mold

Ack....

So.. I'm starting another home project, haven't finished the last one(cabinets in garage, won't get it done until end of November when friends move out and take everything in the garage with them..) (cabinets are in, just need to finish doors and organize stuff. It's just too much crap in there so moving around is tough)...

So.. like I was saying, new home project. Friend offered to help me put tile in my upstairs master bathroom. Well, I cut out the linoleum and found black mold on the the luan subfloor around the toilet. Looks like the wax ring is/was leaking. The Luan is dry. Crap. So.. Tomorrow I'll yank the toilet and see the damage, Worst case I have to replace a 4x4 pc of luan and a piece of OSB floor.

Any hints?

Home is 1 year out of warranty...... ugh. (Frustrating.)

If you find that the wax ring was not the cause, it's worth noting that mold around the toilet can also be the result of condensation on the outside of your tank. You can minimize the condensation by feeding hot water to the tank, rather than cold. You're not going to win any awards from the conservationists, but it may help prevent future mold problems.

I would tear out the luan regardless. It, and osb, are not suitable subfloors for tile. I use the commonly available backerboards, or 3/8" plywood screwed down every 4-6".

sorry, I didn't make it clear, I'm going to put a layer of Durock or whatever backer board, down on top of the luan and OSB..

Woody wrote: You can minimize the condensation by feeding hot water to the tank, rather than cold.

I had a friend that did that, and one cold morning, he flushed it, and when the hot water started to fill the (much too cold) tank, it basically exploded. Funny story, but a huge mess all the same. I wouldn't recommend plumbing hot water to the toilet, and believe me, I work on a LOT of them.

There is a mixer valve that they sell that bleeds just a bit of hot water in with the cold. They some times get stuck and you can get all hot in your toilet. The exploding toilet sounds like something that needs to be submitted to myth busters for further review.

It was the ring. Osb subfloor is up. Replaced with new T&G OSB, made the patch big enough to span 2 joists. Plenty of PL Subfloor Adhesive and she'll do fine. Now to cover it with 1/2" durock/Hardibacker.. Man at the store said 1/4" would work fine for floors but I got thicker cause after removing the luan you can tell a difference in the springiness of the floor.

Pictures later.