I scrubbed the walls and ceiling with bleach, and repainted the whole bathroom with mold resistant paint, which seems to be working with the kind I used on the ceiling, but not the walls. It keeps comming back on the walls. The bathroom has poor ventilation..there is a ceiling fan, but it seems like moisture still builds up on the walls and takes awile to evaporate. Any help would be great, I'm sick of scrubbing it, and don't want to get sick.
2007-12-21 02:46:27 · 6 answers · asked by Sarah 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Decorating & Remodeling
Anything you do to cover the walls is a band aid fix at best. Nothing will be a permanent fix for the walls until you fix the ventilation problem. I assume you are allowing plenty of time for the fan to do it's job. Fans do not work instantaneously, they require time to vent moisture from the room. For example a 100 cfm fan will swap 100 cubic feet of air per minute. But you need to remember that the new air entering the space is mixing with the damp air. It will take a considerable amount of time to remove all of the moisture. Especially if you enjoy a very hot shower like I do. If the fan doesn't seem to do the trick, I suspect one or more of the following problems exist.
1. It may be clogged with years of dirt, dust, hairspray, etc.
2. It could be undersized for the cubic footage that it needs to service.
3. It may not vent to the outdoors. If it vents into the space between the rafters, which I have seen, the damp air has no place to go and it will eventually cause mold between the rafters as well. You need to turn off the breaker for the fan and pull it out to see if there is alot of dirt buildup in the fan and the duct, assuming there is a duct present. Measure your room. Multiply length X width X height. This will give you the cubic footage of the room. Take that figure to your local hardware store and tell them you need a fan that will adequately ventilate a room of this size that has recurrent mold problems.
2007-12-21 04:16:54 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hello Sarah. It sounds like you started correctly. Your bleach wash should have been a 1 in 10 mix ( 1 part bleach to 10 parts water). Providing you have no other damage to the walls or ceiling and the existing mold was wiped off, your next step would be to use a good primer (KILZ II) to help seal everything and help prevent the mold from returning. Then a good paint on top. The main problem is correcting the root cause of the mold situation, which is dampness. If your ceiling fan doesnt do the job, you will have to improvise. Leave the door open, use a smaller oscillating fan, etc. Unless and until you dry the area out and keep it dry, mold will come back. I hope this helps you.
2007-12-21 10:58:08 · answer #2 · answered by Nightrider 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We just went through remodeling our bathroom because we kept getting mold right next to the bath tub. Come to find out there was a leak in one of the pipes that was causing it. Maybe you should have someone check to make sure this isn't happening with yours. Other than that I would just make sure you wipe the walls real quick with the towel after you shower and then leave the door wide open and the fan on for awhile so it airs out.
2007-12-21 16:18:25 · answer #3 · answered by Sippy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You really answered your own question. It needs more ventalation. Maybe an exhaust fan. Leaving the door open after showering. In the shower, if you pull the curtains back, and flick the water off them, the mold stays off your shower curtain. Wiping the walls dry, after you've bleached them, may help.
2007-12-21 19:37:07 · answer #4 · answered by Prudence B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've found one thing to prevent mold from bleeding thru. An old painter gave me this.
When the wall is dry, paint first with aluminum paint, then paint over the aluminum. Available in spray cans or quarts.
It has worked for me inside and outside.
2007-12-21 10:55:17 · answer #5 · answered by ed 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It needs to be ventilated.
2007-12-21 10:58:01 · answer #6 · answered by solara 437 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