I hope we didn't screw this up. We're in a rental and there was mold (blackish/grayish spots but it didn't look fuzzy) on the bare sheetrock garage walls and near a dryer vented into the garage (fixed now) and seemingly from a now-fixed leak. Also same stain/spots under kitchen sink. Mngmnt refused to do a pro inspection and sent their handyman. He sprayed a bleach-based mold killer on at least some of it (I suspect not all of it), replaced 2 small sections of dry wall, painted Kilz basecoat over it and called it good. He did not ventilate the area, did not clean up the dead mold and now it's painted over. I am quite allergic to mold and on a steroid inhaler now due to living here. I feel worse the day after this work but it could be part of a cold and it may be anxiety over not knowing if what was done just made it worse. If money weren't an issue, we would have gotten a pro inspection and remediation. Will someone please tell me what the handyman did will at least contain the mold? We are thinking of fogging the whole house and even the ducting with Concrobium to coat and encapsulate the mold. I want to paint a Kilz latex over the base coat, too. We've got 10 more months on this lease and I am hoping not to be miserable or permanently sick from this. Any thoughts/opinions/ideas?
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3Have a look at some of the other mold questions to see if they help: here, here, and here.– BMitch ♦Jun 6, 2012 at 23:13
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1It's the mold spores that cause problems. In theory, what was left is now covered, so shouldn't be a problem. And if the leak + venting problems are fixed, then in theory, there's no more moisture for the mold to live off of.– DA01Jun 7, 2012 at 1:46
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DA01, thanks. Hoping the dead spores stick to the Kilz and can't get into the air again. They didn't clean the area, use fans to ventilate or seal anything off. Spores, dead or alive, are probably all over the place. Hopefully if we can clean them up, then the problem goes away. They also didn't address the cleaning of the ducts the right way either. All they did was suck the stuff out of the furnace and the vents, no fungicide or sanitizing the ducting. So, spores could be flying around the house. The furnace and ducts were incredibly filthy. After 2 weeks the filter was gross again.– CD123Jun 7, 2012 at 6:22
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Check your lease and speak with an attorney, most leases allow you to break them if/when mold is an issue.– Tester101Jun 7, 2012 at 11:48
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@Tester101, in the UK mould is normally considered to the tenants responsibility for not venting the property and controling humidity etc.– WalkerJun 7, 2012 at 12:49
1 Answer
The most likely reason for you feeling worse is leftover dust from the work performed. That will include dust from the drywall, from sanding the filling and especially mold particles from the disturbed wall. The room may look clean, but replacing drywall will produce a lot of tiny dust particles that will settle everywhere and make an allergic person feel really bad until the dust is removed.
It might also be allergy to the new paint components and if that's the case then the paint has dried by this moment and you'll feel better.
So the number one thing is to clean the room thoroughly - wipe everything where the dust and mold particles may have settled at least twice.
As to painting over. Latex paint will form soft yet rather strong film that will bond and contain the mold for a while. If there's any amount of humidity and mold is indeed in the wall then mold will continue to grow and will likely resurface at some moment. However until that happens you can feel more or less safe - the dried paint is like soft plastic covering and containing everything.
