I was (and I say was) renovating my basement. I have my walls insulated and
1 wall gyproced. I had some weak spots in my subfloor that I thought I
could patch. I started to rip up one section and realized that most if not
all of the floor is water damaged from years ago. I just bought the house a
year ago. Most of the strapping are rotted badly. I pulled up 1 - half
inch piece of underlay and noticed this weird (could be mould) crystal type
of fuzzy looking stuff. This stuff looks like cotton candy. IS this mould.
I am confused as to what to do. Will this problem (potential mould removal)
be covered by our insurance. Is this extremely dangerous. The basement is
not being used. Our washer and dryer are down there along with a deep
freeze. My wife is due with our first child on Wednesday coming up. Any
advice as to what I should do?

This MAY be confined to one small section, but am not sure. Any advice?
Should I leave it and call our insurance company so they can come over to
take a look? Shoudl I rip up the rest of the floor?

I can take a picture of this white cotton candy crystal looking stuff and
post it if required.

Please advise!!!

probably mold try spraying with straight bleach.

sorry you MUST fix the water moisture issue before doing any more
remodeling lest it just reoccur

You could run a de-humidifier in the basement with a hose to your drain.
reducing moisture levels can slow and or stop the growth if you can get it
dry enough. Lots of mold killer on the market but bleach remains the
cheapest 1/4 cup to a gallon of water will kill just abt anything. I think 2
tablespoons to a gallon will kill aflatoxin which is a toxic mold in corn.
"HELP!!!" wrote in message
news:tHHSf.111$nQ6.106@clgrps13...
I was (and I say was) renovating my basement. I have my walls insulated
and
1 wall gyproced. I had some weak spots in my subfloor that I thought I
could patch. I started to rip up one section and realized that most if
not
all of the floor is water damaged from years ago. I just bought the house
a
year ago. Most of the strapping are rotted badly. I pulled up 1 - half
inch piece of underlay and noticed this weird (could be mould) crystal
type
of fuzzy looking stuff. This stuff looks like cotton candy. IS this
mould.
I am confused as to what to do. Will this problem (potential mould
removal)
be covered by our insurance. Is this extremely dangerous. The basement
is
not being used. Our washer and dryer are down there along with a deep
freeze. My wife is due with our first child on Wednesday coming up. Any
advice as to what I should do?

This MAY be confined to one small section, but am not sure. Any advice?
Should I leave it and call our insurance company so they can come over to
take a look? Shoudl I rip up the rest of the floor?

I can take a picture of this white cotton candy crystal looking stuff and
post it if required.

Please advise!!!

Sounds a lot like a slime mold which is usually harmless unless you are made
of cellulose. Does it maybe also look like foam.

The most dangerous mold is black mold which doesn't match your description.
I can't say what kind of microbe is eating your wood and if you're not
feeling poorly, it probably isn't "extremely" dangerous but might ultimately
result in an allergic response if you are sensitive.

Not all fungus is toxic, you eat (some kinds of) mushrooms don't you (well
you can if you want).

If you can fix it yourself, there is no reason to tell the insurance
company. If it is making you too sick to do it yourself, obviously you need
to call a pro and the cost may justify a claim.

Call a mold removal company for a quote and they will likely identify the
specis. Might even guess over the phone, but in my experience contractors
never guess at the cost of a job.



"HELP!!!" wrote in message
news:tHHSf.111$nQ6.106@clgrps13...
I was (and I say was) renovating my basement. I have my walls insulated
and
1 wall gyproced. I had some weak spots in my subfloor that I thought I
could patch. I started to rip up one section and realized that most if
not
all of the floor is water damaged from years ago. I just bought the house
a
year ago. Most of the strapping are rotted badly. I pulled up 1 - half
inch piece of underlay and noticed this weird (could be mould) crystal
type
of fuzzy looking stuff. This stuff looks like cotton candy. IS this
mould.
I am confused as to what to do. Will this problem (potential mould
removal)
be covered by our insurance. Is this extremely dangerous. The basement
is
not being used. Our washer and dryer are down there along with a deep
freeze. My wife is due with our first child on Wednesday coming up. Any
advice as to what I should do?

This MAY be confined to one small section, but am not sure. Any advice?
Should I leave it and call our insurance company so they can come over to
take a look? Shoudl I rip up the rest of the floor?

I can take a picture of this white cotton candy crystal looking stuff and
post it if required.

Please advise!!!

The bad stuff is black and gummy. dont panic, dont call your insurance
co you dont even know the true cause yet. Putting in a claim like that
could get you dropped and you might have a hard time with a new company.
A subfloor could easily get mold from moisture comming up from
underneath it is just a perfect invironment to grow, dark and damp with
wood as food. It is hard to say what to do without seeing it, is it dirt
or concrete underneath, does it flood, is the water table high, did a
pipe just leak once. Mold is common in damp places and easy to kill with
a garden sprayer full of laundry bleach. If the wood is rotted it might
be a high water table where wood never should of been used. What is
under the wood.

