It has happened to everybody at one point or another. You're cleaning your house one day, and think everything is looking great, only to look up at your ceiling and see it: there is mold on your ceiling. Mold is splotchy and dark, ruining the appearance of a perfect ceiling.
Unfortunately, the way it looks is not the only problem with mold. Mold can cause serious damage to your health and your home if you do not deal with it. Mold spreads because it disperses hundreds and thousands of microscopic spores into the air. Those spores can be inhaled by both you and your family and pets. Here is everything that you need to know about removing mold from your ceiling.
What causes mold on the ceiling?
There are three things that mold must have to grow and thrive: heat, moisture, and an organic food supply. Think of the places in your home that most often have those three elements. Your most common areas that would generate ceiling mold are your bathroom, and your laundry room as those areas typically have the three key mold ingredients.
Maybe you like to take extra hot showers without the ventilation turned on so that you can get the room extra steamy. There is nothing wrong with this so long as you turn on the vent afterward and allow for the bathroom to dry. If you skip this step and simply walk out with the lights off then all that steam that rose to your ceiling will give you the heat and moisture you need. Add the paper (organic food source) on the drywall and you have an ideal environment for mold and mildew growth.
The same principle applies to the laundry room where steam can come from a dryer cycle. Any time there is an opportunity to have moisture reach your ceiling is a time when the opportunity for mold growth can arise.
Other, more unexpected circumstances can cause mold growth, but generally, anywhere you will find organic food sources and moisture together can be a source for it. Steam from cooking, the presence of poor ventilation, condensation buildup, and numerous other common causes can lead to mold growth.
Will vinegar kill mold on a drywall ceiling?
If you are dealing with a small amount of mold on your ceiling then you will be happy to know that you can get rid of it easily. Making things even better, you will not have to use heavy chemicals to do it. All you need is white vinegar.
Believe it or not, white vinegar is surprisingly effective at cleaning up and killing mold. You merely need to use it with a scrub brush. You need to be careful not to scrub too rigorously to break the surface material of the ceiling. To break that surface material would actually make things worse and the only solution from there would be to do a full repair.
Does bleach kill mold?
If you are careful, you could, of course, use bleach. Bleach would certainly do the job in a faster manner, but you must be extra cautious for the same reasons you must be careful when using vinegar. If you break the surface of the ceiling, you could be setting yourself up for some future costly repairs. You also need to be careful because bleach can be harmful to humans as well, so make sure you are being safe when using it.
How to remove mold from a drywall ceiling
If you have mold on your ceiling then you need to get rid of it before it starts to spread. If it spreads to ten square feet, the EPA requires that you call in a specialist to take care of it as it has spread too much to be considered safe for you to deal with. If it is not quite that bad yet, then you should be able to handle it on your own. Here is how you can get rid of it.
Tools
You need to have the following tools at the ready:
- Rubber gloves
- Soft scrub brush or sponge
- Rinsing bucket
- Vinegar or bleach , but never combined
- Spray Bottle
- Dry towel
- Plastic sheeting
- Respirator
- Step ladder
- Box fan
Step One: Clothes and Safety Gear
The first thing you need to do is put on clothes that you would not mind getting potentially ruined. You may need to buy protective clothes if you do not have any suitable for the job. A cheap painter's suit would be appropriate.
You then need to ensure that you have rubber gloves and a respirator. This is to protect you from mold as well as from bleach, should you decide to use it.
Step Two: Set your area
Once you have the right clothes and safety gear, you need to set your area for the cleaning process. You want to clear the floor as best you can and lay out a plastic sheet. This is to make sure that you do not spill any cleaner on your floor or do any additional damage. Then, place your step ladder into position.
Step Three: Prep your cleaner
You now need to prepare your cleaning solution. You must put your vinegar (or bleach) into an adjustable spray bottle. If you use bleach, you may want to dilute it with water. You should have a bucket at least partially filled with water ready so that you can rinse off your scrub brush.
Step Four: Scrub away
You must now spray the area that is affected by the mold. You want to use a mist spray setting so that you get optimal coverage. When you have sprayed you should let it set for a moment and then begin scrubbing with your scrub brush. You do not have to scrub particularly hard if you are using bleach, but a little more elbow grease may be required if you are using vinegar.
After you have scrubbed the ceiling, you want to take your dry towel and pat the surface down. This will not only lift off any other mold that may linger after scrubbing, but it will also start the drying process.
Step Five: Drying
Once you have wiped up all of the molds, you must take your box fan and crank it up. Getting air circulating will allow the ceiling to dry. Once it is dry, you will have effectively eliminated the mold.
Know when to call in the experts
If the mold exceeds ten square feet, or if it seems as though it has spread in a manner that is not manageable for you, then you need to call a mold mitigation company. A mold remediation expert will have the proper tools and knowledge to run down the source of the mold in your home and get your home up to EPA safety standards.
