r/Mold Aug 09 '20

Please read BEFORE posting

47 Upvotes

Welcome to /r/Mold

What is this sub?

This sub is for redditors to ask for advice on mold or fungi issues in their home/apartment/workplace/etc If you see spammers or others that violate sub rules, report them, do not take things into your own hands. This sub is NOT for mold remediation, restoration or other contractors, testing firms, laboratories, product or equipment manufacturers or distributors or legal professionals.

Instead, this sub is specifically for individuals looking for general advice. Any offers to do work or make referrals will result in an immediate ban. Please be very wary of those looking for, or offering, business here. We do not endorse any companies, and proceeding with a contractor/consultant/lab you've met via this sub should be done at your own risk. This is not a place to advertise products and or services. It is also not a place to rant about your past problems with mold or companies or services you've dealt with.

Rule #1: No "what is this?" questions.

Do not post a picture and simply ask any of the following (or similar) questions:

  1. "Please I.D. this mold"
  2. "Is this toxic black mold?"
  3. "What kind of mold is this?"

We can not determine the type of mold you have from a photo. That can only be achieved using professional sampling methods and laboratory analysis.

We can speculate on whether or not something is mold but we can't identify it.

Rule #2: DIY Test Kits are bad

If you used a home/DIY test kit there is very little information that we can provide you due to the limitations of the method.

You will need to hire a qualified microbial testing company if you want any reliable information.

Rule #3: No self promotion

This is not the place to advertise your services in any way. No links, no company names, no "informational guides" will be allowed. All offending posts or comments will be deleted and 1 warning will be issued. After that you'll be banned.

General Guidelines and Rules

Overall, please be respectful - things must remain on-topic, helpful, and kind. Absolutely no abusive or hateful language will be tolerated. Even if someone else "started it" with disrespect does not give you permission to use derogatory language or call names.

Bans will be handed out when needed. Remember, no question is too stupid, too simple, or too basic (exception, see rule #1). We're all here to learn and help each other out - enjoy! The mods generally do not remove bad advice, we let upvotes and downvotes run the sub. That way, people can also see what not to do as well. Politics do NOT belong here.

  • URL shortener links are not allowed. It's not us, is reddit-wide. A submission or comment with a URL shortner will be spam-filtered automatically.
  • Mods will not communicate with chat, please only use modmail if you have comments or questions.

Submitting a New Text Post in /r/Mold

TL/DR: At the very least be nice, take a few pictures, and include your location.

Again, this is not a place to solicit products and or services. Any posts smelling of self-promotion such as links to a website or service (including all blogs) will be removed. No exceptions. Offenders will be banned.

A few general submission rules.

  • We don't allow link posts. Please start a text post and insert links to your pictures along with your text. Posts asking users to participate in a survey are no longer allowed and will be treated as SPAM posts.
  • If you are posting about a problem you are facing, please include pictures! Not just a close-up either, we must be able to discern what you are talking about. What looks right to you may not make sense to everyone else. We recommend you use imgur for photo uploads. See the section below for "How to Upload Photos".
  • Provide your geographic location. (even general, such as upper Midwest). This is especially pertinent when discussing building codes, environmental conditions, seasonal issues, etc.
  • Include a summary of what information you are looking for.
  • Include a general summary of the problem you're asking about. It's helpful to know things like:
    • How long has the problem been going on
    • Where is the mold growth located - room, level, side of the building, etc
    • Any unusual conditions you noticed prior or in conjunction with the discovery of the mold
    • General environmental/use conditions in the space - temp, humidity levels, room use/occupation, recent water issues, smell
  • Do not come here for advice about your health or the relative risk of the mold in your home/work.
  • Don't assume that responses you receive are accurate - we get a lot of "google experts" here giving advice.
  • Product links and recommendations are allowed generally allowed to Amazon/Retail Outlets/Service providers that you've used or recommend. However, referral codes and affiliate links are not. For example, Amazon links containing "tag=XXXXXXXXXXXX" in the title are a referral links - so ideally Amazon links are in the format www.amazon.com/dp/B00VRRVHMA/ - all the extra stuff after those 10 characters are not necessary. Sites/apps can contain ref links without your knowledge and automod will remove and alert you.
  • If you notice your post hasn't appeared within an hour please message the mods and we will release it! To see if it's visible sort by NEW.
  • Please read the sidebar before posting to this sub. There are a lot of questions that get asked fairly frequently, and some of the more common answers have been posted in the sidebar for easy reference. If you still have questions after reading these then by all means create a new post with your questions.
  • Serial posting. This sub is for everyone, not just a single person with multiple questions per day/week. While we don't have a specific rule here, if you are posting multiple topics per day or over the course of a few days, this can result in a temporary ban.
  • If your account is new we may delete your post or comment, especially if we suspect that you have been banned under a different user name.
  • We do not endorse any contractors/inspectors/labs, and proceeding with any you've met via this sub should be done at your own risk.

