# Mold in Wall from prior leak



## crayola110 (Aug 23, 2012)

We have some mold from a leak from small apartment with some stairs that had cracks in them and the water leaked into the wall beneath the stairs. There is a closet to a master bedroom underneath these stairs.

The wall had some mold smell and a few mold spots. I cleaned the wall with bleach and a mold remover.

The stairs have been sealed with cement/fiberglass water proofing above the room with the mold.

I was wondering if I should remove the drywall as this could open up all those mold spores, Or if I should just cover the wall with primer/ paint so the mold doesn't come through.

I figure I could just paint/ cover it up since there will be no more water getting into the wall. Also, I don't want to open up the drywall and breath all that in.

What do you all think?


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## Maintenance 6 (Feb 26, 2008)

How big is the area? Has it completely dried? How long was it wet? How solid is the drywall right now?

FYI: Spores are not the only possible allergenic produced by molds.


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## crayola110 (Aug 23, 2012)

Maintenance 6 said:


> How big is the area? Has it completely dried? How long was it wet? How solid is the drywall right now?
> 
> FYI: Spores are not the only possible allergenic produced by molds.


It's an area of about 3 ft by 4 ft
It's been dried for a while. Probably dry for 5 months at least.
It was wet from rain getting in through cracks in the exterior staircase. Now the exterior has been sealed with fiberglass waterproofer so no water should be getting in.
The drywall feels pretty much intact. It's a little brittle in some places.
When had I cleaned the mold off of it about 5 months ago, it just wiped right off and there are just a couple spots that show paint coming off.

Thank you


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## Maintenance 6 (Feb 26, 2008)

If the drywall is solid enough that you don't want to replace it, then coat it with a stainblocker and repaint. There is probably mold on the inside surfaces, but it's such a small area, that I would be inclined to leave it.


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## crayola110 (Aug 23, 2012)

Yeah I think i'll just leave it then... i don't want to create a big job and I'm not mold expert

Hopefully I don't get sick... LOL


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## GBrackins (Apr 26, 2012)

if you find yourself waking up in the morning really coughing and congested, and it goes away after your leave your home you'll have your answer ......


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## Maintenance 6 (Feb 26, 2008)

If it hasn't happened in the past 5 months, being unsealed, I doubt it's gonna make a big difference now!


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## crayola110 (Aug 23, 2012)

Yeah I think I was just being paranoid. They just opened the stairs up on the other side so I saw a lot of mold in there. Then they sealed the stairs. On my side it's just the drywall which feels pretty intact. 
I'll just paint over it several layers of paint to seal it off


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## crayola110 (Aug 23, 2012)

UPDATE:

Guy's so I was pushing on the wall to test it out and broke a hole about 2 feet by 1 foot. It's in a bedroom closet beneath some stairs where the leak occured about 5 months or so ago. Now there is a moldy musty smell and I've created a bigger proble... :-/ 

I guess I do need to replace the drywall... because it IS brittle.

So does anyone have any suggestions as to the best way to do this without messing it up too much and spreading these spores.

The total wall space is about 4 feet by 3 feet

Also the drywall/ mold got all over the closet because I started breaking peices off... I'm kinda stupid but now there is dust all over I am guessing I can vacuum this with a HEPA filter? Would that be sufficient?


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

Crayola in my opinion you are playing with FIRE here if I am correct (and I may not be) there are something like 1200 different kinds of mold. Some are very toxic and can do incredible damage to us. Just because you couldn't see the mold inside the wall doesn't mean it quit growing. If it is inside the wall it has the paper from both walls (on the back of the drywall) to feed on plus the wood I would at the least close that room off if possible. Probably the best thing you could do is leave the house till you get someone to look at this. I don't know how old you are or if you have children but some molds can cause irrefutable damage. You cannot just vac, the mold must be killed in the wall cavity. PLEASE call in a company that deals with mold to at least look at the situation. And no bleach does NOT kill most mold.


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## crayola110 (Aug 23, 2012)

Thanks for your reply, unfortunately I don't have the money to hire mold specialists, I know they're expensive. 

Also the area is only about 1 foot where it broke. I actually tapped it pretty hard with a hammer then kept pulling at it. There's mold, but it doesn't seem that bad, plus the area will be completely dry from now on.

Last night I vacummed the area in the closet with hepa vacuum and sprayed/ misted the whole area and inside the wall with Concrobium (http://www.concrobium.com/)
I also got a mold test from home depot and I'm mailing that off today.


