SteveBell wrote:
MikeB wrote:


Right, I live in North Texas (DFW area) in a house that was built in
1983.

Today my wife noticed some black spots on a kitchen cabinet shelf.
Upon further investigation, the deepest, most unreachable part of
those shelves were black with mold. Since these shelves are right next
to the dishwasher, I next looked under the dishwasher and my worst
fears were true. There must be a slow or small leak somewhere in the
dishwasher plumbing, since there was a lake of water under there. This
water never seeped onto the floor, since the tiles on the floor seem
to form a small barrier that allows the water to spread under the
cupboards, but there never was enough water to complete fill that
hollow and spread over onto the floor.

So now I have several questions.

Can spraying bleach cure this or am I looking at replacing (at best)
the shelves that seem to be some form of particle board or 9at worst)
the entire set of kitchen cabinets?

My guess is that you have mold under and behind the cabinets that you
haven't seen yet.

Bleach alone is not effective. It will in all likelihood kill the mold
on the surface, but there will be viable spores left in the wood. There
are much better biocides available. Look at the links below.

http://www.zinsser.com/product_detail.asp?ProductID=149
http://www.zinsser.com/product_detail.asp?ProductID=149

It's been a while since I lived in Dallas, but I'd expect that good
hardware stores like Elliott's or Turner's in Carrollton would have
these or could get them for you.

I'd dry the area out and keep it dry. I had similar problems in Dallas
and chose to not resort to heroic measures like replacing cabinets, etc.
If you keep it dry it will be dormant. If someone is truly impacted
by the mold you may want to do more, but fungus of some sort will exist
no matter what you do.

If you start cutting wood or removing cabinets that are contaminated
with mold wear a respirator with a good HEPA filter, a mask alone is not
sufficient. I made that mistake and ended up with a fungus infection
in my lungs...not fun. I had a termite infestation that provided a
place for aspergillous niger to thrive, until they found my lungs.


How the heck do I get the dishwasher out of there and how do I look
under the dishwasher to find the leaking plumbing? All my tugging on
the dishwasher doesn't seem to move it and I'm afraid I might twist or
break something (nothing feels very strong) if I pull too hard.

Frequently there are tabs at the top front of the dishwasher that are
screwed to the underside of the counter to keep it from falling forward
when opened. Open the door and look up under the counter, or with
granite counters look at each side of the dishwasher at the top. If the
vertical fit is tight and someone tiled in front of the dishwasher you
have a big problem. You may be able to screw the height adjusting feet
up a bit to get some clearance. I've just replaced both of the
dishwashers in our home and found them to be so different that I'd
suggest you try to locate the installation instructions for yours. Many
of them are on the manufacturer's web site, both of mine were.


For those familiar with the mold issues a few years back here in North
Texas, I guess I'm SOL as far as my insurance picking up a part of the
tab? I'll call my agent tomorrow, but I thought I'd ask here in case
someone has some experience.

Mold remediation as I recall has been excluded, however fixing the
plumbing leak shouldn't be. If this requires removing tiles you may
still want to re-read your policy, I think that portion of this exercise
is covered.

Good luck.