How can I find out if I have mold/mildew in my wall without tearing a hole in my sheetrock, it smells!?

Question

I have torn the carpet up and smell it a little bit in the pad but I also smell it in the wall. No signs of black mildew or mold, just smell. Our house was built 4 years ago. The smell is located in the corner of our bedroom which is the corner of our house.

Answer 1

The only way you are going to get rid of the smell is to find the source of moisture and eliminate it. Do you have a gutter on the outside of your house near the problem? Is it clogged up? Is their a roof problem? You can get a mold test kit in the paint department at Home Depot.

Answer 2

Unless there is obvious visual staining of moisture on the paint of the wall, you are not going to be able to focus in the spot where the smell may be coming from.

Most of the moisture usually comes from a leak in the roof or from a vent under the eaves where the rain or snow or other moisture is getting in. This means that the usual source of the moisture in the walls is through the roof and draining down in the crawlspace under the roof, and to the walls. Short of an expert going up there to check, you are not going to be able to tell.

A second possibility is a leak in a gutter, usually where it is nailed to the eaves, or is blocked. with leaves and debris.

Another possiblity is a leak in a water or sewer pipe which travels through the walls to the sewer. There is also a vent pipe in some houses that allows sewer gas to vent off the plumbing. If it becomes blocked, there will be a odor.

What kind of foundation does the building have? If there is a crawlspace under the house between the foundation and the flooring, it may be leaking from runoff from outside, and pooling down there, to cause the damp to rise up between the walls. Is there a sump pump to drain groundwater or runoff? It may have failed, or become blocked. Is there a basement? Check for moisture down there rising up.

If you say you have pulled up the carpet pad, and there is an odor in the pad, you are going to have to track down the leak. Otherwise, it will eventually destroy the hardwood flooring and constantly make the carpet smell of mildew, and eventually cause dryrot of the foundation wood. .

Try and see if a dehumidifier might make a difference. It has to be left running, and cleaned frequently, and disinfected with a mold killer so that it doesn't become a health problem itself. If that makes a difference, then you might be able to get away without tearing up the sheetrock.

Other than these suggestions, you need an expert to determine where there might be a legal cause of action for construction negligence on the part of the builders of the subdivision, or the contractor. Only an environmental hazards expert can tell you that; here there might be a necessity for consulting a lawyer who deals with "constuction defect" cases.

Answer 3

keep in mind partitions have studs many times approximately each sixteen inches aside till the drilled holes for wiring to circulate in the process the wall particularly of from the attic down ( witch is the case maximum the time) with out those predrilled wiring holes the only way with out making a large number of your partitions is in the process the attic.if the holes are there get a fish tape some string and a vacume tie a paper towel to the string tie the different end to the fishtape and function somone circulate one hollow with the vacumm feed the string as quickly as its by using in simple terms pull the fishtape with the cable on the different end of the tape by using

Answer 4

you might have a leak going down the inside wall