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DLewisD
join:2014-05-22
Cleveland, OH

DLewisD

Member

Mold in basement behind paneling and in closets.

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I fear that all the knotty pine in our basement is hiding lots of mold. There has been water seeping into the basement for years, and most of the panelling is rotted at the bottom. I wonder if all the foundation is wrecked, since I really can't tell due to the panelling. I've always though that a little water in the basement was normal.

I must be the worst homeowner in existence.

All the panelling will have to be tossed; it's as old as the house probably (1938), 3/4 inch pine. The basement will not look the same without it. One of the inspectors warned me about the panelling when we were looking to buy the house; said it was bad the way it was constructed. The panelling even conceals some not-to-code wiring--that someone else put in, not me.

All mold will have to be removed. If the foundation is ruined, I'm will not know what to do. Abandon the house? We can't afford structural repair, or waterproofing either. There won't be any selling of this house in the condition it's in. And we still owe lots of money on it; much more than it's worth.

pende_tim
Premium Member
join:2004-01-04
Selbyville, DE

pende_tim

Premium Member

If the foundation walls are block and brick, you are fine.

Get the pine and anything else that is wood or paler and was exposed to the water out of there and to the dump. Scrub the walls with bleach and water and rinse. Use a wet dry vac to pickup water. Wear a mask as you probably don't want to be inhaling the exhaust from the wet dry vacuum.

The bigger problem is locating the source of the water. Proper grading along the foundation goes a long way as well as good downspouts leading away from the house.

Good luck.. All is not lost..
DLewisD
join:2014-05-22
Cleveland, OH

DLewisD

Member

Unfortunately, the concrete driveway angles toward the house, not away from it, at least the blocks right next to the house. I intend to see if they can be raised at the house side in order to drain away from the foundation.

Cho Baka
MVM
join:2000-11-23
there

Cho Baka

MVM

»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co ··· leveling

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
·Charter

nunya to DLewisD

MVM

to DLewisD
It's not the end of the world. The paneling is probably from the 50's-70's. A brick or block foundation is going to leak. I've rarely met one that doesn't.
The "mold" (which I'm failing to see), isn't the end of the world. There's a lot of hype about mold. I think most of the alleged symptoms of mold are dreamed up by hypochondriacs and lawyers. I'm very allergic to mold. But, it's not going to kill me - it makes me sneeze and my eyes water. Again, not the end of the world.
Shit-can the paneling. If you can keep the basement dry (seek a professional opinion), then maybe slap some walls back up in a few years.

DannyZ
Gentoo Fanboy
Premium Member
join:2003-01-29
united state

DannyZ

Premium Member

All molds have the ability to release mycotoxins. They are not continuously released, and also different molds release different mycotoxins, but they absolutely can be dangerous and downright deadly. In Kenya during 2004, mold contaminated food killed 125 and almost 200 more were sickened. That was certainly not dreamed up. Neither was the outbreak in India in the 70's that caused 400 cases with over 100 deaths.

Some mycotoxins are carcinogenic. Others can do crazy things to the immune system, which in an otherwise healthy adult most likely isn't going to be an issue (for example, it seems to make your system more sensitive, hence the allergic reaction). But for some, the reaction can be deadly.

I do agree there is a lot of hype about mold, but it can be extremely dangerous and should be taken seriously.
DLewisD
join:2014-05-22
Cleveland, OH

DLewisD to nunya

Member

to nunya
said by nunya:

It's not the end of the world. The paneling is probably from the 50's-70's. A brick or block foundation is going to leak. I've rarely met one that doesn't.
The "mold" (which I'm failing to see), isn't the end of the world.

The panelling is 3/4 inch T&G knotty pine planks. I suspect that it is original to the house, since it conceals the bottom part of our half bath at the side entryway. This is nice looking wood, except for where it is rotted at the bottom near the cement floor. The basement will look horrible without it. I've been working out of the basement for 17 years. I really don't want to lose the panelling. But, it's better than losing the whole house.

When I first moved in, the home inspector advised that I remove the bottom 4 or so inches to let the walls breathe, and replace those 4 inches with some sort of waterproof molding that could be offset to allow air flow. He advocated drilling holes near the top of the panels for airflow. He also pointed out that it was installed over horizontal furring strips, that would prevent air from flowing no matter what I did. I had every intention of doing that, but never got around to do so.

