Indoor Mold Identification?

Question

Does anyone know what type of indoor mold would be bluish-green (aquamarine), fairly small, and circular?

I've performed an over-the-counter mold test in my basement, and that was the primary result in the Petri dish. A control test outdoors showed a wider variety of molds, but a lot less of the aquamarine type.

If it's of any help, I'm in the Washington, DC area (where it rained very heavily a few weeks ago). The indoors test was taken near the floor in our finished basement, which has recessed lighting, carpeting, and drywall. It was finished when we got it; I probably wouldn't get another house with a fully carpeted basement.

Answer 1

You really should be less concerned with what type of mold it is and more concerned with getting rid of what caused it in the first place.

Many finished basements are improperly insulated, improperly ventilated, improperly heated and improperly cooled.

A dehumidifier should provide some short term elimination or reduction in the mold spores. However, most important is preventing the source - usually this includes two or more of the following": moisture sources, lack of ventilation, too much ventilation, something trapping the moisture such as an improperly installed insulation, vapor barrier and a food source for the mold such as Sheetrock, wood, paper.

Small areas of mold (less than 12 sq ft. ) on hard surfaces can usually be cleaned successfully with a 50/50 mix of bleach & water. Soft surface items with mold such as cloth, paper, food and medicine packages, etc... should be thrown out.

Large areas should be tested and treated by a professional, EPA certified mold remidiation firm.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

You are going to keep having a mold problem in your basement. You can try the following (it worked for me). Take a piece of plastic and duct tape it to your wall. If moisture builds up; you have a condensation problem. Home Depot and Lowe's sells a paint designed specifically to repel moisture from concrete. Use this on your walls. I hate to say this but you are going to have to dig up your carpet. You can recycle it but you are going to have to put down a vapor barrier. It is real easy to do but you are going to need a slam hammer. Paint the floor with the moisture barrier paint. Put down a layer of plastic (you can find rolls in the paint section). Secure the plastic with thin strips of wood about six to eight inches apart parallel to each other. Secure sections of plywood on top of the strips of wood. Now you can put down your carpet. I suggest you get a dehumidifier for the real humid days. This should help your mold problem immensely.