Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:While cleaning the basement, I moved a bunch of boxes snd found black mold in corners and areas where the baseboard isn’t attached to the wall.
Vinegar and bleach clean it? No water is leaking through; I don’t know how this happened. Is this dangerous? Will it spread? Infect other boxes (not near the wall or affected area).
I’m so grossed out right now.
It's likely just mold that is "black". Real black mold is slimy and you will know the smell and never forget it if you encounter it.
Spray with 50/50 bleach5%/water mix and let that set for a couple hours. Wipe with fresh 50/50 mixture and then plain water, and dry it well afterwards with a hair dryer if it was on wood or drywall surface.
That's it. Just leave airflow and prevent moisture in the future. Always check basement humidity levels.
This is terrible advice. The bleach will kill mold on contact, then evaporate very quickly, leaving the water behind to feed the mold.
Mold needs: a food source which is an organic material, usually wood. It needs a proper amount of moisture, and dark conditions. Rob it of those and it can't grow. Testing mold is a waste of time. It may be interesting to see all the different names they have for mold but what difference does it make? Are you going to ignore the mold if it isn't "black mold" which is likely? No mold is good and if you have mold, you need to act.
You need to rip the baseboard out and remove the wall covering in that area. Drywall, paneling, whatever it is, it has mold on the backside and needs to be disposed of. Then you need to find the source of the water coming in. If it's a poured concrete wall, it could just be a single crack that is leaking. Call a good foundation repair company that offers a lifetime warranty on their crack repair. If it's block wall, then there is most likely water in the the porous blocks giving them a high surface moisture content and water leaking in from the cove joint where the wall meets your basement slab floor, then soaked into your woodwork wall framing allowing the perfect environment for mold to grow.
Again, a good foundation repair/basement waterproofing company can guide you on how to treat the mold and remediate the water intrusion to permanently stop the mold. You may also need a good, industrial grade dehumidifier for the basement if it doesn't have treated air. Look for a company with a high Google rating and no less than an A+ rating with the BBB, lifetime of structure warranty, and 100% money-back guarantee.