Definitely going to open up the wall from the garage side first. To try and control the dust and dirt and keep it outside the house.
Definitely going to open up the wall from the garage side first. To try and control the dust and dirt and keep it outside the house.
Bleach isn't the best mold remover as it contains water which could further cause problems. Peroxide is better even though it isn't as strong and may need additional applications. This was told to me years ago by a master plumber who deals with this stuff all the time and has worked for us in commercial applications over the years.
I had a house where my wife an I could not get rid of respiratory infections. We were constantly on antibiotics. We both ended up getting very ill. I had a bad strep infection with fever so high I passed out. My wife went into pneumonia and passed out driving to the doctor's office. (Luckily she felt it coming and pulled over until it passed - she didn't tell me she was doing this or I would have driven her)
I was complaining to a friend at work and he asks if I checked the plenum in my A/C unit. That evening I took off the side cover of the unit. The interior insulation was caked with black mold. I went and bought a bottle of bleach and a spray bottle. I sprayed the entire inside with bleach. When the bleach hit the mold it was running off leaving the white insulation. After a through spraying and allowing it to soak I hooked a hose up to the drain valve on my hot water heater and hosed out the whole thing with hot water. The run off went down the A/C condensation drain.
Within a few days all the respiratory problems were gone. We were lucky. We were young. This could have killed an elderly person or a person with a weak immune system.
Could be. Make it go away.
Great ideas , Thanks ,
I have an old wood frame house that leaks in heavy rain ,
I normally just point the fan at the damp area , but maybe I need to do a little more.
pheller said:What's a good testing kit?
lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) said:Bleach isn't the best mold remover as it contains water which could further cause problems. Peroxide is better even though it isn't as strong and may need additional applications. This was told to me years ago by a master plumber who deals with this stuff all the time and has worked for us in commercial applications over the years.
I used bleach mixed with hot water and some laundry soap to cut the surface tension of the solution so it would soak in better of my flooded basement studs after cutting the drywall 24.75" above the floor so that there would be at least 1/2" gap between the floor and the drywall when I installed new 24" wide replacements. It was the cheapest thing and actually the only thing I could think of. I applied it with a pump up garden sprayer and everything was very well soaked. I just let it air dry with lots of box fans and open windows and couldn't smell it after a while and I'm pretty sure it wasn't just because my nose was burned beyond repair. Hydrogen peroxide is also diluted with water by the way.
Just finished watching Forensic Files Fatal Fungus On Hulu. Babies dying from deadly fungus spores called (Stachybotrys atra). Scary stuff.
jharry3 said:I had a house where my wife an I could not get rid of respiratory infections. We were constantly on antibiotics. We both ended up getting very ill. I had a bad strep infection with fever so high I passed out. My wife went into pneumonia and passed out driving to the doctor's office. (Luckily she felt it coming and pulled over until it passed - she didn't tell me she was doing this or I would have driven her)
I was complaining to a friend at work and he asks if I checked the plenum in my A/C unit. That evening I took off the side cover of the unit. The interior insulation was caked with black mold. I went and bought a bottle of bleach and a spray bottle. I sprayed the entire inside with bleach. When the bleach hit the mold it was running off leaving the white insulation. After a through spraying and allowing it to soak I hooked a hose up to the drain valve on my hot water heater and hosed out the whole thing with hot water. The run off went down the A/C condensation drain.
Within a few days all the respiratory problems were gone. We were lucky. We were young. This could have killed an elderly person or a person with a weak immune system.
What do you mean when you say "check the plenum"? I can see into the filter chamber. Is that all?
In reply to OHSCrifle :
Isn't that the tin box on top of the furnace where the hot air is discharged? I think that the A.C. coil is located in there and should be behind a removable cover.
VolvoHeretic said:In reply to OHSCrifle :
Isn't that the tin box on top of the furnace where the hot air is discharged? I think that the A.C. coil is located in there and should be behind a removable cover.
The pro duct cleaning guys cut an access hole there last year and cleaned it out. I will open it up and have a look inside.
Decided to hire a "certified" mold inspection and remediation specialist. One sample will be lifted and sent to a lab along with a full walkthrough + report for $305.
Good idea to have your house professionally tested.
