| Author | Message | ||
     Roderick |
I need advice. One window well seal was bad due to the yrs and over several heavy rainy days, water leaked pass the bad seal and into the wall. Now I have several water spots in the carpet. The basement is not flooded, just have those water spots that is slowly drying up. I have a small blower at the area to help, for what it is worth. No doubt a large area of the pad is soaked with water, and I plan to re-carpet the room anyway. I just have to do it now instead of planned next yr. I have a repair estimate where they would cut out a large panel of the wall to make sure it is cleaned out of any potential mold issue. It has been a week since those rainy days so my questions: - Is that quick enough for mold to set in where they may have to cut out several ft of wall to clean ? - No alternatives such as a hole and continuous air flow through the wall or something like that ? Fixing the window seal is a given and not costly. But it is what they want to do with the wall, and its cost, that I wonder about. Roderick | ||
| Ratbuell |
It depends on your personal perspective on mold. Mold is everywhere. It just...is. How much do you use your basement? How ventilated is it? Do you have kids, and do they spend a lot of time down there? Do they chew on the drywall when they're there? Common sense must prevail. Mold will grow as soon as the sun comes up. If you want "abatement" then yes...they have to rip out acres of sheetrock. There are companies that can do "flood restoration" work...I'd have to look up the name because I'm drawing a blank right now...Serv-Pro? Maybe? They have big fans and chemicals and can "abate" with only minor intrusion. I lived in a floodplain for 17 years. Got to be intimately familiar with sump pumps, mucking out, and NEVER using drywall for the bottom 38" of a wall. I put in plastic "wainscot" paneling and chair rail. Nothing to wick up water. NO CARPET. Ceramic tile throughout my basement. My ex was big into servpro...I could have cared less. I wasn't going to chew on sheetrock. Bought a new house 3 years ago. Horrendous rain last spring....basement flooded, first time EVER (I know the old owners; they built the house, it never flooded). Sheetrock walls but still no carpet. I added a sump pump with a float switch. Water comes up in the sump pit? Switch turns the pump on, water goes outside. I added a dehumidifier, that drains into the sump pit. Get one with a hose fitting so you don't have to empty the bucket. If you have a large basement...get two, one at each end. I sprayed the drywall with mold killer, primed with Kilz primer (smelled worse than "wet" smell...)...and there it is. The dehumidifier is worth its weight in gold. All my kick/toe moldings have shrunk back into place, no gaps, no warp. If you're (or your significant other is) worried about mold...call ServPro. Do the abatement. Remove the bottom eight inches of sheetrock, and put in the plastic wainscot (removing 8" removes the "wick"). Get a dehumidifier with a hose. Lose the carpet - tile it. Throw rugs are fine in a basement. If you aren't that worried about mold...skip step one and just cut the sheetrock yourself, and go from there. | ||
| Roderick |
I am in UT and elevation is about 4k ft. Not likely any flood here, unless there is another Great Flood of the Biblical kind to the valley. Just me in this house. No kids/pets. Not even a goldfish. The house is 1500 sq/ft up and 1500 sq/ft down. And it is a finished basement with a family room, one bedroom, and one bathroom. The basement is fairly cool in the summer, below 70, and cold enough in the winter to need a small heater whenever I want to watch an entire movie on the big TV. There are two window wells for this large room and it is directly open to the stairwell from upstairs. They were talking around 1k to remove the old carpet and cut out the wall to clean. No official estimate about rebuilding the wall since they do not know how much wall to cut. As for carpet, I am leaning towards carpet tiles instead of the usual carpet roll. As a first time homeowner, I just want to know from the more experienced people if there are alternatives to cutting out a large section of the wall to clean out any potential mold issue. Can I just cut out a small hole and spray in something not toxic to me but to the mold, may be ? Or is it possible to just blow continuous air inside the wall and that will minimize, if not rid, of the mold ? Roderick | ||
| Ratbuell |
Again..don't stress over mold. 2 words: "Homeowners insurance". This counts. Call your insurance provider. Go with the abatement solution they present. Say "thank you".  And if insurance doesn't suggest it...contact Servpro directly. | ||
| Fast1075 |
The "don't worry over mold" is a bit broad. Several types of mold off-gas some really toxic stuff. Even if you are not outright allergic, it is not a good thing generally speaking. | ||
| Roderick |
From what I read so far, mold is a problem if there is persistent moisture, like a low level consistent water leak somewhere. That is not the case here. This is a one time event. If I do have a persistent leak from that window well, then more area of the (inside) wall should indicate moisture -- according to the meter. Instead, only a section of the wall by the window showed moisture. Again, this is inside the wall, not the side that is in the room. I wonder if after the window is re-sealed, removal of the carpet and pad, then running a dehumidifier, with the room's door closed, for a couple days would be enough. Roderick | ||
| Stirz007 |
Mold isn't generally a problem in UT, unless you have a persistent leak. You could probably hit it with TSP and/or chlorox solution, repaint and be good. Make sure rainwater drains away from your window wells. | ||
| Roderick |
No persistent leaks. Just a bad window seal and a day of heavy rain that blew right against that window. The other window is just fine. After I read Ratbuell's comment about a dehumidifier, I did some checking. Mold can take up to two weeks to grow into visibility and with a constant source of moisture. The moisture meter clearly showed the area of dampness inside the wall and that area is about one yard across. Am willing to guess that unless there is a persistent leak somewhere, over months, the entire wall would be damp by now. So I think that once the window is re-sealed and the carpet/pad removed, if I run a dehumidifier for a few days in the closed room, I should be fine. Then I will re-carpet, or may tile. Roderick | ||
| Fast1075 |
The threshold for most mold growth is 60%+ relative humidity. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Bleach does NOT kill mold. Use a mold agent. | ||
| Kenm123t |
Look at the EEBA.org site for a building guide for your climate. Joe Lstibruek s books are very good and if You have question call him He will call you back albeit slowly Lol he is good guy and a fun Canoodian engineer Look up the ASHRAE an EPA standards for mold clean up. Porter Cept by Porter Paints is a good low voc mold killing Primer You can also purchase Microbiological Contamination By Hollace Bailey Of BEC in Jupiter Fl |
