Mold under house

[O.B.]

For the past 2 years, we have had water coming in through the front door and running under the house. We just finished adding a covered porch, replacing the rotten front door, and the rotten subfloor/joists.

The next task is to remove the mold that has collected on the joists in the crawlspace that are over the path that the water took from the front of the house to the back. Using a screwdriver, I have verified that the mold has not penetrated the joists just yet.

Can anyone recommend a chemical to get rid of the mold? Maybe something that I can spray on and not have to worry about from that point forward?

[m Ransley]

Use bleach, spray on with a garden sprayer.

[Speedy Jim]

's a home-brew: Bleach will kill the surface mold. It is *extremely* hazardous to use in an enclosed space, especially when sprayed. (I have a lung ailment to prove it...) Use that approach only if you can ventilate the space and wear a real respirator mask.

Jim

[SteveB]

Two things work very well. Professional remediation and gasoline. Both do a thorough job, and will kill all the mold. Other treatments are either totally ineffective, or a band-aid approach.

A friend of mine just had professional remediation done on his house in southern California to the tune of $8,000. The insurance company paid for it. Check your policy.

HTH

Steve

[David Efflandt]

You aren't the guy who tried to seal shingles by lighting gasoline on the roof are you? All you need is to have the fumes hit a stove, water heater, or furnace pilot light and KA-BOOM!. My bro-in-law tried to start a campfire with gasoline once, and after the ka-boom my sister came running out asking if we were all right. Fortunately we were ducking out of the way when throwing matches at it.

We had a neighbor whose garage was consumed by a fire when they were trying to clean engine parts with gasoline.