I'm trying to de-mold my house. The bathroom is over the garage, and I've been sanding mold off the garage ceiling, which is the subflooring under the bathroom. There are floor joists that need to be sanded, supporting the subflooring.
How could this be done efficiently? I've been using a sanding block but it's a lot of work.
I have a Bosch cordless electric drill. If I could find a disc sanding attachment for that, would that work? I kind of doubt it, because the batteries maybe don't have enough power to keep on sanding for a long time. It has a keyless chuck, the bits for it are 1/4" hex, not round.
Would I just have to get a power sander? A small rotating disk of sandpaper would help a lot, to get into tight spaces. Of course a lot of these areas have plumbing lines in them so they can be awkward to get to.
Before I did any removal, I'd spray it with a bleach solution or other mold killing solution, then just scrape of vacuum . Then I'd find out why you have mold on the garage ceiling.
With mold on structural members it's recommended to sand it off. Yes of course I want to avoid water leaks in the future. It's dried up.
So, I don't know what kind of power tool could help me sand it off quickly. If I got a sanding attachment for my cordless power drill, how long would a battery run it? Is there a sanding attachment that has a hex-shaped bit, to fit my drill?
Oh, yeah, I wanna turn those mold spores into an aerosol dust and inhale them. No mask is perfect, and short of a bunny suit and supplied air respirator, and building a containment zone, some will escape and hang around. I know 99.9% of household molds are not life-threatening, but how do you tell? It was probably overkill, but they demolished one mold infested house near here a couple years ago, and carted the rubble off to a hazmat landfill.
Kill as many as you can, dry the wood out to make the survivors dormant, and encapsulate them under a coat of sealer or something.
+1... This is EXACTLY what the fire/water damage restoration pros do... Isolate the area with plastic sheeting to create containment, then bring in the dehumidifiers (if the area is still wet), then when dry, sand scrape the fire/mold/water damage away, then encapsulate whatever remains with a special paint...
Personal protective gear (Tyvek suits, thick gloves, proper respirators) is a MUST for this work, the pros treat it just like asbestos/lead abatement so you should too...
For my natural wood picket fence, I tried bleach diluted according to the instructions (on the bleach bottle iirc) and severak days later, I didn't feel it was doing enough. So I ended up using straight bleach. Of course I didn't have a bathroom above the fence, but I think it would air out anyhow.
Nothing will get the wood sanded quickly, except maybe some big heavy duty belt sander^^ with "very coarse" sand paper, and even that won't be quick, it will just be quicker than other methods. And you'll be tired holding it up after 10 minutes.
^^Not an oscillating sander, whose purpose is to make the surface smooth.
Maybe an hour? 2 or 3 for a good drill with good batteries. During which time you'll get next to nothing done. There was a thread here just a little bit ago -- did you start it? -- about how one coudl only sand with the edge of a sanding wheel, I guess it's called, and how the rubber wheel will bend anyhow, and how there is a kick if you get too close to the center. I too went through the stage of thinking I coudl do anything with an electric drill and its attachments, but I wouldn't even try to buff a car wax job with an electric drll anymore
-- am I right, you guys? -- and that's one with a cord, not batteriies.
And even the 3 or 4 pound drill will feel heavy after 15 minutes and very heavy after 25.
If you could do this with a drill, I'd recommend buying one with a cord. Surely the electric outlet isn't far away. But since you'll never finish with a drill, you don't need to buy one.
Your driill kit probably included some drill bits etc. with hex-shaped shanks, but I'd give you 20 to 1 odds that you can use round shafts in your drill too. (Unless it is really a stupid little electric screwdriver/drill shaped like a flashlight, with no separate handle.) Does the chuck have three jaws that come together when tightened? If so, and you tighten it tight, you can use round bits, etcs.
If the wood were not attached to the hosue you could use a planer or, for edges, a joiner. You should see how powerful they are. 30 times what your electric drill is, I'm guessing.
How many linear feet do you have to do? I'm figuring at least 24*** on both sides (and the bottom?) You will never get done and to hire someone, it will take a long time even if he's strong. I think.
***For a bathroom 4 feet wide by 8 feet long, which is I think about how big my bathroom is, and mine is not big.
Also, I have a feeling the joists aren't normal smoothness, that they they are rougher than most 2x6's. I was up by the basement ceiling a few days ago, and something there was rough, but maybe it was somc scrap wood I used for shelves. If it is rough, it will take longer yet.
How deeply are you supposed to sand? The url you gave later didn't say.
Why isn't painting or covering with insulating foam good enough? Nothing is going to get through either of those.
I think it would be in your interest to call Kenneth Hellevang, Ph.D., Engineer, NDSU Extension Service on the phone and discuss this with him. Or maybe first talk to anyone else who answers the phone at the NDSU Extension Service, or any other state university extension. I'll bet they say something different, or that they'll admit paint or foam is just as good.
**I myself had mold on sheetrock in two places. It didnt' bother me when it was growing and it didn't bother me after I killed it, 15 years ago. I planned to paint over it, but one spot was wet periodicaly, until last year, and the other was under the workbench and behind a dresser that held the workbench up. Just too much trouble. When I put in my new furnace, if I have prop up the work bench and move the dresser, I'll paint then.
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