Is DIY mold remediation possible w/ no experience?

Question

My mother in law's home basement has mold, moisture, and leaks. There was an add on about 3 decades ago to the house in the basement and ground level, the outside walls of the basement weren't sealed fully only sprayed with an antidampness thing. Also the sump pump on that side hasn't been working properly and drains outside just next to the house rather than connected to a sewer (that's what I could get out of a consultation).

A company will come out to do all the sealing but they said they're not covered by insurance to seal walls/fix pump and they want 19k. I don't think my MIL did multiple consultations, this is the company that worked on the other side of the home 30yrs ago so that's who she went with. MIL already filed an insurance claim for water leaking into the basement & got money to hire people or renovate prior to knowing about the pump and sealing issues. So any of that money basically went to the 19k and we'll be doing the mold remediation.

The current repair people basically said there's a crack in the wall (even if we can't see a visible crack) and water gets in. From what l've read, it sounds like mold remediation is extensive? My MIL, partner, and I have no experience. We can put up drywall, paint, and simple things but no real contractor experience. My MIL believes that we'll just have to remove the insulation& drywall and replace it. I don't believe it'll be that simple, is this realistically something three inexperienced people can accomplish and not make matters worse? I'm also concerned about a leak upstairs in a breezeway that has accumulated mold... won't those mold spores just spread back to the basement if this isn't done properly.

My MIL is even less informed than me, at one point we started pulling out drywall... and just worked with no fans, no real masks, no one even considered that we're disrupting the mold and potentially spreading spores. I had no idea you were supposed to be using an air scrubber and many more things... Is this something we could do realistically, maybe with more proper research?

Answer 1

Mold remediation is totally within the skillset of the typical DIY, with some caveats.

The most important thing to understand is that wherever you have a dark, poorly ventilated room with high humidity, you will get mold growth. Mold spores are everywhere, and you are breathing them right now. Your immune system is taking care of them, that's why you don't get sick. So when I say that mold remediation is a DIY job, I mean that removing the mold itself is a trivial matter:

1. Use proper PPE, including a P100 respirator (this is not because the mold might kill you but because the amount of spores and dust might overwhelm your lungs). I really like the full-face 3M respirator for this, as it also protects my eyes. Once you get used to working with a respirator, you will see how much more comfortable it is to work with them than without.
2. Get a garden sprayer and fill it with a solution of diluted bleach, then apply directly to the mold. Then wipe off with a rag also saturated in a bleach solution. The bleach will kill the mold, remove the mold from the substrate, and any bleach residue left behind will prevent further mold growth (at least for a while, see below.)

Now of the caveats: mold remediation is successful only if you remove the high humidity conditions. This will include work like fixing the issue with the sump pump you described, installing gutters and/or fixing downspouts outside so that the water stays away from the perimeter of the house, treating the walls, and/or installing a dehumidifier. It's hard to give you specific advise without seeing the basement in person, and even then it's hard to predict which solution will work best. I've spent thousands installing gutters, sump pumps and French drains, to then realize the problem was a high water table (ie the water was coming from below, not above). And I once bought a house at a huge discount because of a mold problem, and fixed the problem with a $200 dehumidifier.

In your question, you included items that are part of a larger project, like removing drywall, insulation, painting, etc. These are more related to fixing the damage done by the water intrusion. If you can DIY those will depend on the extent of the damage and your current skills. Hanging drywall is not difficult, and the materials are cheap, but there are lots of tricks used during installation, and these tricks are not obvious to beginners. Also, if you remove and replace insulation, at least in the jurisdiction I live, that requires a permit.