will test your air for free). The time to do something is today.

Hope for your sake it is not serious.

Aeneas

zukes · 03-26-2008, 09:38 AM

Winmar is a reputable company, try them.

GoinAllTheWay · 03-26-2008, 09:51 AM

How bout this? Have Phaneuf come over and bodycheck it a couple times.

go iggy · 03-26-2008, 07:42 PM

I took down most of the insulation where I thought water had made it and there is black dots everywhere. And it looks like the stuff thats on bread when its been around awhile. I dont have drywall. It was just plastic insulation then wall.

Its a detached garage that someone build 2 years ago. They built it below grade so when it rained or snowed water would come in.I just spent $11000 getting the garage lifted and a new pad poured. I decided to pull a piece of insulation off and saw these black dots. I then thought it was the board cuz the board beside looked ok. I went to home depot told the guy the story and he said he thinks its mold and not to with it. Replace the walls. I went back into the garage tonight and started to pull down insulation and there is tons of mold. Where ever I saw condensation or where water had come in at some point. All the walls are gonna have to come down. What a mess Im in.

Blast!!!!

HalifaxDrunk · 03-26-2008, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

How bout this? Have Phaneuf come over and bodycheck it a couple times.

He didn't say he wants to demolish the whole garage!

NuclearFart · 03-26-2008, 09:28 PM

What about that mildew remover you can buy for the shower? That's a fungicide...

Barnes · 03-26-2008, 10:20 PM

Theres a product you can buy at home depot that's called resolve. Itwill kill most molds. I have some in my basement I think. I'll double check the name for you.

Barnes · 03-26-2008, 10:24 PM

its called concrobium mold control. Not sure WTF resolve is.

Dan02 · 03-26-2008, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HalifaxDrunk

He didn't say he wants to demolish the whole garage!

From the sounds of it, after lifting it and all the upcoming reno costs due to the mold, it probably would have been cheaper to demolish and rebuild.