I live in a 4 level house by myself…it’s damp and I do run a dehumidifier, but the place is huge. I closed some rooms to try and make the house warmer (when I run the heater)…I opened the door to one room and found this!!!
I can’t move out because I have a year contract…all my neighbours are telling me if it’s that bad then it’s in the walls and would be hard to fix.
Any suggestions?
If it were me?
First, I’d shut the heat off in that room and the room above it, goal being to drive down the relative humidity. Second, I’d get a dehumidifier in there - and the room above (there is moisture coming in from above, from somewhere) - pronto, and let it run 24/7. Third, I’d scrub the walls in bleach and when they dry I’d paint over 'em with KilZ. Fourth, if all of the above doesn’t work within hours, I’d drill holes in the wall down low to suck out the moisture behind the walls with the 24/7 dehumidifier and the cold air.
If the mold continues to spread, then it ain’t promising and the wall surfaces may have to come down in order to allow what’s behind them to dry properly. Here’s hoping it ain’t too late.
From the mold sub-capital of the world, SE Virginia, USA.
Best of luck.
awesome. THanks for the info…I do hope i get to drill:) teehee
B9, watch out for electrical lines behind the gyp board when drilling, use a depth stop on the drill bit.
I had something similar in my old place. I developed a nasty cough and chest infection.
Someone suggested it was ‘black mould’.
Is that mold, or wall cancer? The latter is from concrete never really getting a chance to dry, I believe.
I don’t think it’s mould either, just a water stain from wet concrete. “Just”. Still a problem, though finding the source of the water leak will be fun: perhaps seeping in from the roof.
it’s powdery…when i brushed it off it made a cloud so i stopped. You can smell it…not going in there without a mask now! Read some nasty stuff about mold.
I always have breathing issues here…luckily its just that one room thats bad and i dont go in there. Propably why it’s become moldy…mouldy…it’s moldy right?
For the time being, a big can of lysol should do teh trick and allow you to do a deeper cleaning later.
I’d sray Lysol there until I rn out of teh can and close the door and seal it with a towel to kill any lingering spores.
Geez, it took mne a whole afternood to scrub mold from my bathroom with soft scrub bleach. Your stain calls for serious long and painflu cleaning.
Sorry to hear about this mess.
mould: British spelling (proper English, that is)
mold: US spelling (impudent Americanish)
How does turning off heat drive down relative humidity? From my understand when you raise the temperature you lower the relative humidity, if all other condition stays the same. You will want to keep the room sealed though when dehumidifying. Heater does use a LOT of energy so a dehumidifier may be a better option unless you got something else such as a gas heater or wood burning furnace.
Given a limitless supply of water to draw from, RH is proportional to temperature. Warm air can hold more water content than cold air. The amount of water that can be drawn into air in a sealed indoor environment is much lower so in the context of RH, raising temperature generally won’t increase RH. If the heat is provided by forced central heating (esp natural gas powered), it can make the air very hot and dry at the same time.
I wouldn’t bother with using a portable dehumidifier. While it’s less energy than heating, they are mainly for maintaining RH levels of air, not drying out walls. The effect would be analogous to putting a soaked sponge and a dessicant packet near to each other in a closed tupperware container. You would probably get a better effect using an industrial fan blowing at the affected surfaces (although if that is indeed mold, need to be careful wrt blowing up spores).
Whatever method you choose to use, make sure there is a path for the moisture to escape the room/house.