Removing Mold From Painted Walls

How do you get rid of mold on painted walls? I scrub it off but a black stain is left. How can you get rid of this? Also, the mold is back within the week any ideas on how to stop it?

Elaine from England

Answers:

Removing Mold From Painted Walls

Painting over the mold or cleaning it will do absolutely no good if the mold started underneath the wall. You might have mold growing underneath in the insulation. If this is the case, you need to get the damage fixed fast before it spreads further. If it happens to be that toxic black mold, your health is at stake too. (01/24/2005)

By Shari

Removing Mold From Painted Walls

Try using Tilex. It works wonders on mold and mildew. I wouldn't be without it. (01/24/2005)

By Mitzi

Removing Mold From Painted Walls

The product that we use is called Kilz. It works wonders. You can but it at paint stores. (01/24/2005)

By tuey

Removing Mold From Painted Walls

Mould grows where there is moisture so the "cure" is to prevent the moisture collecting and condensing on walls and creating the environment where mould spores can settle and breed. If its at the bottom of a wall it may be rising damp, because of an ineffective or breached damp proof course, (often flower beds built up outside the wall allow damp to seep in above the damp proof course). In this case, to prevent the mould you need to repair the damp proof course, (expensive), or remove the structure that is allowing the moisture to bypass it.

In cooler damp climates like Britain the atmosphere is often laden with moisture and this can be compounded by the moisture produced within the house from the kitchen, bathroom and given off from the breath and skin of human bodies. The answer here is to increase ventilation, whether through opening windows and doors, especially after bathing or showering, or have an extractor fan installed. Raising the internal temperature of bathrooms while showering to heat the walls slightly will also prevent the moisture suspended in the air from condensing out when it hits the cooler surface of the wall. But you must then ventilate to remove it from the house.

A bleach solution, (as directed on the bottle), should remove the mould, kill the spores and whiten/lighten the stain. It will recur unless you sort out the ventilation problem, even if you paint over the stain, although some paints have a built in fungicide to discourage mould growth.

Regards.

Jo (01/24/2005)

By Jo Bodey

Removing Mold From Painted Walls

Sorry, folks but that's some serious misinformation. Killz does not kill mold. Even bleach only has a temporary effect if you don't fix the mold-growing conditions. You need to kill the mold with an EPA registered fungicide/mildicide (mold killer), remove any porous materials that have mold deep within them (carpet, sheetrock, insulation), and maybe most importantly you need to fix the source of water or humidity that contributed to the mold forming. Fungicide or lack of moisture can kill the mold, but even dead mold spores left in the area can trigger allergies. Again, if the wall is wet from within, just killing, wiping, or painting over it will not fix the problem. It will grow back, and could spread. (05/11/2007)

By Dimitri

Removing Mold From Painted Walls

A great product that I've found is MoldZyme. It's EPA approved and removes the mold. It's non toxic. Check it out.

www.moldzyme.com (06/15/2007)

By Betty

Removing Mold From Painted Walls

The mold is behind your walls or wallboard. I had a whole room that was totally infested with mold. This was because when I bought this place, the previous owners had built a "sun porch" onto my mobile home with "no" window sills and because the windows were huge "single" paned, the windows constantly sweated (over a quart a day). Thus, all of that water was dripping behind the walls, all day, every day, over the course of many years. I thought I would have to tear the small addition down because the mold was everywhere along the bottom 2 feet and all around 3/4 of the room, until I did the following.

Here's what worked for me: (and yes, I know bleach is toxic, but this needed to be done with something that was strong.)

1. After talking to an expert on mold. He recommend I put 3 or 4 parts of water with one part of bleach and put this into a spray bottle (open the windows for ventilation) and spray the bleach water mixture onto the walls. Do this for 2 days in a row (this is to open the "pores" of the wood or sheet rock). Then, on the 3rd day: Take the same bleach-water solution, but this time (use gloves) apply it with a sponge straight to the wall. Now here is the important part.
   
2. Wait 2 weeks and "do it all over again" (the spraying and sponging of bleach/water). This is because there most likely are brand-new mold spores that have formed in the past 2 weeks that you can't see that have sprung up since you last bleached. Then, after a few days of the walls drying the second time, apply a good mold inhibit primer like ZINSSER 123. Apply at least 2 coats or more.
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3. Then put on at least 2 or more coats of paint with a high quality paint. (I used semi-gloss)
   
4. I then covered the painted area with stick-on vinyl (wood-looking) floor tiles from the dollar store ( Dollar Tree, 3 tiles for $1). This "really" sealed in the walls.
   
5. I then caulked between the vinyl tiles with a matching tan colored caulk.
   
6. Fix the problem. What is causing your mold problem? Fix this. Moisture is getting in there form somewhere. You can also install a dehumidifier. I build no drip window sills out of hard plastic. (The kind you use to line your flower beds) Then caulked them.

This may sound like quite a hassle and to tell the truth it was, but, believe me, I couldn't even use that room except in the summer due to the heavy amount of mold and it's nasty smell. Now, that I've sealed the walls I can use that room and I just love it.

Important:
My mold wasn't the toxic mold you hear about on TV. Yours may be. Use care around any household mold and keep your kids away from it too. If you have any questions, call your local Health Department.

My "sun-porch" turned "craft room" is totally made of plywood, the wood held up to all the bleaching. Wallboard may act differently. (06/15/2007)

By Cyinda