Bad mold due to moisture, best way to remedy the damage

[Mikefromlondon]

This advice I am seeking is for someone.

What is the best way to restore a room that has suffered black mold to its cold exposed walls and ceiling, due to condensation, the occupants had been drying clothes and cooking and bathing moisture had been getting into this coldest room and caused condensation from floor to ceiling, the room is upstairs, so definitely no roof leak and no rising damp, gutters are ok too.

Any advice as to re-decorate the place, what to use to clean the mold, then what needs to be done next, i.e. what paint should be used to cover the surface and finally can it be painted over with the Matt emulsion or may be Silk Vinyl paint, which may in future make the wall a little water proof against condensation.

What about the old carpet, would it have embedded any mold pores that may spring up again, so should the carpet be just hoovered and be oK or does the guy need to throw this old carpet away, or can it be cleaned like with steam cleaning?

Finally, there is no PV to this room, so if one brick is replaced with a air brick, will this be sufficient to prevent future condensation?


of course no matter how much you tell tenants not to dry clothes on rads, they still do, because it is either too cold outside or the clothes don't dry because of rain and drizzle!

The room has a rad, that gets turned down when not occupied, so the room is a magnet for condensation, all the household moisture gets into this cold room and condenses on the coldest walls, and coldest part of the ceiling, the part where the loft insulation is thinnest or where the roof is so close to the ceiling that insulation cannot be inserted, this is a back room where the ceiling runs flat for 3/4 of the room width and then the last quarter the ceiling runs parallel to the roof slope!

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

The spores need killing as they will spread quite rapidly if left.
Best method is by use of diluted bleach about 10% bleach to dilution of water, should be good enough, don't bother try to increase the concentration as it will be strong enough. Then it's down to a bit of elbow grease, once the spores have been removed a bit of soapy water then a rinse off with clean water and then see what condition your walls are in re-decoration.
You can purchase anti-mold paints but TBH they are only going to offer a limited protection and the real issues of condensation needs to be addressed.
If carpet is in good nick, hoover then steam clean.
I would probably offer two air bricks to the location one at each high and low levels, these need to be free of any obstructions.
Or you could consider a humidistat that would regulate the humidity within the room, but can be a little frustrating as are often in operation.

 

[Mikefromlondon]

Thanks bud for confirming what I thought was a reasonably good solution, but wanted to know if anything new may have since come along to tackle these mold growth caused by condensation.

I thought along the same lines too, bleach is what I also suggested him to start with, as not only it kills any old germs as well as kills any active spores, and keeps you safe from catching anything!

I also advised the owner to down a face mask as some of these mold spores can get air born, they seem like they are clinging to a wet or damp surface and growing, but when disturbed they get air born!

The prime objective is to remove/kill all mold and then paint over the surface with some water tight paint, so that any pores can be sealed in or coated.

The mold does spread like fire! it has even managed to cover the rear of the wardrobes and other furniture.

Second question, can he use any oil based paint to seal the cleaned surface in, like I was once told by a good builder/decorator that if you had a roof leak, and it had stained your ceiling, then you will never get rid of that stain even if you coat it with another layer of paint as the old stain will reappear again through that paint, so one needs to use any oil based paint when the ceiling had dried, then after this oil paint is dry, you can coat the surface in the finishing emulsion.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

You will often find with water marks/stains that they will bleed through new paint and often a stain sealer is required to remedy this.
Also as the room seems to be quite humid, I would suggest that furniture is kept away from the problem walls and ventilation allowed around these areas.
If any exposed pipework is also in this location, lagging them will help.