42
votes
Accepted
Why are we to leave a front-loader clothes washer open, but not the dishwasher?
TL;DR Temperature
Dishwashers use hot water, because that's the way to clean dishes. Then they heat up the hot water even more to sanitize the dishes. Food safety requires it.
US dishwashers normally ...
38
votes
Accepted
Does A/C encourage mold growth?
Yeah, that advice was super wrong. Moisture encourages mold growth.
After a water leak you need to go to extremes to dry the air to get wet things to evaporate into the air, which you then ...
30
votes
Giant wet patch appeared suddenly on wall and now filled with dark spots
It is evident that water has infiltrated the wall. It has not manifested itself until recently because it took some time to leach into the wall cavity. This can come from any or all of the drilled ...
- 42.7k
29
votes
Accepted
What kind of unvented tumble dryer will reduce indoor humidity?
A more compact alternative worth a mention is a dehumidifer. I dry my washing indoors in UK winters, without a tumble drier. For efficient drying, shutting the damp washing and dehumidifer in a room ...
- 7,926
23
votes
What should I do about mold in a new build?
First of all, you should probably contact a mold abatement contractor. Not only should they be able to remove the existing mold, they should be able to identify its cause as well.
Then you may need ...
- 23.5k
23
votes
Accepted
Mold or rust stain on roof truss
Neither. It's labeling paint. It was either sprayed onto the entire lumber unit or this truss set for identification.
source
- 149k
21
votes
Santizing a vacuum cleaner by sucking up disinfectant
Either you trust the HEPA rating or you don't. If you do, you can continue to use the vac until you are ready to swap that filter media out, and then decide whether you want to sanitize. If you don't, ...
- 33.2k
19
votes
Does A/C encourage mold growth?
You are being sold.
The evaporator coil in the AC condenses water vapor in the air. It does this by blowing the warm air from your home over the cool evaporator coil. The cool coil pulls the moisture ...
- 896
19
votes
Should I discard all flooring in a package containing mold?
Contact the seller and tell them about the problem. They should send you a new package and take back the mouldy one.
- 291
18
votes
Accepted
What is this black sooty material on the inside of my roller shutter?
Looks like fungus of some sort. It grows on many surfaces. Try household cleaners and a sponge.
There are many types of mold, and the hysteria surrounding them is often unwarranted. Mold spores are ...
- 149k
18
votes
I've moved into a new apartment for a while. Is this mold? Is it safe to continue live here?
Looks more like mildew, which is related to mold, but not as dangerous (from a health standpoint). Yes, a dehumidifier could help prevent mildew. I would also look for sources of the moisture, e.g. a ...
- 15.1k
16
votes
What is this on two boards in crawl space?
I've seen similar patterns where apparently some of the boards were first used in a concrete "form", then the form was disassembled (after the concrete was poured and hardened) and the ...
- 2,093
16
votes
What kind of unvented tumble dryer will reduce indoor humidity?
Heat Pump or Condensing Dryers will not add meaningful moisture to your apartment.
Both Heat Pump and Condensing Dryers are closed loop systems, recirculating air inside the unit. Both use a ...
- 1,459
15
votes
Accepted
Removing silicone from shower but it’s filling a gap!
Dig out enough to put in backer rod under the new caulking, and apply new caulking. Which is how it should have been done in the first place.
Foam backer rod is available in multiple sizes and is ...
- 226k
14
votes
Why are we to leave a front-loader clothes washer open, but not the dishwasher?
Certainly washing machine door seals are more prone to mould, but there's another reason to leave the dishwasher door shut: It's perfectly placed for walking into and tripping over, in the kitchen ...
- 7,926
14
votes
Accepted
Should I discard all flooring in a package containing mold?
Contact the seller to see what can be done with your time line in mind.
If you cannot get replacement before some hard installation deadline, remediating what you have is certainly possible: use the ...
- 16.1k
14
votes
Is this mold/mildew? Is it a concern? (Bathroom Shower Ceiling)
The is mold. You will need to scrape it off and repaint.
I think I have a couple of answers about this but I have redone quite a few bathrooms and I do one or another option below.
#1 Oil based ...
- 50.4k
13
votes
What is the recommended way to destroy mold?
I just find it useful to recap all the information I could find on the web about it and the unanswered questions and hypotheses that still need to be tested. Please feel free to correct and update my ...
- 556
13
votes
Does A/C encourage mold growth?
It is possible for A/C to cause mold issues but it depends on a few factors. The problem is this: when choosing a A/C unit for a home, often people (even 'professionals') will assume that bigger is ...
- 2,239
13
votes
Can I determine the cause of mold?
Probably chalk dust (blue, or possibly green depending on the camera, both common colors used in builder's chalk-lines) from the time of construction. Very "slightly smeared boot tread" with ...
- 226k
13
votes
Santizing a vacuum cleaner by sucking up disinfectant
If yours is a commercial model then it probably uses the venturi effect or compressed air to cause suction. This means that the sucked-up material does not touch any internal moving parts. If it is ...
- 7,364
13
votes
Is this mold/mildew? Is it a concern? (Bathroom Shower Ceiling)
It is mold.
Mold is typically present in bathrooms with inadequate ventilation.
The first thing you need to do is verify that your exhaust fan is working correctly, that the exhaust hose is not ...
- 3,081
12
votes
Joists in Basement (for main floor) black - is this mold?
This looks like black spray paint. Mold would tend to have a less uniform appearance, and you would likely have other indications of moisture.
- 165
12
votes
Accepted
We have mold under carpeting, what should I do?
Chlorine bleach does not enter wood pores, only the water component of a bleach mixture will do so, so you end up not killing any mold spores inside the wood; only on the surface. Either use cleaning ...
11
votes
Giant wet patch appeared suddenly on wall and now filled with dark spots
The new gutter installation is faulty, or clogged; any what way, there is a major leak on top that lets water flow down the wall. Looking at the damage, it is possible that it also comes onto the top ...
9
votes
What is this black sooty material on the inside of my roller shutter?
Clean it up with bleach and a sponge (chlorine is the main ingredient of mold-cleaners). If your home is humid (RH >55%) consider installing a dehumidfier so with less moisture you get less mold.
- 2,393
9
votes
Accepted
What should I do about mold in a new build?
What should I do immediately about the mold? I'm worried about breathing in the mold, and unsure of whether I should try and save the items of clothing that have mold on them.
There's a couple of ...
- 26.3k
9
votes
Accepted
When trying to keep moisture in the house down, at what point would it be best to close the doors and windows, is there a calculation?
The calculations are not very straightforward. You want to look for a Hygrometric chart, that shows the relationship between absolute humidity (amount of moisture in the air), relative humidity, and ...
- 7,022
9
votes
Giant wet patch appeared suddenly on wall and now filled with dark spots
Black dots are mould.
Yellow spots are caused by water "dragging" material from the wall as it flows
I would suspect the new pipes and gutter. Not because of the new holes, but for leakage....
- 1,687
8
votes
Accepted
What is this growing outside my window?
Those are mud-dauber wasps. They're good guys. They paralyze spiders, take them back to their nests, and lay eggs on the still-living spiders.
So if you don't like spiders around your place, leave the ...
- 863
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible