The EPA states if your mold problem is less than 10 square feet in total you can remediate it yourself. If it is over 10 square feet, you should consult a professional.
Okay, so you want to do it yourself, what should you do? Stop the water? Kill it with bleach or something? Ventilate?
The answer is D: All of the above.
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You do need to:
A.) Find and fix the source of the mold causing moisture.
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B.) Kill the Mold.
C.) Ventilate.
Let's take them one at a time. You need to find out where the excess moisture and/or water is coming from. Mold is a living organism just like you and me and it needs to eat and drink just like you and me.
We know the mold is feasting on your drywall, so there is the food source, but where is the moisture coming from. That needs to be corrected first so that when we do remediate the mold, it can stay remediated.
Once you have shut off the mold's water supply we can go ahead and remediate/kill it.There is a very simple process I call "The Three S's'. You want to go to Home Depot or Lowes or the Supermarket or wherever and buy a bottle of Mold Spray. There are many different brands, Lysol, Tilex, Moldex, Concrobium, etc. They all work pretty much the same, that is assuming you did step 1 and fixed the leak. And also get a can of spray sealer from the paint department.
1st "S" SPRAY the mold to kill it. Don’t use bleach because it is toxic for humans as well as mold.
2nd "S" SCRUB the mold. Once the spray dries up a bit, you want to get a scrubbing sponge and some water mixed with a disinfecting household cleaning liquid soap and scrub it away. It is already dead, you just want to remove any sight of it. Let it dry thoroughly before proceeding to the third "S".
3rd "S" SEAL it. Next you want to get a can of Spray sealer like Kilz or Zinnser and spray the wall that you just scrubbed. What you are doing now is encapsulating the mold. You are sealing it inside the drywall. Now all that is there is a nice, clean, white, sealed paintable surface.
Now that the mold is dead and gone, you want to make sure that everything is nice and dry. The best way you can assure yourself of that going forward is to ventilate. Natural enemies to mold growth are sunlight and ventilation. While it may be impossible to bring direct sunlight to certain areas of your home like the basement, crawl space and attic you can increase ventilation.
When it comes to removing humidity and water vapor you need a ventilation system that works year round. The E-Z Breathe Ventilation System is a better than a dehumidifier because it works 12 months a year and not just in the warmest months. This whole house ventilation system is a device that expels the dampest, most humid & contaminated air from your home to the outside. It replaces the humid air with fresher air from the upper floors four to six times per day automatically with no bucket to empty or filter to replace.
The EPA publishes a Mold Guide, it is available for free at: http://www.epa.gov/mold/pdfs/moldguide.pdf
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