House mold?

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  • #5
I wouldn't expect to see mold in southern california. Where's the water leak?
Me neither. Desert no less.

Shower has been leaking.

Lots of rain and the crawl space is below grade.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6
I have a pretty healthy fan pulling air out from under the house and in the vents and thru the bathroom but it’s still humid outside so it’s not helping much.
 
1. Check and verify structural integrity of wooden framing members.
2. Repair or replace structurally compromised materials.
3. Using forced air, dry the effected area completely. If possible, introduce a light source, the more UV the better.
4. Spray affected area with undiluted Clorox bleach, generously. Treat the area around the mold for at least 12 inches.
5. Repeat drying process.
6. Seal affected area with a fungicidal paint, like Killz. Personally, I recommend Zissinger's Bullseye 1-2-3, which is a polyelastomer based primer, something that will stop gas exchange and thus the respiratory function of any remaining mycelium.

I did professional mold remediation for several years, that is the approved process for the murder of black mold and other gunky nastyness.
 
Crawlspace Ninja has videos about stuff like this. They have a super high output compressor to soda blast the mold off, then they treat the wood with something to kill fungus, and with something else to prevent more.
 
Around here we get mold on the north side of everything, but the most serious experience we had, 2years ago, was a major undetected leak under the house that had been going on for quite some time. We had old copper pipes that were falling apart from our highly acidic pygmy forest soil. Had to replace all the copper with the new type of plastic pipes. After replacing pipes the plumbers sprayed some sort of fungicide under the house. Mold is so common here that whenever you see it you look for leaks and/or signs of critters from rats to racoons.
 
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