I've been thinking about how to rebuild that outside garage wall with the brick veneer. If you need to replace all of the framing behind the brick. Use that vibrating saw thingy to cut away everything including the brick ties attaching the brick to the wall and after you install the new framing, get some building angle framing clips and carefully attach them to the brick with Tapcon screws and heavy screws to the wall studs.
You will have to do a lot of caulking to seal everything and it would be nice if you could try and put water and air infiltration house wrap between the studs and brick if for no other reason other than looks. I would apply OSB board as a shear panel on the inside of the studs after you insulate the wall cavity with fiberglass insulation and polyvinyl vapor barrier.
You can put drywall over the OSB board if you want to finish and paint that bit of wall, there will just be a 1/2" jog at that spot.
In reply to VolvoHeretic :
..yeah it's a clusterberkeley. I appreciate all the comments.
I'm brainstorming how to add through-wall flashing so any water behind the brick veneer can be "let out". Grinding part of a mortar joint to slip in some sheet metal flashing and drilling weep holes is easy enough once the back of brick is exposed. It's supposed to be there for all brick veneer but I simply have not seen any weep holes (ever) in all my numerous laps around this house. The good thing is the back of the brick doesn't have to look pretty.
Inside of garage walls are plywood panel already so lateral strength is not a problem.
I was at HD shopping for PPE when I decided to pause for a minute and get the testing done. I know there is water and probably termite damage in the wall. Hopefully not a giant insect colony. Hopefully limited to bottom plate.
In reply to OHSCrifle :
I can feel that pain. During the pandemic I decided to take out the carpet and put down hardwood which I knew meant some subfloor work. Long story short, I ended up jacking up the whole south side of my house and replacing the post and beam foundation. It had old termite damage and I took the foundation out in a wheelbarrow. I removed it by just grabbing it and pulling out chunks. This is the old foundation in the back of my truck.
dculberson said:One tool that might be handy when you're doing that work is an oscillating multitool. If you've never used one it is amazing for making straight plunge cuts into wood. That way you're not chopping into what's left of your sheathing with the sawzall.
Do the mold fogging once you've got the wall opened up. You can fog the whole house if you want to that would reduce the spores in the whole place. The Modec stuff seems to be available online looked like $180 for four gallons. Rent a fogger and away you go! I'd recommend some time out of the house for stuff to dry one source online said 8 hours.
I've got a Milwaukee M12 oscillating tool. It's awesome.
Curious if this is covered by Homeowners' Insurance. Only ask because a friend was banned from his house with black mold in a room he never went into.
Act of God clause?
Are there any 110 volt air filters that also capture the mold spores in the air it is filtering ?
is a HEPA. Filter going to do it or does it need something better ?
914Driver said:Curious if this is covered by Homeowners' Insurance. Only ask because a friend was banned from his house with black mold in a room he never went into.
Act of God clause?
Gonna ask the inspector about that. His website mentions working with homeowner's insurance.
californiamilleghia said:Are there any 110 volt air filters that also capture the mold spores in the air it is filtering ?
is a HEPA. Filter going to do it or does it need something better ?
First Google reply says HEPA is useful for airborne mold.
https://alen.com/blogs/articles/do-air-purifiers-help-with-indoor-mold
Had inspector visit. Found some mold in the basement mostly on bare southern pine joists in the unfinished furnace room but also in the room where I work every day. Pondering fogging or other methods now...
Also collected a sample from the filter of an air purifier we have run for the last several months. Hope to get the results soon.
Discovered the wall I was most concerned about is not currently wet after a LOT of rain so the staining is very old.
Things have escalated. Found a ton of mold inside the wall we suspected. Mostly good news - totally dry inside... but some significant termite damage. Calling in my termite company for a look see. I will say this old pressure treated wood from the 70's is pretty badass.
the portion of the outside wall has sheathing (adjacent to the end of my porch) that appears really good except... The triple stud is mostly gone.
914Driver said:Curious if this is covered by Homeowners' Insurance. Only ask because a friend was banned from his house with black mold in a room he never went into.
Act of God clause?
Even though it appears this thread was bumped by a canoe, the answer is no, it won't.
They will consider it lack of maintenance essentially. The same if it's obvious a tree is dead, you don't remove it and then it falls on your house. Not covered.
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