Mold Removal: How to Get Rid of Mold

I have a 160 year old home and needless to say we have had mold problems in our home. We noticed mold in our walls and called in experts to identify the mold and help in getting rid of the mold. We did not want to spend a lot of money on mold removal so we had to learn how to get rid of mold on our own. We saved a lot of money by doing the work our selves and the mold inspectors were a great help in explaining what we had to do to get rid of the mold.

Some of the mold removal was a lot more labor intensive than the other. The areas of mold we thought would be an issue as far as black mold were the bathroom and the basement. Needless to say the bathroom did have mold but no black mold spores were discovered. The basement did have a few areas of black mold that we were able to take care of.

The worst area of mold and where black mold was a real issue was in a bedroom. The outer wall under a window showed the most serious evidence of black mold. The whole area had to be taken care of and thoroughly cleaned. Getting rid of mold in the bedroom took more time and effort.

We were instructed on how to remove mold by the inspectors. First we had to seal or quarantine the area off from the rest of the house to prevent the black mold or any of the mold spores from being carried via airborne into the rest of the house. Not only did we have to seal off the doorways but we also sealed off any register vents and closets. All furniture was removed. Airborne mold can cause serious health issues and we wanted to make sure that no one was effected.

We were also instructed to get face masks that covered our nose and mouth. It was also recommended that strong plastic gloves were to be worn to prevent contact with the black mold.Removing black mold takes more precautions than with any other molds.

As far as the mold removal in the bedroom we had to remove the wall covering down to the studs. The drywall had to be taken down carefully as this had the black mold on it. The insulation under the drywall also had to be removed. We carefully removed both surfaces, trying not to create any more dust than need be. Luckily the window was on the main floor of our house and we could dispose of the drywall and insulation right out of the window.

Next it was recommended to use bleach on the black mold. We were told to spray the mold on the area left behind. This meant that we had to spray down the studs in the wall with the bleach. The bleach needed to be left to dry over night.Then after the area had dried we then needed to scrap the black mold off the studs. We could not use a sander on the area as this would disburse the black mold into the air.

Once we were assured that the black mold was removed from the studs, we then took care in cleaning up the area. We gently swept the area around the once molded area and washed the floor with the bleach. The floor was rinsed several times to make sure no mold spores were left behind.

Once we had taken care of this area, we then called the inspectors back to ensure that all of the black mold had been taken care of. We were then given the OK to put the wall back together and we could at that time replace the window that was causing the problem.

Our basement mold removal is ongoing. We have tried to do the best we can to eliminate any water standing and mold caused by water damage, but with this old house it is ongoing. The water showing in the photos is from about less than a quarter of an inch of water fallen today.

The best we can do is to make sure we do not keep things in the basement that will not hold water and cause more mold. We are currently adding more windows to get as much light in a possible to help fight the growth of mold.