Bathroom mould

[blacknife]

I was pulling out the cracked silicone around my bathtub liner to redo it and the bottom 6-8 inches all around is black with mould.

now… if I was working and had more money right now i would just redo the whole thing, but I am un-employed and near broke.

I was thinking of just re-caulking the whole thing to prevent more moisture from getting in there and then redoing the bathroom when I have more $$ anyone have any thoughts on this?

[scherzo]

If you're short on cash then caulking to prevent more moisture is the best bet.

Unfortunately black mould isn't very good.. hopefully it will dry out but it likely won't in a bathroom.

Last time we had black mould in a bathroom the shower stall caved in.. then we had to replace all of the drywall (30 year old house.. no green board or concrete backer board) and some of the studs.

The other thing that happens sometimes is that the black mould could be feeding from a leak that is somewhere else.

Keep the room as dry as possible. Run the fan (if you have one) most of the time to keep it dry. Open a window whenever you take a bath or a shower to help get the moisture out of there.

Good luck!

[blacknife]

The bathroom is beside the stairway to the bathroom and the stairway has a big patch where the drywall has been replaced behind the shower, unfortunately the drywall behind the surround is not green board or anything like that. It sucks. I am laid of and on ei and have the time to fix-up the house but not the $$.. Oh well.. Caulk it up and when I get saved up ill do it proper.

[AndyL]

Go to home depot... Get yerself lots of bleach, and I think they had some injectable anti-mold sprays (ie spray it into a cavity) - kill what you can; then cover it up good until you have time/money again. Sharpy note saying "fix mold" on the tile would be smart so you have a reminder :D

[mark]

I had some mold on the rim joist of the new house (big saga with the builder and City re: vapour liner) and what I ended up doing was got a spray bottle with bleach (can also try Pinesol) and wet everything down.

Let dry before covering.

[chandigz]

As a professional painter, we often run into mold. If its just surface mold, bleach will do the trick to kill it(there are also products out there specificaly designed kill and prevent mold), but if the mold has gotten deep into the drywall, the drywall will need to be replaced at some point. Sealing it up for the time being should prevent excess moisture and slow down the growth as well as prevent the mold spores from getting airborn but it will most likely continue to grow and spread behind the tub liner.

[megs_clark]

Hi. I thought id mention my experience with black bathroom mold. You deffinitly want to fix it as soon as you can properly especialy if you have kids. Our house if older, and when i had my two boys the one always had a plugged up nose, not runny but really dry, and it drove my son nuts when he was a baby. Now not thinking anything this went on and i thought he had allergys. My bathroom was looking a little shabby and i did the same thing, the caulk around the bathtub was looking kinda beige so i decided to reculk, as i pulled it out i seen the black mold, we did the bleach and reculked. anyways, my sons nose got even worse and i didnt think anything of it. Then the mold started getting worse and i could see the black behind the culk and could feel soft spots behind the bathroon wall, like the laminate. So anyways, i made my husband rip the wall out (bit of an argument, and a sledghammer later) It was covered in black mold, way worse the i could have expected. While my husband was taking it all down i could literaly see my kids eyes going red, from the partacles floating in the air/ They wernt in the bathroom, just from the **** getting carried out. The next day the kids were sick. Anyhoo, since its been riped out and fixed with proper geenboard, my kids are never sick, no plugged noses, no purple bags under their eyes. Been two years and i cant believe the difference, All these little colds and things were from the bathroom mold. I had no idea the spores of mold can seep through and have huge affects, if you google it, its crazy what you will read. We actualy ripped it all out, and was going to just air it out once we got the yukky stuff out, but it staying like that for months, no inside drywall. So if its shortage of money you could take the crap out and just wait till you could afford the insoaltion and drywall, chances are it all your insolation and drywall thats moldy not your 2x4 or anything to expencive! And ripping it out is better then breathing it in! Google it, its desturbing! Just my opinion

[wickedfrags]

I should provide a little info as I worked as a hazardous materials management consultant for 10 years (asbestos, mould, PCBs and the like), and still deal with similar issues in my current role. So if you have any other questions just post them here and I can give you my opinion.

If you are short on cash, the bathroom silicone is your best bet. Also be mindful that much of the info you find on the internet on mould is inaccurate and blown out of proportion. Ensure the surface is clean and dry before you apply the caulking. I would not recommend the use of bleach. Bleach is not used by mould removal/abatement companies because of how harsh the chemical is, and at the end of the day there is no "guarantee" that you killed all the mould because you used bleach. Any disinfectant cleaner suitable for the bathroom should do the trick.

Mould essentially requires three things to grow, moisture, a relatively dark cool location, and a food source. Take any of the 3 elements away, and the mould will stop growing.

The food source on drywall is the cellulose-based paper on the back of the drywall. It is for this reason drywall is no longer used in locations that expect water throughout the life cycle of the building, such as bathrooms in houses. Cement board replaces drywall in modern homes. Generally, 90% of mould on drywall is on the back of the drywall and not visible.

Also (an FYI for those reading this about mould), the "musty" smell you may notice in some basements when you enter, well this is evidence of mould actively growing somewhere in the basement. MVOC's is what creates that odour, microbial volatile organic compounds, the by-product of active mould growth.

Ironically I did my bathroom reno about 3 months back and found ample mould. Be certain to wear a respirator/dust mask with a N95 rating before significantly disturbing mould contaminated materials.

[wickedfrags]

double post

[blacknife]

Thanks for all the replies. I cant do much about the mold without risking damaging the surround, I am probably not going to worry about re-adheering the surround to the molded part, just sealing it all in and hope that I get a job soon and get out of the small debt im all ready in so I can remove the mold properly. I have one kid in the house, another on the way, so I will be getting this dealt with soon. I am also allergic to mold, I all ready had a cold before I started poking around in there so I'm not sure if its making me feel worse but i will get the proper gear on when i take the walls out, perhaps send the kids to the grandparents for a couple days when the time comes.