Black mold can be a scary thing for anyone. It can get in any room, but there are some rooms where moisture is more apparent. If you’re here, you might be looking how to get rid of black mold from your bathroom. In this article, we’re going to tell you how to deal with the black mold in your bathroom, how to get rid of that mold smell from your bathroom, and how to prevent mold from growing in your bathroom.
Any type of mold can be scary to deal with, considering it can have a lot of negative effects your health. Cleaning black mold in your bathroom can be difficult and it can be hard to remove by yourself, but if you get to it quickly enough, you can keep it from spreading elsewhere in your home. There are many ways that mold can get into other areas of your home, so you must be sure to keep on top of your home’s maintenance.
There are also many ways to prevent mold from growing in the first place, but sometimes, you don’t even know it’s there until it’s too late. There are a few ways to find out if mold is growing in your bathroom. A few key things give it away, so you might be wondering how exactly to do that. Whenever you find if you have mold, you’ll have to go through mold remediation and possible detoxing for your body.
What is Black Mold?
Black mold is a type of mold that produces mycotoxins. These mycotoxins are what make you sick. It can cause a lot of respiratory problems and chronic headaches. Not only that, you can also experience things like fatigue, mood swings, appetite swings, and more. Mold is a fungus that can spread on most things as long as it is moist and warm without much ventilation.
There have been deaths associated with mycotoxins. Granted, these are extreme cases, but it is never good to have around you. Mold will gather in colonies in your home and produce a lot more mycotoxins, causing a lot more problems than you might think. It even affects pets as well. Either way, there are many ways to find out if you have it or not. You aren't alone, though. There have been others that have gone through black mold infestations, too.
Testing for Black Mold
If you’re unsure if you have mold or not, there are a few things you can check. Monthly maintenance to your home is a great way to keep on top of things like mold growth and structure weakening. Make sure you follow a checklist and never skip on the details. The smallest mold spore can lead to thousands of dollars’ worth of damage.
There are a few things to keep a lookout for whenever mold is involved:
Sight
While not exactly the best way to find it, mold has a very unique, blotchy pattern. It is somewhat fuzzy on the surface, as if it’s sprouting a lot of hair along the blotches. It can be the color of green or black, but is usually the former. If it’s black, you’ll have a bigger problem on your hand.
Smell
Mold has a unique smell whenever it comes to scent. If you smell mold in your home or in your bathroom, you likely have a mold problem. There’s nothing that really “smells” like mold except for mildew, and even then, it’s a different scent.
Health
If you feel your health deteriorating, you might have a mold problem. Allergies are a big deal for some of us. Feeling them year-round is something of a problem. Unless your house is extremely dusty, you shouldn’t have allergic reactions to anything but a few things. One of those things is mold. You may also have a chronic headache, fatigue, and mood swings, among other things. If you’re in a constant state of “feeling bad”, you may have a mold issue.
Water Damage
There is nothing that mold loves more than moisture. Mold thrives on moisture and warmth. Even if it’s sanitary water, it can slowly degrade into contaminated water, leaving you with even more mold problems. Because the bathroom is a room we use a lot of water in, it is where you will likely find water damage.
Ask yourself if any of these apply to you. If any of them are a “yes”, then you may want to look into getting a mold test. Mold tests can be relatively expensive, but it comes with the assistance of laboratory research as well. These labs can tell you exactly what type of mold it is and if you need to get set up with mold remediation.
Mold Remediation
There are multiple ways that you can get rid of the mold yourself. If it’s a factor of water damage, you can possibly fix the problem before mold ever grows in your home. Many of these problems come from moisture in the walls near water pipes. If your bathroom doesn’t have any moisture-resistant sheetrock or drywall, you could end up with a lot of problems. You should also fix the leak, if there is one.
Whenever dealing with mold, you may have to replace the entirety of the drywall that it is growing on. This is a bit harder to do if you’re not sure how to replace drywall, but it’s only a matter of cutting it out and then putting in the new kind with screws. You seal it up with plaster or moisture-sealing primer. After you remove the initial drywall, however, you will want to use antimicrobial liquids to sterilize the surrounding boards and drywall.
If you’re not comfortable removing the drywall yourself, you can always have a professional carpenter do it for you. However, it is a good idea to tell them why you’re removing it. They may refer you to a mold remediation service, which might be better altogether. Mold remediation professionals will take out the mold in a matter of a few days or less, depending on the room.
Ozone Generators or Other Air Purifiers
Whenever you clean a surface of mold, there will be lingering mold spores in the air. These spores are very crucial to get rid of, considering that mold can spread again from these spores. Whether you’re removing it or you’re having professionals do it, there will be a need for removing these existing spores. There are a lot of choices when it comes to this step.
Most air purifiers that eliminate microbes are important here. Things like ozone generators, ionized air purifiers, and even activated carbon can do a lot of work when it comes to removing the spores from the air. It will eliminate them if you leave it running in your bathroom or other rooms. Ozone generators will also eliminate that lingering mold smell, however.
Conclusion
You can’t remove mold if you don’t know you have it. The first step of dealing with black mold in your bathroom is testing for it. If you think you might have mold, don’t skip the test. Testing for it is extremely important and can save you a lot of time and money. They can be relatively expensive, but it will save you in the long run.
After you find that you have mold in your bathroom, the next step is to fix the area that is leaking. If it’s a pipe or absorbent drywall that’s causing the water damage, you should solve that before anything else. Mold comes from a source and that source is usually water coming from somewhere. Replacing the sheetrock or drywall is optimal.
Whenever replacing the drywall, you should keep in mind that you have to sanitize the area around it. Mold spreads and there will likely be microbes that you can’t see nearby. This leaves the mold to spread and continuing to thrive if you don’t use antimicrobial liquid. Remember to get even the boards beneath the drywall.
After all of that, you’ll want to run an air purifier of some sort. The ones that eliminate microbes from the air are ideal, considering they can kill the spores themselves. Ozone generators, ionized air purifiers, and activated carbon can do a lot of work here. If you’re ever unsure about any of it, make sure to call a mold remediation contractor.
