My Basement Mold – Three Months Later

Yes, tardy on this post I know!

Remember back in July when I had the, as I put “pure joy,” of cleaning out all the lovely mold in my basement? Well I thought that it would be nice if I gave you a little update…

Let’s start at the beginning…

The intent that day was just to remove the carpet. I had no idea, not even the slightest clue, about the mold situation… You see, when I got down into the basement it is usually just to the washer/dryer {which is on the opposite wall} and since all that junk was piled in that corner I didn’t even notice…

So, all gun-ho I head over to that side of the basement and begin to clear out all the crap {boxes, parts of the ceiling that Rogers guy tore down, pieces of flooring, curtains, etc}… At this point I discover the wall, the carpet, and the pieces of wood closest to the wall are covered, just covered,in mold…. SICK!!!

First phone call: Dad…. answering machine… left panic message like I just discovered a bomb!

Second phone call: Mom… answers… I tell her to get her ass to my house, cus I need mad help!

Third phone call: Property Management Company… answering machine… discover that they are not open past 12:00pm on Fridays {WOW must be nice!!!}… it tells me that if this is an emergency to leave a message on the emergency line and someone will call back… options were fire and flood… what? no mold option?…. I left a message anyways.

Now by this point I am a raging head case {I probably looked like this}… my mom arrives and we pull back the carpet and underpadding and it is soaked!!! Almost like there was a river running under this carpet soaked! Grrrrr! This is not suppose to happen….

Fourth phone call: From Property Management Company Fix It Guy…. he’s in the area and he will swing by…

Thank god!

Fix It Guy comes in and spends like 30 minutes trying to find the source of the “leak”… no leak!

Diagnosis: It’s way to humid in the basement, and what is happening is that the floor is sweating causing condensation and it is accumulating and is being soaked up by the underpad/carpet….

Solution: Remove the carpet asap, clean the walls and floor with bleach & water, spray everything with Mold Stop, and get a dehumidifier…

Seemed legit…

So I did what I was told… removed the carpet, cleaned the walls and floor with bleach & water, sprayed everything with Mold Stop, and got an old ass dehumidifier from my dad…

Three months later… dry as a whistle and no mold! Victorious!!

Now I just gotta fancy it up down there… it’s still a bit dark, drab and creepy!

sidebar: you might notice all the bags of insulation… yup that is all from this panicked trip to Home Depot

~~~~~
Now a question for all you who have remodeled your basements…

Knowing that this condensation thing is an issue, I was advised not to put down carpet over the cement, which sucks because this would have obviously been the easy way out…

What do you suggest I use for flooring in the basement?

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