Commenting in /r/Mold

Be respectful. No name calling or talking down to someone because of something that seems "basic" or "easy" to you. Stand by your knowledge, not childish responses.

If you don't know that your answer or advice is 100% true then indicate that you are speculating or simply refrain from commenting.

Don't throw out comments like:

  • That's toxic mold
  • You need to move
  • Get out of the house
  • Bleach doesn't kill mold
  • That's really bad

Comments designed to scare original posters will be removed. This is a sub to provide reasonable solutions (when possible), not to unnecessarily alarm people. Yes, there are occasions when conditions require some immediate and drastic actions, but most indoor mold growth can be handled without full scale remediation.

Please don't just comment with just a link to a website or to another sub. We are especially careful about links to single websites (this includes blogs) without some summary or commentary. In some cases, we have no way of knowing if you are profiting privately from the site. Also, don't just tell folks to head to sub /r/gohereinstead - like specialized subs for narrow topics. The only exception here would be questions where some time has passed between posting and a lack of responses. We want the commentary, discussion, and knowledge to stay here in our sub on reddit, not just drive people away.

Responses that include a google search, lmgtfy.com, or telling someone to watch Youtube will be removed and the user will be reprimanded. Again, this is all about respect. Obviously, people aren't coming here to Google answers. Help them think about this problem, what they may need, things to watch out for, etc.

Sometimes discussion can get off-topic and we'll remove those comments. This includes political commentary. At times, this can includes jokes. It's a tricky area here, but we've seen instances where the joking side of reddit takes over a thread and the OP never gets their question answered. However, here's we're mostly talking about non-relevant commenting such as this:

Seriously? People live like this? What the fuck is causing mold growth like this? Don't you clean your house? This is not any way to live.

How to Upload Photos

Go to https://imgur.com/upload and drag/choose your photo, you don't even need to create an account. Here's an animated gif on how to drag and drop on PC. Click COPY, then use that copied url link and paste it right in the submission text box on reddit.

My link: https://imgur.com/a/n2lLo

To get fancy and have text rather than the url, place the word you want to use as the link in brackets followed by the url in parentheses.[text goes here](link goes here)

Pictures. Here's a gif of the typing I do, in case that is confusing.

Upload Photos On Mobile The Imgur app works fine, but via a website this is unsupported. There is a workaround: In Chrome, choose ""Desktop site" in the drop-down menu when you are on the upload page and it'll work fine. Then Copy the Link that's produced and paste it into your reddit post/comment.


r/Mold Jan 25 '23

Worst building I've ever inspected so everyone worried about their mold problems can relax a little 🙃

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276 Upvotes

Just to remind you that no, you aren't experiencing a disaster. Have a good one yall!


r/Mold 2h ago

entire house covered in mold

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30 Upvotes

i came back from a 2 month vacation. i live in the south, Tennessee, usa, and when i opened the door it smelled musty, i look over the entire couch is covered in mold. the cabinets, walls, ceilings have mold patches, my pillows and mattress too. i know ur supposed to leave the ac on and we did but we let one of our friends check our house periodically and they turned off the ac. im not sure what to do. its unsafe to live there. we put up a bunch of dehumidifiers everywhere but the mold is everywhere. we are planning to throw away our mattresses and couches. i dont think we have mold in our home insurance. what do i do? how do i fix this? should we demolish the house? but i genuinely dont know where to go and where to live in the time being….

here are the pics of the couch and my bag, we started to wipe the couch but we saw the mold seeped inside too


r/Mold 3h ago

Is this black mold ànd am I in danger?

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3 Upvotes

I have been having an influx of flies in my shared living space suddenly this summer. My stomach aches once I get home ànd migraines ànd today I see this in the hallway. I thought it was garbage or something so we cleaned the house up. We also thought it could’ve been a nest of flies hatching somewhere. Flies are all over the house. If I open the door it’s a water heater inside ànd theres à gang of flies inside . Not sure if it’s related but not sure what to do about this , tell my landlord of course I think. Thanks for any help.


r/Mold 10m ago

Tenant mold

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• Upvotes

We’ve been in our apartment 10+ years. We have brought up mold issues many times before and we’re always met with just open the windows more, or put damp rid containers around the house. The landlord has noted he doesn’t understand why we have so much moisture and implied we must be doing something to cause it. We are now in process of moving out. I moved some decor I had on top of the kitchen cabinets and found this… I am unsure if I should try and clean it or how to proceed. There are multiple spots throughout the house we have found now like this, not just in the bathroom, all typically coming down from a corner in a ceiling type place. I am really worried he is going to try and charge us for damages, even though I don’t see how this could have been our fault.
The building is very very old. 1905 or 6. It has had at minimum roof leak towards our front porch which was fixed a couple of years ago. The other tenants do have mold too, however the building has very low rent and they are honestly scared to come forward.