I hope this was sufficient because I let it dry over night then drywall patched the area...

I did all this quickly because I felt that I had to close off/ seal off the area. I hope I didn't act too hastily

Supposedly this concrobium binds to mold, crushes and seals it off. I got a lot of it in the wall. 

Hopefully the test will come off negative for any hazardous mold. Then I will put 2 coats of Stain Blocker primer and then a couple coats of paint. The area was wet before from water leaking through the exterior stair case above, but from now on should be sealed off from all moisture... 

ToolSeeker: Thank you. I think i will still call the mold company just to take a look, but I'm sure they'll say I need to run expensive tests or do some invasive thing like tearing the wall down again etc... I don't have the money to do this, so hopefully I can seal it off good since it will be dry in there from now on

I guess this is all I can do at this point unless anyone else has any suggestions??


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## Maintenance 6 (Feb 26, 2008)

First of all. You opened it up and of course the spores have permeated everything now, so it's a clean up effort. Don't get all worked up over mold exposure unless you or somebody in your household has some particular disease that would render you susceptible. You've treated and closed it up. The mold test kit is a waste. Of course it will find mold. You had mold. It's gonna find it. Unfortunately, the helpy selfy mold kits will find mold even if it weren't a problem. A true mold test is much more complex than a DIY kit can produce. You've skipped a few steps that really should have been done. Read this thread for a better idea.
http://www.diychatroom.com/f2/basement-mold-please-advise-155382/


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## crayola110 (Aug 23, 2012)

Maintenance 6 said:


> http://www.diychatroom.com/f2/basement-mold-please-advise-155382/


Maintenance, from that post it seems that most mold is not harmful and most issues are exaggerated. I spend about 18-20 hours in that room every day so I don't really want to risk it. 

The test that I purchased takes samples in a petri dish then you mail it to a lab. The lab will tell me what strains of mold it is.

Before removing the drywall I looked inside the wall and there is a substantial amount of mold back there like the pictures from Maintenance6's post

I'm thinking what I did just sealed it up, but it could come back through eventually?

I actually worry about long term affects of the mold. I mean its right in the closet next to my bed. I'm in a one room suite and the mildew smell is pretty bad. Also I've been getting head aches but I don't know if this is psychosomatic or an actual physical reaction to the mold.

Am I making too big a deal about it? possibly, but I can't stop thinking about the mold behind the walls. Perhaps it's largely psychological, but I keep thinking about it and can't sleep well at night right now... :-/

Anyways Ive sealed it as I said and vacuumed multiple times. 

So I spoke to a contractor I know and he said I should just remove the bad drywall and all the insulation with mold inside. Then, treat all the wood. He said I could DIY, and just to make sure to remove all the mold and treat everything.

Any other ideas or suggestions? Does what the contractor say efficient enough, or do you guys think I should just leave it in the wall covered with paint? Any suggestions on the removal for DIY?


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## Maintenance 6 (Feb 26, 2008)

As I said before, you've skipped some steps in remediating the problem. A word about DIY test kits. They ask you to place a collector that mold spores will settle onto. It is treated with a food source that will promote mold growth if spores are present. You send it away and they analyze it. Guess what, it has mold growing on it. It can't tell you what the source is. Some won't even tell you how many colonies have formed. Here's the rub. Mold spores are everywhere. Just walked through dry leaves? You drug a ton of spores into your house. Opened a moldy loaf of bread on your kitchen counter? Tons of mold spores introduced to the air. A realistic mold test involves taking several air samples inside and at least one outside. Then some wipe tests or spore collection for mold type analytics. You've got some mold. The test stage is over. You've visually confirmed it and you are smelling it. If as you've said, you are still smelling it, then it is still active. I don't advocate living around the stuff, only that the effects are being hyped by the media. If you want to get rid of it, then read on. I copied the major points of a previous post below.

