Hello, I unfortunately discovered a leak behind the sink in one of my
bathrooms the other day. The water has had time to soak the floor where it
couldn't be seen and also flow to an adjacent bedroom under an interior wall.
Black mould has grown on the floor of both rooms up to a couple of feet from
where the leak occurred. I'm now letting the floorboards dry out and have had
a go at removing the mould using bleach, vinegar and a mould remover product.
However, I've managed to get rid of half of it at best so far, and the black
stain seems to go beneath the surface of the wooden boards (which look to be
made of chipboard, and they still seem structurally strong). Additionally, the
mould in the bathroom is in difficult-to-reach places - inside a wooden
enclosure for the pipes behind the sink and between the bathtub and the wall.
I think removing it fully will require taking all of this apart.

I was wondering how necessary is it to remove all of the mould? Would it be
sufficient to dry out the affected areas so that the mould would become
inactive? We only use the bathroom in question for toileting and using the
sink, so it doesn't get very humid and has never required any effort to keep
mould at bay before.

Also, should I be concerned about the wall between the bathroom and bedroom? I
can see signs of water ingress reaching just above the skirting board in the
bedroom.

Thanks in advance for any help.

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/uk-diy...k-1281648-.htm

On 16/04/18 14:44, Pagw wrote:
Hello, I unfortunately discovered a leak behind the sink in one of my
bathrooms the other day. The water has had time to soak the floor where it
couldn't be seen and also flow to an adjacent bedroom under an interior
wall.
Black mould has grown on the floor of both rooms up to a couple of feet
from
where the leak occurred. I'm now letting the floorboards dry out and
have had
a go at removing the mould using bleach, vinegar and a mould remover
product.
However, I've managed to get rid of half of it at best so far, and the
black
stain seems to go beneath the surface of the wooden boards (which look
to be
made of chipboard, and they still seem structurally strong).
Additionally, the
mould in the bathroom is in difficult-to-reach places - inside a wooden
enclosure for the pipes behind the sink and between the bathtub and the
wall.
I think removing it fully will require taking all of this apart.

I was wondering how necessary is it to remove all of the mould? Would it be
sufficient to dry out the affected areas so that the mould would become
inactive? We only use the bathroom in question for toileting and using the
sink, so it doesn't get very humid and has never required any effort to
keep
mould at bay before.

Also, should I be concerned about the wall between the bathroom and
bedroom? I
can see signs of water ingress reaching just above the skirting board in
the
bedroom.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Once dry the mould will stop. Bleach is very good to remove staining effect

Then preferably once all dry paint chip with some sealer or other just
in case it stains carpet above



--
€œIt is hard to imagine a more stupid decision or more dangerous way of
making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people
who pay no price for being wrong.€�

Thomas Sowell

I'd be a bit wary about the spores though, some people are allergic to this.
You have I think to at least attempt to make sure its dead.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Pagw" m wrote in message
...
Hello, I unfortunately discovered a leak behind the sink in one of my
bathrooms the other day. The water has had time to soak the floor where it
couldn't be seen and also flow to an adjacent bedroom under an interior
wall.
Black mould has grown on the floor of both rooms up to a couple of feet
from
where the leak occurred. I'm now letting the floorboards dry out and have
had
a go at removing the mould using bleach, vinegar and a mould remover
product.
However, I've managed to get rid of half of it at best so far, and the
black
stain seems to go beneath the surface of the wooden boards (which look to
be
made of chipboard, and they still seem structurally strong). Additionally,
the
mould in the bathroom is in difficult-to-reach places - inside a wooden
enclosure for the pipes behind the sink and between the bathtub and the
wall.
I think removing it fully will require taking all of this apart.

I was wondering how necessary is it to remove all of the mould? Would it
be
sufficient to dry out the affected areas so that the mould would become
inactive? We only use the bathroom in question for toileting and using the
sink, so it doesn't get very humid and has never required any effort to
keep
mould at bay before.

Also, should I be concerned about the wall between the bathroom and
bedroom? I
can see signs of water ingress reaching just above the skirting board in
the
bedroom.
Thanks in advance for any help.

