Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Found mold behind skirting boards
Doityourself.com community forum was created to provide answers to all questions related to home improvement and home repair. Doityourself community can help you find information about how-to topics on small fixes to large remodeling projects. With comprehensive how-to content and expertly moderated community forums DoItYourself.com makes it easy to tackle even the most complex home improvement projects.View Full Version : Found mold behind skirting boards
barano
03-17-09, 05:31 PM
Hi,
To lay engineered wood flooring in my living room, I removed the carpet flooring and the skirting boards. Behind one of the skirting boards, I discovered that mold has formed. You can see the pictures of the molded area here:
Picasa Web Albums - Baran - LivingRoom (http://picasaweb.google.com/baran.ozgul/LivingRoom?authkey=Gv1sRgCMG_sYfKtp_5Dw)
First of all, how can I cure this mold, and make sure it does not come back? Secondly, how can I make sure it does not affect the laid flooring in the future, if this is related to dampness.
For information, none of the other removed skirting boards had such mold behind them. This particular one is at the bottom of the wall between the living room and the cloak room. The cloakroom's floor seldom gets wet, but I am not sure if this can cause such mold on the other side.
To lay engineered wood flooring in my living room, I removed the carpet flooring and the skirting boards. Behind one of the skirting boards, I discovered that mold has formed. You can see the pictures of the molded area here:
Picasa Web Albums - Baran - LivingRoom (http://picasaweb.google.com/baran.ozgul/LivingRoom?authkey=Gv1sRgCMG_sYfKtp_5Dw)
First of all, how can I cure this mold, and make sure it does not come back? Secondly, how can I make sure it does not affect the laid flooring in the future, if this is related to dampness.
For information, none of the other removed skirting boards had such mold behind them. This particular one is at the bottom of the wall between the living room and the cloak room. The cloakroom's floor seldom gets wet, but I am not sure if this can cause such mold on the other side.
Bud9051
03-17-09, 05:42 PM
Describe the house a bit more. This wall is between to interior rooms, but what is under it, basement, slab? and how close is it to an exterior wall? Obviously it is moisture related, the trick will be locating the source.
As for getting rid of mold, anything short of removing it will never get it all. As for what you see, it may be the tip of the iceberg. Removing the drywall with the mold will let you see what is inside the wall cavity. If that is where the moisture is coming from, then there will be more mold in there.
Bud
As for getting rid of mold, anything short of removing it will never get it all. As for what you see, it may be the tip of the iceberg. Removing the drywall with the mold will let you see what is inside the wall cavity. If that is where the moisture is coming from, then there will be more mold in there.
Bud
barano
03-18-09, 03:58 AM
Thanks for the answer.
A bit more about the building. It's a 1980s building with brick exteriors. The interiors walls are of plasterboard. The ground floor (where the wall is) is concrete based.
On end of this wall is the door which opens to the ground floor landing. The other end ends in the south facade of the building. The mold however is concentrated closer to the wall.
Behind this wall, there is the cloak room, which has a toilet and wash basin in it. Also there is a radiator right behind this wall, in the cloakroom.
I am not sure how helpful this is, and I appreciate that it would be impossible to talk about the real causes in a forum. So a contractor of which profession would be best to come to the house and examine in detail?
A bit more about the building. It's a 1980s building with brick exteriors. The interiors walls are of plasterboard. The ground floor (where the wall is) is concrete based.
On end of this wall is the door which opens to the ground floor landing. The other end ends in the south facade of the building. The mold however is concentrated closer to the wall.
Behind this wall, there is the cloak room, which has a toilet and wash basin in it. Also there is a radiator right behind this wall, in the cloakroom.
I am not sure how helpful this is, and I appreciate that it would be impossible to talk about the real causes in a forum. So a contractor of which profession would be best to come to the house and examine in detail?
Arkon
03-19-09, 02:30 PM
fire & flood damage restoration. They will see this type of damage more than others. Look for someone that does mold remediation and is IICRC certified. The certification shows they have been through remediation classes. It's not mandatory to hire certified firms but it helps if you don't know who to turn to. Maybe your state does require certs.
I had the exact same issue and it ended up being a broken pipe below the concrete. The water worked it's way up the walls for months before the pipe let out enough water to actually detect. We ended tearing out drywall about 3' high around most of the room just to make sure we exposed it all.
I had the exact same issue and it ended up being a broken pipe below the concrete. The water worked it's way up the walls for months before the pipe let out enough water to actually detect. We ended tearing out drywall about 3' high around most of the room just to make sure we exposed it all.
airman.1994
03-19-09, 05:58 PM
My guess is that the bathroom has had a leak at one time. Also it looks like the sheet rock is touching the floor. It looks like you could clean the sheet rock up, but hard to tell from a picture. You will need to at least cut a half an inch from the bottom to keep the rock from touching the floor. Then spray with 10 parts water to one part bleach. Let it sit for twenty minutes then place a fan on it to dry it out quickly.