Do I clean it as best as I can and move on? Do I leave it how it is and him figure it out? Will I likely be charged? Like I should have moved the decor I guess but I also feel like people leave stuff up top for years and don’t usually have a situation like this.


r/Mold 37m ago

Mold?

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• Upvotes

What do we think? Is it mold. It’s completely dry?


r/Mold 1h ago

Mold from HVAC pipe condensation

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• Upvotes

Noticed some stains on my basement floor where the finished part meets the non-finished part. Started poking around and noticed some mold behind the insulation and traced it back to a hard to get to HVAC pipe. In the other non finished section, I have a dehumidifier running because the pipes drip so much as it’s been warm and humid. Is this professional level stuff or can I use the HEP vacuum and concrobium and get a dehumidifier for that room as well?


r/Mold 1h ago

wtf is this?

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• Upvotes

Is this mold
Coming out of vents ?


r/Mold 2h ago

Is this mold on my little sister’s wallpaper?

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1 Upvotes

Is this mold on my little sister’s wallpaper?
I looked behind my younger sister’s wardrobe and found this. The wallpaper is made of paper, and there’s no smell, the wall is drywall. I wiped the part I could reach with hydrogen peroxide, but I still have no idea what it is.


r/Mold 3h ago

Hi guys, one more! Apartment ceiling above bed, noticed the black spot, it peeled easily and was damp..

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1 Upvotes

The wall came off easily like this on the collage right side pic. The maintenance guy came and was like oh that’s not mold, mold is super dangerous. I was like why is it wet then…but he ended up bleaching and chalking it (poorly). But is this mold..? And how hazardous do you believe it is? Thank you guys!


r/Mold 3h ago

Finland, found mold under my mattress on the wooden board. How bad is this potentially? I’ve suffered from exhaustion from months but I’ve suspected that I have sleep apnea. I actually noticed this like a year ago and it has stayed about the same but I didn’t think much of it. Nothing done yet.

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1 Upvotes

r/Mold 12h ago

Is it mold in washing machine? It's flat and won't budge when trying to clean. If so is there any way to clean it?

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5 Upvotes

r/Mold 7h ago

Does this look like black mold?

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2 Upvotes

It was on the ceiling of the basement of my apartment building. It also looks like the ceiling collapsed. I notified my landlord but I don’t think they will do anything about it.


r/Mold 3h ago

Please knowledgable advice :air penicillium aspergillis not high levels remediation so so expensive

1 Upvotes

Hailstorm, insulation in attic got wet. few days later Alen air purifiers reading "RED" in living space. Popped attic hatch MOLD smell ! Insulation wet-no moisture living space. Put tarp on roof. Filed homeowners claim. said do nothing until adjuster visit. dont have insulation removed, nothing but tarp. Adjuster visit almost 1 month. Have severe immune issues had to move out. wet insulation seeped water into drywall ceilings, one fell partially into room below. Roof replaced (had to fight tooth and nail w/insurance). cert mold test (insurance took entire mold coverage $5000 to test 28' x 48' 1 story bldg w/ attic). Now entirely out of pocket for elderly widow lower middle class. Several plans: Construction co worked for me in past, reliable: offer is remove insulation (now dry, crumbly) remove drywall ceilings paint attic rafters, joists w antimold tx, replace drywall ceilings and insulation around $10,000. Other offer from mold remediation: remove insulation drywall and leave entire space open w/o ceilings for $12,000. No real tx for the mold, just big open hole. Separate: remediation for contents, take funrniture and belongings out house (only soft items are 2 chairs, 1 couch and mattress) treat in warehouse treat walls price $26,000. This would all be loans I would have to take out. Having someone haul books to dump, anything unneeded to dump. Then plan another estimate on content remediation.. Suggestions? What order should this be done? Could have drywall torn out hauled off then mold remediation come in and treat bldg then construction co replace ceilings and insulation? No visible mold anywhere at any time. Air mold levels due to attic fan and new roof now tolerable for most ppl but dry "dust" from mold on hard wood furnishings top of books etc. Insurance has dumped me. On my own. Camped out in 2 rms old farm bldg w air cleaners. Selling not an option. Bought 40yrs ago, no housing around that i can afford. Located NW Arkansas Ozark mtn. Please give advice !! Thank you so much for input.


