Fungi fungus mold surrounded by crypt from flooding ?? Our basement has be flooding a lot lately. It is carpeted down...
Our basement has be flooding a lot lately. It is carpeted down there and the walls are wooden. I of late went down there today and notice some type of fungi Fungus coming from the walls on the floor. The fungus is light tan colored ... kinda looks approaching little elephant ears . Any ideas on how to get rid of this problem and what the problem is? Im really anxious. thanks!
HERE ARE SOME PICTURES OF IT IF THAT HELPS
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o332/...
http://i340.photobucket.com/albums/o332/...
rip out that carpet and snuff out the spores usuing 1 part bleach and two parts water. fan or venting will be needed, wait a few days later lay the carpet back. I believe a 2:1 dampen to bleach ratio might be a little too strong. The food industry only uses almost 4:1 or 5:1 and that is meant to hold care of anything you can't eat!
1.) Definately rip up that mat and padding, and take anything out of the room i.e. porous or could trap infestation like drapes or wood picture frames.
2.) Bleach mixed to the above ratio will be strong enough to gun down the mold but safe enough to use next to thin gloves and eye protection.
3.) Get some strong cross ventilation for a daytime or two to take the brunt of the moisture out.
4.) Dehumidify until you think the walls are dry, next turn the settings up and go for another week longer!
The bleach might not kill it fully and may with the sole purpose pasteurize the spores rendering them inert for 1-3 weeks. If you can get a steady relative humdity of 50% or lower the spores shouldn't grow again and wil eventually die out.
I also want to point out that unless you enjoy an amazing HVAC system with ultraviolet light massacre mold and bacteria near the HEPA filter, you will NOT want to run your HVAC too much until the room is somewhat dry. You will spead the problem to your exposure to air system, which will haunt you for years.
If all else fail, ask your question again on the forums at http://www.mycowiki.org/ they are growing but a fair amount of traffic is seeing their forum respectively day so you have a karma of it being seen.
Dump the carpet, and probably the baseboard and the bottom of the paneling. Disinfect and dehumidify. If I'm not mistaken, those mushrooms (which are not death-defying in themselves) are some of the wood rot fungi, which means I'd be really suspicious of adjectives that wood. And that there are probably more dangerous microfungi within the carpet and pad.
One of the Katrina curriculum was that water wicks up walls much difficult than you think it does. take a biddable look at the photo here:
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/...
Answers: That looks pretty bad. You will undoubtedly inevitability to remove the carpeting (and pad, if there is any) and verbs the floor with bleach and water. It might even be crucial to remove the wall covering, as there is undoubtedly mold behind at hand as well. You really need to address the flooding issue and dry the underground store out with a dehumidifier.^
lose the carpeting, install a sump pump & buy a dehumidifier. I don't think that type of fungus is toxic..it's the black mold that you have to look out for if this dribble persists it will eventually grow into black toxic mold. you need to fix the soak and remove any damp surfaces in the crypt. those mushroom things non toxic i think
On top of what's already been recommended, check out the remarkable research on toxic mold removal done by environmental expert Dr Ed Close. Simply diffusing a therapeutic-grade essential oil regularly will credible result in an environment very hostile to mold.
http://www.secretofthieves.com/mold.cfm
Cost of the Thieves Household Cleaner, a diffuser and a couple bottles of the Thieves grease that Dr Close recommends to his remediation clients: about $250.
The EPA is presently saying NOT to use bleach against mold:
https://www.moldrx4u.com/Poisons.asp
Mold is not something to take delicately:
https://www.moldrx4u.com/Symptoms.asp