PipeDown wrote:
Sounds a lot like a slime mold which is usually harmless unless you are made
of cellulose. Does it maybe also look like foam.

The most dangerous mold is black mold which doesn't match your description.
I can't say what kind of microbe is eating your wood and if you're not
feeling poorly, it probably isn't "extremely" dangerous but might ultimately
result in an allergic response if you are sensitive.

Not all fungus is toxic, you eat (some kinds of) mushrooms don't you (well
you can if you want).

If you can fix it yourself, there is no reason to tell the insurance
company. If it is making you too sick to do it yourself, obviously you need
to call a pro and the cost may justify a claim.

Call a mold removal company for a quote and they will likely identify the
specis. Might even guess over the phone, but in my experience contractors
never guess at the cost of a job.



"HELP!!!" wrote in message
news:tHHSf.111$nQ6.106@clgrps13...
I was (and I say was) renovating my basement. I have my walls insulated
and
1 wall gyproced. I had some weak spots in my subfloor that I thought I
could patch. I started to rip up one section and realized that most if
not
all of the floor is water damaged from years ago. I just bought the house
a
year ago. Most of the strapping are rotted badly. I pulled up 1 - half
inch piece of underlay and noticed this weird (could be mould) crystal
type
of fuzzy looking stuff. This stuff looks like cotton candy. IS this
mould.
I am confused as to what to do. Will this problem (potential mould
removal)
be covered by our insurance. Is this extremely dangerous. The basement
is
not being used. Our washer and dryer are down there along with a deep
freeze. My wife is due with our first child on Wednesday coming up. Any
advice as to what I should do?

This MAY be confined to one small section, but am not sure. Any advice?
Should I leave it and call our insurance company so they can come over to
take a look? Shoudl I rip up the rest of the floor?

I can take a picture of this white cotton candy crystal looking stuff and
post it if required.

Please advise!!!






I'll bet if you do a web search for mold testing, you'll find lots of
good info, plus places that sell test kits. I think I;ve even seen on
here where some home center stores, ace hardware, etc also sell them.

Chances are that what you have is not harmful. But you do need to
remediate it before proceeding and to take steps to keep it from
recurring.

There are over a thousand types of mold , only a few are bad. Mold on
many cheeses is safe eaten and is its covering. Penicillin is from a
mold. Mold is everywhere in the invironment, really don`t panic.

I agree, if the basement is damp, there should be no wood on that
floor. If you have concrete slab underneath and its in good shape, rip
up all the wood and put down VCT tile or even ceramic tile. It will be
a lot cleaner.
Try to post a pic if you can.

there were flood problems in the past, but that has been fixed. There has
never been heat in the basement. What i think happened is that since there
was never any heat the water just sat there and never even had a chance to
dry. I think I will just rip the whole floor up and druy it out and start
from scratch in May. April is coming and where I am from we will get rain
in April. This will be a good way to determine if I have a serious water
problem. Any suggestions about this. I of course will put the bleach to it
all. I am also thinking that the bottom of the exterior walls are also
rotted, but I am hoping they aren't cause I'll have to do a ton of work to
fram new walls.



"m Ransley" wrote in message
...
The bad stuff is black and gummy. dont panic, dont call your insurance
co you dont even know the true cause yet. Putting in a claim like that
could get you dropped and you might have a hard time with a new company.
A subfloor could easily get mold from moisture comming up from
underneath it is just a perfect invironment to grow, dark and damp with
wood as food. It is hard to say what to do without seeing it, is it dirt
or concrete underneath, does it flood, is the water table high, did a
pipe just leak once. Mold is common in damp places and easy to kill with
a garden sprayer full of laundry bleach. If the wood is rotted it might
be a high water table where wood never should of been used. What is
under the wood.

"m Ransley" wrote in message
...
The bad stuff is black and gummy. dont panic, dont call your insurance
co you dont even know the true cause yet. Putting in a claim like that
could get you dropped and you might have a hard time with a new company.
A subfloor could easily get mold from moisture comming up from
underneath it is just a perfect invironment to grow, dark and damp with
wood as food. It is hard to say what to do without seeing it, is it dirt
or concrete underneath, does it flood, is the water table high, did a
pipe just leak once. Mold is common in damp places and easy to kill with
a garden sprayer full of laundry bleach. If the wood is rotted it might
be a high water table where wood never should of been used. What is
under the wood.