--
for full context, visit
https://www.homeownershub.com/uk-diy...k-1281648-.htm

On Monday, 16 April 2018 14:44:05 UTC+1, Pagw wrote:

Hello, I unfortunately discovered a leak behind the sink in one of my
bathrooms the other day. The water has had time to soak the floor where it
couldn't be seen and also flow to an adjacent bedroom under an interior wall.
Black mould has grown on the floor of both rooms up to a couple of feet from
where the leak occurred. I'm now letting the floorboards dry out and have had
a go at removing the mould using bleach, vinegar and a mould remover product.
However, I've managed to get rid of half of it at best so far, and the black
stain seems to go beneath the surface of the wooden boards (which look to be
made of chipboard, and they still seem structurally strong). Additionally, the
mould in the bathroom is in difficult-to-reach places - inside a wooden
enclosure for the pipes behind the sink and between the bathtub and the wall.
I think removing it fully will require taking all of this apart.

I was wondering how necessary is it to remove all of the mould? Would it be
sufficient to dry out the affected areas so that the mould would become
inactive? We only use the bathroom in question for toileting and using the
sink, so it doesn't get very humid and has never required any effort to keep
mould at bay before.

Also, should I be concerned about the wall between the bathroom and bedroom? I
can see signs of water ingress reaching just above the skirting board in the
bedroom.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Black mould is too toxic for it to be a good idea to leave it there. Bleach is the stuff to use. Apply & leave. Repeat daily until it's gone, which will take several goes. Doing this on chipboard may ruin it though. Many people remove all mouldered material & make good on grounds of toxicity.


NT

replying to tabbypurr, Pagw wrote:
Thanks for the reply. I've read that bleach is not effective for treating
mould beneath the surface of wood because it doesn't penetrate. Have you seen
bleach solve a problem like this before? I also wonder if another fungicidal
substance would be able to penetrate - vinegar can apparently, but I feel like
something stronger would be better. Any ideas?

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/uk-diy...k-1281648-.htm

On Tuesday, 17 April 2018 13:14:05 UTC+1, Pagw wrote:
replying to tabbypurr, Pagw wrote:

Thanks for the reply. I've read that bleach is not effective for treating
mould beneath the surface of wood because it doesn't penetrate. Have you seen
bleach solve a problem like this before? I also wonder if another fungicidal
substance would be able to penetrate - vinegar can apparently, but I feel like
something stronger would be better. Any ideas?

Just about nothing is going to peentrate the wood surface to much extent. There isn't anything stronger than bleach unless you start looking at immediately destructive chemicals like hot caustic or strong acids. This is why I mentioned that it's common to remove all infected material.


NT

On Tuesday, 17 April 2018 13:14:05 UTC+1, Pagw wrote:
replying to tabbypurr, Pagw wrote:
Thanks for the reply. I've read that bleach is not effective for treating
mould beneath the surface of wood because it doesn't penetrate. Have you seen
bleach solve a problem like this before? I also wonder if another fungicidal
substance would be able to penetrate - vinegar can apparently, but I feel like
something stronger would be better. Any ideas?

PS I'd recommend using a saner portal to get here. Here being news:uk.d-i-y.


NT

On Tue, 17 Apr 2018 12:14:02 GMT, Pagw
m wrote:

Thanks for the reply. I've read that bleach is not effective for treating
mould beneath the surface of wood because it doesn't penetrate. Have you seen
bleach solve a problem like this before? I also wonder if another fungicidal
substance would be able to penetrate - vinegar can apparently, but I feel like
something stronger would be better. Any ideas?

I'd be extremely wary of applying both bleach and vinegar to the same absorbent
surface. Nasty reactions may occur.

Also, you are in turn applying an acid and a base. Either might kill the mold,
but using both will neutralize each other.


Thomas Prufer

On 17/04/2018 13:14, Pagw wrote:
I also wonder if another fungicidal
substance would be able to penetrate - vinegar can apparently, but I
feel like something stronger would be better. Any ideas?

I imagine a lot of moulds will quite happily eat acetic acid. Stay with
the bleach, or a commercial mould remover.

Andy