Hi.  We just recently, we came home from a weekend away and found some mold in our bedroom closet, pantry, and outside of the refrigerator. We do not have central air and while were gone, we left the window units off and it must have gotten really humid and stagnant  in the house, providing the perfect enviornment for this mold to grow (esp in the dark closets).

Over the past week, we have been throwing away all the contaminated items we have found and bleaching the walls and areas of the house where we find it (which thanks to your site I now know is not the proper thing to do). Last night, we found some growing under the countertops in the kitchen and on the bathroom doors. We are extremely concerned that this mold has spread  everywhere as we keep on finding it in new places and are not sure what to do next. I'm hoping since it has just happened and we started cleaning it right away, that it has not been able to get into the pores of the counters, drywall, etc. yet.

If we keep the air conditioners running, and maybe buy a dehumidier or two to take some of the humidity out of the air, will this "starve" the mold to death, and kill what has started to grow, or do we need to gut the house and replace everything, or even get rid of the house all together? We are also concerned that if we hire a professional to help us get rid of the problem,  that we will never be able to sell the house if people knew about it (as we would probably have to disclose this, right?).

 We have a one year old daughter, and are also concerned about the health risks of her being in the house while we try to resolve the issue.  Needless to say, we are overwhelmed with how to deal with this problem, and hear horror stories of people losing their homes to mold since alot of times insurance will not cover this type of loss. Any guidance you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

RESPONSE :::

The newly found mold spots might be new or might not - only your memory can identify that part of it. Can you remember seeing it there before? It may have been there for some time, or it may be that you're right about it taking hold while you were gone.

It is important to take the first step of controlling the moisture in the house. Try to find a "hygrometer" at Home Depot or other retail outlet so you can keep track of the relative humidity issue - you want to keep it below 50% RH. The idea of getting one or two dehumidifiers is a good one (depending on the size of your home) - look for one you can attach a hose to so you don't have to empty it all the time and it will run when you need it to and one that will indicate current humidity level and the level you wish to attain. It would be prudent to look for other sources as well, such as wet basement walls or other intrusion source beyond just relative humidity.

Anything porous surface with active mold (you can see the developing colony) may have to be discarded, but hard surfaces and clothing can be cleaned with products such as: "Twenty Mule Team Borax", which has a high Borax content (Borax has mold killing properties - may or may not be quite as good as professional killer, but it's also not a caustic chemical like Bleach, either).

In case the moisture has been around longer than you might think, it would be a good idea to check the attic for mold on the underside of the roof, as it is a definite structural issue.

I would recommend a fully certified professional (not necessarily a CIH - sometimes they want to take a ton of tests just for information sake and that can get pretty expensive). However, there are standards, such as IESO,  that should be adhered to for useable results. Although national guidelines do not require testing (just remediation), I feel it is important to know what the potential health risk might be for the mold that I'm dealing with.

It's kind of like reaching into a box of snakes...you want to know if you're dealing with a garter snake or a rattle snake.

I'm not a lawyer, but I'm fairly sure that you are already in a position where you would need to disclose to protect yourself from future litigation.

QUESTION :::

How do we know mold is here?  I have no symptoms in my house but we have recently had a water flood. 

RESPONSE :::

The minimal testing that would give us enough data would be air sampling one per floor (basement, first, second) and one outside (control sample).

Unless the water was completely dry within 24-48 hours there is a good chance of mold growth. The sampling outlined would give the results needed to conclude if there is a problem or not.

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