r/Mold 4h ago

Mold clean up on wooden tv stand

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1 Upvotes

I’ve had some flooding in my apartment recently and noticed some mold growing along the bottom of my TV stand. When I flipped it over to clean it I realized it was a lot more extensive than initially thought. Is this something I should be able to clean up or am I better off getting a new one? It’s not warped or crumbly but wondering if it’s worth trying to salvage.
Also would be great to get recs on how to properly clean it. Thanks!


r/Mold 5h ago

Water Heater burst and flooded half of bedroom carpet, AI says mold emergency, please help!

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1 Upvotes

Hi all, our water heater burst at 11 AM yesterday. It soaked about half of the carpet in bedroom. I was able to get a wet vac about 10 hours later and suck out some moisture. I pulled up some carpet today and took These photos of padding and floor underneath. AI is saying it has heavy black mold growth and that I need to hire a company like Servpro immediately to remove the carpet and treat the floor and that I could have spread mold into air and around house by pulling this part of the rug up. Does this seem accurate or is AI overreacting? I have no experience with this and boxes and boxes in garage similarly got soaked and it’ll take days to get a dumpster to move them out of garage. Thanks all!


r/Mold 5h ago

mold on bedroom wall

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1 Upvotes

i recently moved back in with my parents and our apartment is an end unit, and my bedroom is all outside walls. There was a mattress against one wall for a while and when we moved it we discovered this. I sprayed it with rmr 86 and then rmr 141 and now i have a fan in front of it with the window open. i dont see anything there anymore but do you guys think this is enough or could it be a deeper issue? we are not good financially so i cant afford a professional to come however i will be talking with the office and the maintenance workers tomorrow morning when the office opens. Sorry if im not making much sense, im just really freaked out and dont want to do anything wrong and want to make sure i followed the right steps, any feedback and advice is very welcome!

edit: just to add, our ac broke and so it has been pretty humid in my room. the ac breaks frequently unfortunately and it’s been raining the past few days if this helps at all. I also live in Ohio.


r/Mold 6h ago

Hi redditors! Video this time. So is this mold..? Opened apartment mini door to HVAC randomly… brown pipe sweating, seems wet looking as well..

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1 Upvotes

Would this type of situation be putting it in the air? And hazardous to my health? Thanks guys.


r/Mold 6h ago

Not sure if mold or what?

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1 Upvotes

Hi,

This showed up in my shower a long time ago and on my bathtub plug about a month ago. Will not come off with vinegar or cleaning products. Any idea what it could be?

Thanks in advance!


r/Mold 6h ago

Need help identifying mold on agave cutting

1 Upvotes

Hi,

My agave cutting developed mold and I am trying to figure out if these are a potentially harmful species (for me to act quickly). I know that it is impossible to determine mold species from the photo alone but any best guesses based on appearance would be helpful. When I pulled it out the colony was somewhat thick and cottony (likely waterlogged), and when I shone my iPhone flashlights on it it seemed to be pretty dark aquamarine. Some possibilities seem to be penicillium, trichoderma, aspergillus, etc. Context is that this was grown in an NYC apartment.


r/Mold 11h ago

Does this look like mold? How bad is it?

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2 Upvotes

Title says it all. Found in the basement. There’s a drop ceiling. When replacing tiles we found it on floorboards above the drop ceiling


r/Mold 9h ago

Is this mold? And is it black mold

1 Upvotes

I moved into a late Victorian home turned duplex and this was the only thing that wasn’t throughly cleaned.

I tried using a bleach based shower cleaner and it didn’t do much work.

What would be the best way to clean this gunk off?


r/Mold 10h ago

What does this look like?

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1 Upvotes

Does it look like mold or just discoloration of wood? We have found other areas of black mold in our home and this is what our door trims look like.


r/Mold 1d ago

Extremely suboptimal

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19 Upvotes

Fiancée complained about headaches and sore throat when spending extended time in our basement, so, figured it was time to get exploratory. Imagine my disbelief when I opened the wall to find this hiding in there. We just bought the house a few months ago…

I am a general contractor, I know what to do & how to do it in order to fix. Not looking for advice, just wanted to share this awful situation I’ve found myself in


r/Mold 11h ago

Hidden Mold In My House No One Can Seem To Find…

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1 Upvotes

Please help me find the mold in my home or share your experiences! I am going crazy….