I painted the shower-bathroom ceiling with the special anti-mildew paint, but the mildew/mold is back. Not enough natural sunlight and ventilation. If there's such a thing as an ultraviolet lightbulb or fixture that is safe for home use, I'd be grateful for a URL or company name. Thanks Timo
Any such would be a bandaid. You need ventilation to get rid of the moisture or you're asking for a persistent mold problem that will make it very difficult to sell your home, and that can become potentially toxic to you and your family.
Get an exhaust fan installed that vents to the outdoors.
Best Regards,
-- Todd H.
The only real solution is to reduce the moisture.
However that said, I wonder if the mold was interior to the drywall and maybe you should consider replacing the ceiling? You also may want to assure that the area above the ceiling is also dry and ventilated.
We do have a combination light/exhaust fan in the ceiling that vents from the roof. The fan did reduce the mildew problem but did not eliminate it. The shower stall is in this bathroom. A family of five (with two sons who are jocks) keeps the room pretty damp. Also, we're in a humid climate zone. These factors together with the poor ventilation create a problem that has to be solved on several fronts at once. My hope was that a UV light left on all night might contribute something to a solution. Timo
ventilation.
What did you use? I had that problem and painted the ceilings of two interior, windowless bathrooms with Zinsser (spelling?) perma-white, mildew proof ceiling paint four years ago and haven't had a spot. and I live in Mississippi, the mildew capital of the world.
Frank
We had a similar problem and we too live with high humidity as we are next to the rainforest. The first thing we did was to enlarge the one window opening. We now just have screen about 3 X 2 feet, over the shower, and that helps the ventilation. Then in the vanity which was so moldy (!), we put in a little heater bar- one designed to reduce humidity in closets? The combination seems to be working. We do not have kids taking long showers though. Good luck. That mold looked terrible. aloha, Thunder smithfarms.com Farmers of 100% Kona Coffee & other Great Stuff
Any UV light that is strong enough to fight mold is going to be strong enough to harm people. They can be used in air ducts and water pipes, but not where people are around.
I have seen mold on ceilings in bathrooms with exhaust fans.
1) Caulk around the exhaust fan, so when it runs the fan does not pull in humid attic air when it is running. Exhaust fans will pull air from wherever they can get it. If the fan is running, it is pulling the bathroom into a negative pressure with respect to outside. If there is a gap around the fan housing or AC supply grille, it can pull air in from the attic. It can do the same around a ceiling light fixture.2) Make sure the exhaust fan has a tightly closing damper, or humid outside air can leak back in when the fan is off.
3) Make sure the house is not under negative pressure. That will pull putside air into the bathroom through the exhaust fan when it is off, even if it has a good damper. Those things can leak!Just some thoughts, because I have seen those problems before.
Stretch
I was thinking we would turn it on at night. It wouldn't have to be on when then room was in use. Timo
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