Just found mold in my apartment

cbloom · #1 08-23-2007, 08:59 PM

So my bed is pressed up against the bedroom wall, has been for one year, and I just moved it today to get to an outlet. I noticed there was black mold growing on the wall behind the bed.

So, I was going to clean it up tomorrow with bleach and all that but I dunno if y'all know about these things -

Am I gonna wreck the paint or something else bad cleaning it?

Should I get a test for that toxic mold that everyone is talking about now?

Is it likely that it's growing inside the wall or something?

M2d · #2 08-23-2007, 09:53 PM

what's behind the wall? you should probably find the source, or the mold will likely come back. if it's a bathroom or other water source, you may have a leak. get that fixed.

don't use bleach on drywall. the bleach can degrade the drywall. use a detergent or soap instead, to take off the mold and the dirt/grease that's the growing substrate. you can also do a google serch on mold clean-up tips. the epa has a good page.

cbloom · #3 08-23-2007, 10:00 PM

That's weird, you're right the EPA says to just use soap, but like every other site I found said to use bleach,

for example:

http://www.ehow.com/how_113168_remove-mildew-walls.html

This is just a bedroom wall, there's no water sources, but it is an old building with cracks in the wall and everything so who knows. (the other side of the wall is the outside of the building). The garage is under the bedroom and it flooded a while ago so that could be related.

-zero- · #4 08-23-2007, 10:06 PM

I recently had to clean mold off the same walls twice. I used diluted bleach and the walls look fine.

gilper · #5 08-23-2007, 10:32 PM

Stop throwing those spent tissues behind the bed.

Schwatt · #6 08-24-2007, 12:31 AM

Is there a window on that wall? If so, could be a flashing/caulking problem. Are you on the top floor? house/apt building? Shingled roof? Is the carpet wet near the mold? Is the wall plaster or drywall? Is the baseboard darkened?

So many possibilities. If it returns after you clean it up, call a contractor to diagnose and fix it. Water damage can be rediculously extensive, and is hard to predict the cause by someone who doesnt deal with stuff like this regularly.