what is the most effective way of elliminating house mold?

Question

Need to know the cheapest and most effective way of remediating mold in the basement.

Answer 1

Mold is the symptom, water is the problem. All of your efforts will be to no avail unless you find the water source and completely dry it up. One of the most common sources of basement water is exterior moisture bleeding through the wall. This may require extensive work to properly drain the water away from the basement and waterproof the walls. Here is the best waterproofing material I have used: www.sanitred.com Another possibility is high relative humidity from inadequate air conditioning and air movement. (Be sure to inspect your a/c suystem for mold contamination). The walls must be dry when tested with a moisture meter (about $100.00 http://www.emssales.net/default.aspx ), and the relative humidity in the range of 50% to prevent the future occurance of mold.

The existing mold may require the complete removal of the contaminated surfaces, depending on the extent of the growth. Never assume that the mold is merely surface growth. Always investigate back to raw concrete to rule out contamination.If it is minor, spraying with a good "quat" formula available at a/c supply houses should be reasonably effective. Trane has a product called Oxine that works well. Clorox, although I see it often mentioned as the ultimate mold remedy, is not truly effective.

Any wet material that you encounter should be thoroughly dried with fans or blowers immediately. Isolate the work area from the rest of the home with a visqueen barrier, and create a low-pressure area by running a Shop-Vac and extending a hose from the exhaust port to an exterior opening. This will help keep mold spores from contaminating the other living spaces. You can creat a "poor-man's h.e.p.a. vac" by running a Shop-Vac with no hoses, wet down the new cartridge filter and keep it moist, and put about 3" of water in the bottom of the tub with some Oxine. This will remove and trap mold spores and dust particles.( It will also introduce a bit of moisture to the environment). Your work space should feature dehumidifiers and blowers steadily working to completely dry the basement. Make sure that any vaccuuming is done with the exhaust port vented and discharged to an exterior opening to prevent recontamination by airborn mold spores.

Wear a Tyvek overall suit with booties and a respirator that has cartriges designed for mold, and bag and tie moldy material as you go. Be careful of "cross-contamination" where the mold spores are drug into other areas of the home as material is transported through. Make sure you bathe thoroughly during this process to avoid transdermal absorption of fungi. When in doubt, throw it out! It is very difficult to completely remove mold from porous material like carpet and cloth, and replacement may prove less expensive in the long run.

After your clean-up have the air tested by a qualified environmental company to make sure your mold spore count has been reduced to a healthy level. Ordinarily, this project would be best left in the hands of a Certified Mold Remediator, but it seems from your question that you will be doing your own work. If you are careful, and detailed in your clean-up, you can experience good results. Good luck!

Answer 2

Mold needs a damp, moist environment and organic material to establish themselves and thrive. So the best way to ELIMINATE your mold problem is to combat the moisture in your basement. A few cheap ways include: letting more air circulate in your basement (if you don't live in a humid area) and/or buying a dehumidifier such as an Air Conditioner should also help. Good Luck!

Answer 3

Lysol, not in a spray can. Get the concentrated stuff in a jug that you are supposed to dilute with water. Dont put the water in it and apply directly to the area with mold. Hope this works, good luck

Answer 4

Everyone has covered this pretty well, but you may also consider getting a dehumidifier as it will get rid of some of the moisture that is causing the mold.

Answer 5

Some of us can't inspect and remove mold, water damage, lead inspection etc by on our own. In that case I think I should recommend Fun Guy Inspection in this case. Check out http://funguyinspections.com, I hope you will find it satisfactory :)

Answer 6

Eliminating a house mold is almost impossible! You have to destroy everything that is contaminated and throw it in the trash!
You might as well demolish your house and built a new one!

Answer 7

clorine bleach is the best remedie. and put some heat down there in the winter.

Answer 8

you can use Lysol spray, it kills 99.9% of bacteria & viruse,. also works for house molds

Answer 9

clean it with bleach but it will come back unless you stop the source of water.

Answer 10

WELL I USE CLOROX CLEAN UP FOR SEVERAL THINGS AND IT'S EXCELLENT ON MOLD.