Mould Removal After Leak

Hello, I unfortunately discovered a leak behind the sink in one of my bathrooms the other day. The water has had time to soak the floor where it couldn't be seen and also flow to an adjacent bedroom under an interior wall. Black mould has grown on the floor of both rooms up to a couple of feet from where the leak occurred. I'm now letting the floorboards dry out and have had a go at removing the mould using bleach, vinegar and a mould remover product. However, I've managed to get rid of half of it at best so far, and the black stain seems to go beneath the surface of the wooden boards (which look to be made of chipboard, and they still seem structurally strong). Additionally, the mould in the bathroom is in difficult-to-reach places - inside a wooden enclosure for the pipes behind the sink and between the bathtub and the wall. I think removing it fully will require taking all of this apart.

I was wondering how necessary is it to remove all of the mould? Would it be sufficient to dry out the affected areas so that the mould would become inactive? We only use the bathroom in question for toileting and using the sink, so it doesn't get very humid and has never required any effort to keep mould at bay before.

Also, should I be concerned about the wall between the bathroom and bedroom? I can see signs of water ingress reaching just above the skirting board in the bedroom.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Once dry the mould will stop. Bleach is very good to remove staining effect

Then preferably once all dry paint chip with some sealer or other just in case it stains carpet above

I'd be a bit wary about the spores though, some people are allergic to this. You have I think to at least attempt to make sure its dead. Brian

Black mould is too toxic for it to be a good idea to leave it there. Bleach is the stuff to use. Apply & leave. Repeat daily until it's gone, which wi ll take several goes. Doing this on chipboard may ruin it though. Many peop le remove all mouldered material & make good on grounds of toxicity.

NT

replying to tabbypurr, Pagw wrote: Thanks for the reply. I've read that bleach is not effective for treating mould beneath the surface of wood because it doesn't penetrate. Have you seen bleach solve a problem like this before? I also wonder if another fungicidal substance would be able to penetrate - vinegar can apparently, but I feel like something stronger would be better. Any ideas?

replying to tabbypurr, Pagw wrote: Thanks for the reply. I've read that bleach is not effective for treating mould beneath the surface of wood because it doesn't penetrate. Have you seen bleach solve a problem like this before? I also wonder if another fungicidal substance would be able to penetrate - vinegar can apparently, but I feel like something stronger would be better. Any ideas?

Just about nothing is going to peentrate the wood surface to much extent. T here isn't anything stronger than bleach unless you start looking at immedi ately destructive chemicals like hot caustic or strong acids. This is why I mentioned that it's common to remove all infected material.

NT

PS I'd recommend using a saner portal to get here. Here being news:uk.d-i-y.

NT

I'd be extremely wary of applying both bleach and vinegar to the same absorbent surface. Nasty reactions may occur.

Also, you are in turn applying an acid and a base. Either might kill the mold, but using both will neutralize each other.

Thomas Prufer

I imagine a lot of moulds will quite happily eat acetic acid. Stay with the bleach, or a commercial mould remover.

Andy