How can I get rid of Mold smell in Basement? Have tried DampX, and currently using a dehumidifier. Help!?

Answer 1

Well, a dehumidifier is a definite start. Make sure it's up to the task (they come in different sizes). If you have a sump pump, and your dehumidifer has a drain attachment, hook the drain into the sump well so it just drains the water automatically and you don't have to keep emptying it.

After that, look for any items (usually a floor item like a carpet) that might be or have been chronically wet. It might still be wet underneath. You might need to get rid of it.

Then take a flashlight and inspect all the joists (wood in the ceiling) and walls and look for mold growing (green, yellow, black discolorations). If you find a decent amount you should have a company come in to inspect and give you a quote for getting rid of it.

Most mold is just smelly and annoying, but some of it can be toxic, so it's important to find out what you have and have it taken care of. If it's the bad kind you can get real sick, not to mention have trouble reselling your house.

Answer 2

We went with the dehumidifier, my daughter, a surgical nurse had to go differently. She has a small hobby farm, quite old. the walls are wet all the time with mold growing. The two girls had what seemed were bad colds all the time. Her good friend, a doctor told her to get rid of the mold.

One week, she took Hi-Lex Bleach and hot water and scrubbed and scrubbed, all week long then she sprayed with Lysol, the entire basement. I told her at least it would smell good. I had one asthma attack while visiting, it was so bad.

Finally, when it was dry, it smelled pretty good, after that the colds cleared up, it didn't bother me anymore to be there and she turned the dehumidifier off. We held out breaths for several weeks. It seemed to be O.K. so far it's holding up. After six months it's doing O.K. she has to dehumidify once in a while but other then that, no problems.

Answer 3

setting aside all the fancy names given the products on the market today, they all boil down to bleach.
so to start out, get a couple gallons of bleach at a $1 btl and then rid your cellar of all the stuff that is harboring the mold(damp stuff) in addition to things you really don't need.
open up the cellar if possible and place a circulating fan to move the air about.
spray the bleach on anything that resembles now mold, and other damp portions of the structure, areas of continued water drainage and items near there including joists.
once you've sprayed all you can spray, fans are going and you are removed from the immediate area, close it off for a day then attempt to allow some heat drift into the room.
warmth and aeration does not allow the mold & mildew to grow.
Consider this: if you keep your home cold and the couch is smack dab against the wall in the Winter months, chk back behind the couch in a month...it'll be black and full of mildew and thus, so will the back of your couch retain the sperms of the mildew.
some molds are deadly, and some just are about us and go away with air, heat and cleaning.
If after you've removed the mold with bleach, the area is dry and you want to paint(if it were in your home)use TSP and prime with silver spray paint over the molded area, then paint normally.
mildew cannot penitrate silver paint.
the silver paint goes for lead pencil marks also.
hope you shake it...have a safe holiday

Answer 4

The dehumidifier is a good start. To finish it off I would mix bleach with water. I have forgotten but I would mix it one bleach to two water. Garden sprayer and spray everything, walls overhead, and floors..Be very careful around the power panel, electrical outlets, and light fixtures. Anything you cannot spray, throw it out. Junk that accumulates in the cellar also collects mold.. After and during spraying the bleach make sure that all cellar windows are open and, if you have one, put a fan in the window blowing out. Fumes are toxic... The odor will dissipate in a couple days. Old clothes, Safety glasses, and rubber gloves.

Answer 5

Clean everything with bleach then put a fan down there to dry it out. I would also use the dehumidifier.

Answer 6

First verify source of moisture. Is your eavestrough sealed correct, draining rain water a minimum of 10 ft remote from the inspiration? in the experience that your panorama promotes water draining in route of your foundation, replace the attitude so water runs away. 2d, under no circumstances shop paper or cardboard bins instantly on basement floor, nor the position they couldn't "breathe' to stay dry. Surefire thanks to promote mould boom and odors considering paper products take in moisture genuinely, from the floor or the air. Run a wide fan to create turbulence close to at least one end of the room: position at about 40 5 degree attitude to wall so as that air bounces from one wall to different basement parts, at the same time as leaving a basement window in different end of the room open an inch or 2 for clean air feed to the fan. shelter the window so it can't be slid open from outdoors. eliminate any damp products, carpeting, and so on, and dry thoroughly or replace with something that doesn't carry moisture, if something. counting on your climate, the concrete floor ought to nicely be adequate on this is own. confirm your dryer is venting thoroughly to the exterior, without leaks of the warm damp dryer air into the basement. massive no-no. evade use of protecting brokers mutually with air spray, because this is going to masks the real issue, and are not sturdy to respire besides. If the odour persists, verify each and every thing back to confirm the position moisture/water is shifting into the basement. it really is your major issue. shop each and every thing intense and dry.