need house mold expert advice

[NOT A TA]

My home (in south FL)was robbed while I was away and they took most everything including the refridgerator. When they stole the fridge the water feed for the icemaker ran on the floor and filled the entire house. The water probably ran for about a month and black mold started growing even though the air cond was on. the baseboard is covered in most rooms and is as high as 3 feet on the walls in some rooms. Being a holiday no ins adjuster is going to show up till later this coming week. Any way to clean up or slow down the visible mold? I know the walls etc are gonna have to come down and I've bailed and wet vaced then bought 2 large dehumidifiers have been running non stop.

Is there a chemical that kills the mold on fabrics that aren't real bad with mold without staining? Any tips on cleanup or stopping the mold would be appreciated. Police told me not to stay in house so I'm stuck staying at a Motel 6 every night after cleaning up the mess each day.
John

[MrQuick]

My friend works for a restoration company and he recommended this site.
http://www.toxic-black-mold-info.com/moldclean.htm
cleaning agents http://www.toxic-black-mold-info.com/disinfectant.htm



His cleaner of choice is 30/70 mix of color safe bleach and water in a squirt bottle. He warned to be carefull cause after long exposure to mold can be very dangerous. After year in the business he has developed allergec reactions to normal items such as cheeze and wheat products.

[LateNight72]

That is one of the classic reasons I hate South Florida, you can hardly trust anyone.

I would do the bleach/water mix as stated above. Also, consider buying a respirator or two, capable of handling Mold/Mildew.

-Todd

[TonyL]

Indeed. Mix water and bleach and soak the areas infected. remove the base boards, throw them out. remove the sheet rock as far up as water got, usually about 2 feet, remove all the insulation if there is any. Get air moving through those walls. The pad under your carpet is infected. Remove both carpet and pad back down to the bare floor. Once you've exposed the lumber, soak it in pure bleach.

Then, rebuild. (mold can grow under vinyl floors too.)

You should also get a moisture probe from the hardware store. They run around 10 bucks or so for a cheap one. That way you can tell how much sheet rock you need to remove.

[MonzaRacer]

Well get this, the mold is higher than water line, the humidity was incredible for a month.
Pull all the sheet rock, carpets, base boards, expose EVERTHING.
If you had mold and it shows up later when you try to sell or add on or anything its condemed.
Call an approved, certified mold company for a Q&A before ttrying to do it your self.
Call local authorities for references, they already know you have mold and problems from police report.
This also lets you know that if you leave for a long period of time ,shut off the water, gas and such. Much easier to repair leaks that come up after turning back on than trashing your house.
I would never patch sheet rock, I assume you have insurance , they should pay for the mold testing and repairs unless you have a ripoff insurance company.
Tip one, if its been wet and its near mold it has mold,,,also if you do research make sure you have to make sure the person doing work is on the up and up.
Mold can be dangerous, dont play games with it and good luck.

[ProTouring442]

Won't your insurance company pay to have the house professionally repaired?

Sorry to hear about this, that really sucks.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

[NOT A TA]

The Benjamin Moore I paint store here where I've been buying all the painting supplies said the bleach thing doesn't really work. The Toxic black mold info sites support that info.Hurricane Wilma hit our neighborhood and lots of people tried it only to have the mold pop right back after the ins co's were done with them.

LateNight72 That is one of the classic reasons I hate South Florida, you can hardly trust anyone.

I would do the bleach/water mix as stated above. Also, consider buying a respirator or two, capable of handling Mold/Mildew.

-Todd

I bought a fixer upper in what I thought was a pretty good neighborhood. I needed at least a 2 car garage and driveway. Being a car guy that does almost all my own work gated communities are out. They have incredible restrictions and fines for disobeying.

ProTouring442 Won't your insurance company pay to have the house professionally repaired?

Sorry to hear about this, that really sucks.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

The ins company is probably a crappy one. I expect huge problems getting them to pay. The adjuster I spoke with on the phone said it's my responsibility to drain and dry the house and that further damage after what the crime scene investigation pics show would cost me! Since it's south FL and humid this time of year and the Toxic Black Mold sites say don't run air cond. It will continue to spread quickly in walls etc due to the heat and being soaked inside. The adjuster said maybe Wed Thurs he'd come see it. My personal belongings that were stolen and water/mold damaged are not covered by homeowners. I will see if the water damaged stuff that wasn't stolen is covered by my flood ins.
John

[BA.]

this really sucks man, I'm really sorry to hear about this.

Save your receipts and maybe you can at least get some of it creatively deducted from taxes if the Ins. Co. doesn't handle it. (eg. theft and home improvement)

Good luck man.

[NOT A TA]

Last year my Suburban, 24' trailer,66 Mustang and my expensive tools welders,jacks, etc were all stolen while moving stuff to FL. Not covered by ins and not deductable on taxes. I got back trashed vehicles and not much else. The burb and trailer were packed with personal household stuff and shop tools/supplies. Burb still has smashed steering column, door locks ripped out, shorts in wiring, not to mention the stereo equip gone of course. I fixed the trailer with aluminum diamond plate. Mustang? Uggh lots of work left, since they stripped parts off it while it was still in the trailer (with the tools that were in my my roll away box I'm sure).