The interior of the closet was filled with dry-rotted wood shelves that had collapsed, and the walls were moldy. The photo is after I worked on cleaning the wall

Coma
Thanks Steve
Premium Member
join:2001-12-30
NirvanaLand

Coma

Premium Member


Is there a sump pump in this basement ?

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

1 recommendation

Jack_in_VA to DannyZ

Premium Member

to DannyZ
said by DannyZ:

All molds have the ability to release mycotoxins. They are not continuously released, and also different molds release different mycotoxins, but they absolutely can be dangerous and downright deadly. In Kenya during 2004, mold contaminated food killed 125 and almost 200 more were sickened. That was certainly not dreamed up. Neither was the outbreak in India in the 70's that caused 400 cases with over 100 deaths.

Some mycotoxins are carcinogenic. Others can do crazy things to the immune system, which in an otherwise healthy adult most likely isn't going to be an issue (for example, it seems to make your system more sensitive, hence the allergic reaction). But for some, the reaction can be deadly.

I do agree there is a lot of hype about mold, but it can be extremely dangerous and should be taken seriously.

This is not Kenya or or India. I haven't heard of any mold outbreaks here in the U.S. killing people and we definitely have mold here. As someone who has dealt with mold after Hurricane Isabel a little bleach does wonders.

There is a lot of uninformed hysteria driven by excessive hype by those with a stake in it.

The E
Please allow me to retort
Premium Member
join:2002-05-26
Burnaby, BC

The E to DLewisD

Premium Member

to DLewisD
With all due respect, who gives a damn about the pine if it's literally rotting away? Aesthetics be damned if you have water issues.
If your basement is moldy and the pine panels are rotting due to water infiltration, why not remove the pine so that you can get a better sense of what's happening and why? It's rotting - keeping it isn't doing you much good.

Once you remove that wood, you may find the problem is a relatively easy fix...... or you may uncover a huge problem. Either way it's better to know, so that you can start working on a solution, rather than worrying about the unknown.

In my case, I found water was running down along my chimney and into my basement. I removed the drywall and insulation, caulked and sealed, created a drainage plane (just in case) and refinished. Done. Less than $150.00 in materials and a few days of my time. Perhaps you'll be just as lucky?
round_toit
Premium Member
join:2005-02-01
Pensacola, FL

round_toit to DLewisD

Premium Member

to DLewisD
If you all will use your favorite search engine and check for flooding in Pensacola, fl, you will find we had 26 inches of rain in 24 hours. Water got into houses that had never been flooded for over 50 years with our many hurricanes.

»www.google.com/search?q= ··· &bih=648

Fighting mold is not hard. Wet it before you touch it. Dry mold can be breathed in, wet will not. Do not use Clorox.

»blacktoxicmolds.com/vine ··· mold.php

»www.howtocleanthings.com ··· mold.htm

I can not rapidly find the link, but Clorox does not penetrate into wood or drywall, it stays on top. Vinegar (acetic acid) penetrated the wood or concrete.

People around here charging to remove mold are using Jomax.

»www.homedepot.com/p/Zins ··· 00398378

msds »www.rustoleum.com/MSDS/E ··· 0104.PDF

You will find that acetic acid is the highest concentration.

DannyZ
Gentoo Fanboy
Premium Member
join:2003-01-29
united state

DannyZ to Jack_in_VA

Premium Member

to Jack_in_VA
You won't see those types of outbreaks here because we have a much better food infrastructure. My point wasn't to show that we are susceptible to a massive outbreak, but to show exactly how dangerous mold can be.

Corehhi
join:2002-01-28
Bluffton, SC

Corehhi to DLewisD

Member

to DLewisD
Step one get rid of the paneling, no way around that.

Step two figure out where the water is coming from, by what you said about the driveway that is probably to blame. Do you have room to run a drain in between the driveway and house??? Even if you don't a concrete blade and a sledge hammer will make enough room. Look for down spouts as well, if they drain on to the driveway they would need to be drained somewhere else.

You really can't do anything till the paneling is gone. Who knows what else you might find behind the paneling??? Bad electrical work plus water is not a good thing.
vincom
join:2009-03-06
Bolton, ON

vincom to DLewisD

Member

to DLewisD
gut and clean/kill the mold in the basement wait for rain to see where water is coming from, repair asv necessary, fix the driveway to slop away from house, can be relevelled by top coating it with another layer of concrete but will probably not last.
if water is a major problem getting in do an interior weeping system