First, you need to get an exhaust fan established direct to the outside and pull the airborne mold fragments and spores out. Since you already have had this open, they have been steadily permeating the rest of your home. Next, you need to remove the effected material, bag it and discard it. Paneling, insulation, drywall and trim are not salvageable. What you should have left are structural items that are not easily replaced. Now, the most important part…… you need to control the moisture. Mold needs three things to thrive. An organic food source (wood, paper and dust will do fine). This is pretty much uncontrollable . Temperatures in the range of 40 to 110. Room temperature will do just fine. Finally they need moisture in the range of 60% sustained RH or .6 water content. This is the controllable part. The best remediation effort in the world is for nothing, if the moisture is uncontrolled. Next thing is to scrub down whatever is left with a detergent solution and a scrub brush. Now you are ready to treat. Lots of things kill mold. There are several products out there that make claims one way or another. Phenols, Quaternary Ammonias and Sodium Hypochlorite (bleach) all kill mold. None will penetrate porous surfaces any better than the next (read the fine print). Even the magic mold potions will use one of these compounds, often with a few other “secret ingredients” added. If you choose bleach, use 10% maximum. Thoroughly treat the area going 12 inches past the last signs of mold. Let all of this completely dry. Dehumidify to speed the process if you must. Finally, seal the treated surfaces. A few companies sell sealers specifically for mold work. They usually include a mold inhibiter in their formula, but this isn’t particularly necessary. Kilz or something like it will work fine. The sealer will improve the appearance, but more importantly, it locks down any stray mold fragments or settled spores. 
A few more things: No normal, healthy person has ever been documented as having died from mold. That said, wear your respirator anyway. Molds produce some nasty chemical compounds as part of their life cycle, but usually in such small amounts that they have little impact (bread molds are some of the worst). You don’t want to be sucking the crappy stuff into your lungs anyway.
Remember, you are dealing with mold here, not some bulletproof alien. Lots of things will kill it. Almost none of those can be made to penetrate into a porous material and be effective.
The end result is only as good as the diligence you use in performing the work.
Good luck


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## crayola110 (Aug 23, 2012)

Thanks for that thorough reply. I will attempt to do that eventually when I have time, for now I will keep the wall closed off with the paint etc. As I said above, the moisture source has been removed which is the most important part.

Just for everyone's info the mold test I did from PRO-LAB I got at home depot. It gives you the species of mold found from a SPOT test where you scrap the mold. I scrapped it at a couple spots and sent it off here are the results (luckily there was nothing very harmful like 'black mold'):



> Spore Name Description
> ASPERGILLUS VERY COMMON INDOOR AND OUTDOOR MOLD. ONE OF THE MOST COMMON MOLD
> TYPES FOUND WORLDWIDE. FOUND ON DECAYING PLANT MATTER, SOIL,
> FOODSTUFFS, LEATHER, ETC. RESPONSIBLE FOR TYPE I ALLERGIES (HAY FEVER),
> ...


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## Maintenance 6 (Feb 26, 2008)

Congratulations. You now have a document that tells you that you have mold! You knew that before you bought the test kit and paid for the results though, right? Now you have a list of four of the most very common molds that grow on wet building materials. In fact the top three are considered indicator molds, meaning that if they are present, then a whole host of others likely are too. In the interest of saving paper, I imagine that they ignored the other 20 or so common mold species that grow in wet buildings (there are hundreds of aspergillus molds alone). Add to the mix some parasitic molds (molds that grow on other molds) and some bacterias that grow in the same conditions and you have microbe soup. I would bet that the soup includes at least a few stachybotrys colonies (black mold). I could go into almost any house and knowing where to look, I could find at least those molds on the list and that would be houses that really don't have a moisture issue. 

So at the end of the day, what useful information have you gotten for your hard earned money? You have a list of molds with latin names that you can barely pronounce and that are so common that I could find them under anyones kitchen sink (although most people would choose not to believe that). You got potted plants in your house, I'll find them even faster!! You have the names of some diseases that can be caused by exposure to these molds, but you don't know how much mold it takes to be affected (because that data doesn't exist and varies dramatically from person to person).

I'm not trying to sound like a jerk here, only trying to make a point that mold test kits find mold. People that think they need a kit, probably already know they have mold. The best mold test kits are on the front of your face. Your eyes and your nose. The money spent on the kit and test would be better invested in solving the problem that the kit buyer already knows exists.


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## crayola110 (Aug 23, 2012)

As I said before I know I had mold. 

The test was to determine if it I had Stachybotrys chartarum or "Black Toxic Mold". It didn't turn up in either of the samples.


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## Dean CRCNA (Jan 24, 2010)

crayola110 said:


> Duh.
> 
> As I said before I know I had mold.
> 
> The test was to determine if it I had Stachybotrys chartarum or "Black Toxic Mold". It didn't turn up in either of the samples.


The other molds are just as bad as black mold, depending on spore count and species. 

Just didn't want you to think the other molds were safe. Black mold is overrated ... all molds can cause harm to some folks.


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