discussion Anyone have experience with black mold?

[chrisk]

Hey everyone;
Started cleaning up the basement and I did some carpet cleaning with a rental wet extractor from Home depot. With pets, etc. I wanted to freshen up the basement carpet so I rented the wet-extractor cleaner for a day. I was going to clean one side of the room, then the other. I got one side cleaned up and then decided to work on the other.

I moved my computer desk (which had a bunch of dust and dirt behind it). I vacuumed over it with a regular vacuum and then realized that I was dealing with black mold under the desk (some moisture must have gotten beneath the desk base and the carpet). At that point I stopped, threw out the vacuum and saturated the moldy area with a mold spray. I then re-washed the other side of the basement that I just did with regular carpet cleaner with mold control carpet cleaner a 2nd time, and then cleaned the entire carpet with the mold control cleaner.

Some questions:
1. The carpet was wet on one side of the room when I moved the desk and vacuumed. I'm guessing this did a good job dispersing the mold spores into a damp area...is this a huge problem? Vacuum was not hepa, etc.

2. I since cleaned the entire carpet with the Concrobium mold control carpet cleaner, and also sprayed the spray version of the product in the whole room. Is this good enough?

3. The mold has seeped into the bottom of the base of my computer desk on both sides of the desk. Is the desk salvageable? I have saturated the desk with the mold control spray, and I was going to put some mold-resistant primer on it after it was cleaned off but I think that it is seeped into teh particle board pretty good. I have pictures below of what it looked like after I wiped it (I sprayed the mold control stuff on it a few hours ago before wiping, and sprayed it after I wiped it...not sure if this was smart either....).

4. I got the stains out of the carpet below the desk, and saturated it with the mold control spray. Is this good enough?

Any other tips or suggestions welcome. If I had realized this was mold I would certainly not have vacuumed over it and would have been more careful at the beginning. I don't see any other mold, and the original moisture issue is taken care of, so I am concerned about getting the place and air safe without having to rip up the entire basement carpets.

Pics below:

The stuff I am using to get rid of the mold in spots and on the desk:


What I used in the carpet cleaner from Home depot (made by the same company as above):




The bottom of the computer desk right side:



Bottom left side:





Any tips and suggestions welcome. We really can't afford to rip up the basement right now so I would not want to do that unless it was a 100% must do (it would all have to go on a credit card at the moment, and I have already sunk about $200 into this cleanup and two days cleaning already).

 

[ZZLEE]

Basically toss out all of the stuff with mold and then use a mold retardant product anywhere there was mold,

 

[3.0charlie]

i agree with zzlee.

how does the carpet backing look like? and please, if you do peek at it, wear a good filter mask.

mold is nasty stuff.

 

[chrisk]

Yeah, I am a bit worried that I vacuumed over it before I realized what it was. I am fairly certain that I have breathed in the stuff.

I don't think I'll pull up the carpet as the baseboards have it tucked down and as a renter I don't want to go tearing up the carpet. I have saturated the area with the mold spray and I have been using a high powered fan to try to dry it up. I think the desk is a write-off unfortunately.

 

[SugarJ]

Desk is toast, and probably the carpet too. You need to contact the landlord to make him aware that there is black mold in the home, and he has to fix it. It's a health risk.

 

[Bond007]

As a renter, you need to get the owner in ASAP to fix the wet basement. It will spread if it’s still damp...up drywall, around carpet,etc. Depends how wet stuff is and how long it’s been there.

 

[chrisk]

As a renter, you need to get the owner in ASAP to fix the wet basement. It will spread if it’s still damp...up drywall, around carpet,etc. Depends how wet stuff is and how long it’s been there.

The basement is not wet or damp. Only mold was in the two spots under the desk (the area got wet some time ago and was never dried properly).

Would that alone warrant tearing up the whole basement? The damp was my fault so the landlord won't be on the hook for anything and right now there is no visible trace, other than the desk (bit I have not looked under the carpet).

 

[3.0charlie]

carpet is toast. do not wait.

 

[Inik]

A carpet in a basement is not ideal. I had to deal with black home at my place. Ironically, I discovered it on my concrete foundation walls after a major water leak at my place. I paid someone to clean everything before any reconstruction work.

If you found some, the spores are everywhere in your basement.

 

[chrisk]

Ok guys thanks. Wifey is not working now and her EI ran out, I don't have the skill to do this myself so I'll do the best I can. The area is almost 500sq feet and I don't have the cash to rip it all up right now if it must be done