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Flooded Basement Causes Black Mold Problem
Also visit: Basement Mold

         Q.  I have a damp basement. There is no mold present on the walls/floor etc. Once in a while, there will be mold sometimes on a cardboard box. This does not occur on all boxes, though. When my son who is 11 goes down there, his eyes get red and itchy and he sneezes. Is there something I can do to find out the culprit? We do have carpet in the basement. The basement is damp and we do have a dehumidifier. [Nov. 22, 2004]
        A. A damp basement provides plenty of moisture for mold to grow well in your basement. Basement mold can easily grow into the floors and walls above. In addition, airborne mold spores from the basement mold can travel in air currents to mold cross contaminate your entire house and its heating/cooling system. Your first step is to mold test the air of the basement, each room above, the attic, garage, and the outward air flow from each heating/cooling duct register for the possible presence of elevated levels of airborne mold spores, in comparison to an outdoor mold control test. Use do it yourself mold test kits from a large hardware, home improvement, or safety store, or hire a Certified Mold Inspector. Learn the 25 recommended steps for safe and effective mold abatement and mold remediation. Become your own effective mold expert to improve your personal home or apartment environmental safety and/or the environmental health of your investment properties by reading all three of our mold advice, email delivered books [Mold Health Guide, $15; Mold Legal Guide, $15; and Do-It-Best-Yourself Mold Prevention, Inspection, & Remediation, $15].

       Q.  I had to relocate the incoming water pipe  two years ago. At the time, the basement wall leaked only when sustained downpours occurred, and quite frankly, they are rare. In fact, I have had boxes of odds and ends stored in the basement area for several years prior to the water pipe relocation. The problem is, now that the pipe has been relocated to the west basement wall, I have discovered that water is infiltrating the basement, some through the crawl space, and some directly through the wall. It doesn't happen all the time, but newfound evidence indicates that when it does happen, that it has soaked into the boxes and much of the odds and ends in the boxes. I discovered this earlier this spring when I started cleaning the basement out (to have a yard sale). Several weeks ago I made a concerted attempt at ridding the basement of the affected, obviously once wet materials, and for my effort I ended up with little sores on the back of my hand that when popped (they itched like nothing else), they then bled, scabbed over, and healed. After they disappeared, I again attempted to clean the basement, only I went into the job intent on removing everything from the area. The sores haven't returned, but now my wife is suffering a systemic itching--at first (two weeks ago) a rash appeared all over her and the doctor put her on corticosteroids. The itching went away. This last weekend I again went downstairs to tackle the cleaning--broom in hand. Now my wife is itching again--no rash--but itching much more intense than before. Now I fear that working in the basement has stirred up some bad buggies caused by the wetting of the basement since the water pipe relocation. I'm actually considering  tossing everything coming out of the basement and hiring somebody to complete the cleaning before calling an inspector--but I'm still concerned that the itching currently driving my wife crazy could be caused by the basements damp condition, however, there is no mention (among symptoms) of itching being among them, although a rash is possible. Your opinion please, and I apologize for the long-winded story leading up to the nitty-gritty. [May 11, 2004]
          A. Your family's serious mold-like health symptoms and the existence of both a wet crawl space and a wet basement mean you are going to have a large scale mold infestation in your home. Mold in basements and crawl spaces can easily grow into the floors and walls above. In addition, airborne mold spores from both areas can travel in air current movements to mold cross-contaminate your entire house and its heating/cooling equipment and ducts.  For these reasons, your wise action is total mold testing of your home with do it yourself mold test kits from a large hardware or home improvement store. Your first mold investigative step is to use do it yourself mold test kits [self observation of results over a 5 to 7 day time period, or send in for mold lab analysis] to mold test the air of each room, attic, basement, crawl space, and the outward air flow from each heating/cooling duct register for the possible presence of elevated levels of airborne mold spores, in comparison to an outdoor mold control test which you should also do. If you see any visible mold growth, from each moldy area, scrape some of the mold particles into a separate mold test kit per testing location for observation over a 5 to 7 day time period, and/or for mold lab analysis. When scraping mold into a test kit, you would be wise to use a breathing air respirator [Home Depot or Lowe’s or a safety store] so that you don’t breathe in extra mold spores that you put into the air by scraping some mold-like substances into each mold test kit.   The mold test kits come with detailed use instructions to make your tests informative and helpful in mold problem diagnosis. You can also read online our copyrighted form “Meaning of Mold Test Results.”  Use do it yourself mold test kits from a large hardware, home improvement, or safety store. You may have to do expensive [digging out the dirt] on the outside of your basement walls to adequately waterproof the wet basement wall[s]. Alternatively, you can build a 3 inch thick concrete liner [full of waterproofing compound] just inside your present basement walls and above the present floor to make your basement waterproof. Your crawl space [once mold remediated] should have a concrete floor [with adequate waterproofing compound] to stop water from rising out of the ground to cause high humidity and mold growth on crawl space wood. You may also have to install in the crawl space an exhaust fan that turns on when a certain temperature OR a certain humidity level [e.g., 50%] is reached inside the crawl space. Learn the steps required for safe and effective mold abatement and mold remediation.

      Q. I think I have found black mold in our basement shower. I don't want to turn a claim into our insurance company because I fear it will cause our insurance price to raise. Our basement has flooded a couple of times in the past few years. I've been using bleach to take off the mold. Is this sufficient?  I've been reading some of the stories on your Q&A section and we have also had to snake our drains once a year for the past several years. We have many old trees around our house and my husband says the roots are the problem but should I be concerned about mold there as well? The shower is concrete slab and the bleach is slowly removing it. I'm also removing mold from the basement ceiling  and removing carpet that it was under. Is this something I can continue on my own using bleach and thoroughly cleaning or would it be best handled professionally? June 30, 2003

       A. Bleach is too weak to be an effective mold killer. Learn why bleach is ineffective for killing mold on porous surfaces like building materials, please visit: Bleach and Mold. Learn the 25 steps for safe and effective mold remediation.  Even more important to you is to find the water source that enables mold to grow in your basement. You cannot continue to have basement floods if you want to rid your home of mold. Stopping water problems must be your number one mold remediation step!  You also need to remove all visible mold in accordance with the precise steps recommended at Mold Abatement and Mold Remediation. You also need to inspect and mold test the rooms above the basement, your attic, and your heating and cooling equipment and ducts for the possible presence of elevated levels of airborne mold spores, which, if present, would be a sure sign of a serious mold infestation problem. With as much flooding and mold growth as your house has experienced in the basement, your upstairs is possibly mold-contaminated through cross-contamination by airborne mold spores.

Basement mold growing on the floor and walls.


Basement mold growth.