I don't know of any insurance company that doesn't specifically exclude any
and all claims having to do with any kind of fungus, mold, etc. As you
said, it could get the OP dropped (not renewed) by his insurance company but
worse yet, I have read that the house, itself, could be placed in a list
shared by all insurance companies and be totally uninsurable thus not
saleable to anyone else. I would not even call the insurance company and
ask them any questions as that is enough to cause problems as they tend to
be proactive these days in avoiding possible risks.

Tom G.

I saw this product at Lowes this morning. It's a 2X2 tongue and groove
subfloor with a plastic base with channels at the bottom. It's designed
for basements. It's just an idea if you decide to do the whole floor
over.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...-0001&pad=true

Get a dehumidifier. If your basement temps are 65 or below get a unit
that wont freeze till 45-50, All regular, or most units, freeze up near
65f. Sears has one unit that goes to 45f

Buy a digital humidistat or an analog unit designed to be calibrated
and calibrate it. Keep humidity at apx 50% and mold will die on its own.
But the trapped moisture in wood on the floor has to be fixed, best is
remove the wood .

I had mold issues and leaks and killed the mold by spraying walls and
floors with laundry bleach. I stopped the leaks and keep humidity under
65 and no mold has returned.

Bleach will stink bad for 1-4 days, if your wife is there and
pregnant, now is not the best time for this, perhps later when she can
leave for 2-5 days. I would wait on wood removal also to keep the mold
from going airborn, now it is sealed in.

Don`t Red Flag your self to the insurance co with a call.

Pros overcharge for mold issues. A flooring company or construction
company could do the removal of wood quick, you could spray and clean
it. If the floor doesn`t seap up water which you test by taping plastic
on it for a day and test with a 20$ HD Moisture meter, put down tile,
vinyl, or paint and leave bare. I have a 200$ Delmhorst moisture meter.

Your issue is real common, and is no need for panic, just figure the
right way to go about your upgrade. Without controlling humidity mold
will stay, and yours may actualy be ok, but 95% of basements here need
dehumififiers in spring- summer. Just plan out your job a step at a
time.

Ive shopped for humidistats many times, I have 8-10 of them, many are
junk. 95% of the Analog units you see on displays at Ace, HD etc are
made by Taylor and 95% are uncalibrated and vary in store, on display,
5-15%. Digitals are usualy fairly accurate in the indoor range you
need to measure. Taylor makes one Analog unit a 3" round silver unit,
out of maybe 25 they make, that is designed for calibration, it comes
with a tool and instructions that state, "Calibrate every 6 months" so
the rest they make are really worthless, unless digital. There is no
reason to pay extra to over dehumidify or take no action due to a crappy
humidistat.

A flooring company might just be your best bet, they know what
basement floors require, how to test, and spot issues. They will direct
you best on what to do to have a floor that lasts. Humidity control, and
leaks are your issue, but simple to do over time.

Honestly a proper dehumidifier for your temp and sq ft, and a good
humidistat would be my first step today, get a digital unit at a store a
bunch are powered on and you can see " off %" units. Then get a few
bids-ideas from floor companies.

HELP!!! wrote:
I was (and I say was) renovating my basement. I have my walls insulated and
1 wall gyproced. I had some weak spots in my subfloor that I thought I
could patch. I started to rip up one section and realized that most if not
all of the floor is water damaged from years ago. I just bought the house a
year ago. Most of the strapping are rotted badly. I pulled up 1 - half
inch piece of underlay and noticed this weird (could be mould) crystal type
of fuzzy looking stuff. This stuff looks like cotton candy. IS this mould.
I am confused as to what to do. Will this problem (potential mould removal)
be covered by our insurance. Is this extremely dangerous. The basement is
not being used. Our washer and dryer are down there along with a deep
freeze. My wife is due with our first child on Wednesday coming up. Any
advice as to what I should do?

This MAY be confined to one small section, but am not sure. Any advice?
Should I leave it and call our insurance company so they can come over to
take a look? Shoudl I rip up the rest of the floor?

I can take a picture of this white cotton candy crystal looking stuff and
post it if required.

Please advise!!!





To me the crystallization is an indication of moisture seepage and not a
basement flood/ water flow. This happens when water is weeping through
the walls. You can look it up on the internet. It might not be mold
behild the moulding (note spelling) at all but just crystal outgrowth.
Make sure your gutters are working and clear of leaves and that your
house landscape is graded properly.

I wouldn't rip the boards up not for sure. You would just disturb
whatever it is and disperse it into the air. I would expect yoru wife
being pregnant and higher smell sensitivity would be experiencing
problems before the child is born if there were an issue.

Don't mess with it now. Youll be too busy to finish it by next week.
Congratulations as well.

--
Thank you,



"Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor
man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard." Ecclesiastes 9:16