Real Estate Investor · plattsmouth, NE · Member since 2008 · 94 posts · 11 votes
I just sold off the old washer/dryer, then found some mold on the bottom of the dry wall. I'm going to be cutting out the dry wall but don't want this to be repeated either. I'm going to be renting this house in the near future, thinking of some ways how I could make this laundry room nice but also moisture protection. What should I put around the walls? concrete drywall? I don't know.
Investor · Vancouver, WA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
9y
Get to the root source of the moisture problem and remedy it.
Then do the following.
1. Use cement board or a similar product for walls in damp/wet areas.
2. Paint the walls with primer and a top coat of paint that is easy to clean and suitable for damp areas, such as a good quality paint with satin or egg shell finish.
3. Add a waterproof baseboard or wall base coving.
4. Replace older water supply lines with braided stainless steel ones.
5. Make sure the room is properly vented. Add a ventilation fan to the laundry area and/or forced air flow, to help keep the moisture down.
6. Add a dehumidifier to reduce dampness if there is too much moisture in the air.
7. Make sure the outside drainage system is good.
8. Do what you can to waterproof the basement from water intrusion from the outside.
8. Make sure the appliances are in good shape and are installed correctly to prevent water leaks.
9. Make sure the washer drains properly, into the right kind of receptical.
Investor · Vancouver, WA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
9y
Get to the root source of the moisture problem and remedy it.
Then do the following.
1. Use cement board or a similar product for walls in damp/wet areas.
2. Paint the walls with primer and a top coat of paint that is easy to clean and suitable for damp areas, such as a good quality paint with satin or egg shell finish.
3. Add a waterproof baseboard or wall base coving.
4. Replace older water supply lines with braided stainless steel ones.
5. Make sure the room is properly vented. Add a ventilation fan to the laundry area and/or forced air flow, to help keep the moisture down.
6. Add a dehumidifier to reduce dampness if there is too much moisture in the air.
7. Make sure the outside drainage system is good.
8. Do what you can to waterproof the basement from water intrusion from the outside.
8. Make sure the appliances are in good shape and are installed correctly to prevent water leaks.
9. Make sure the washer drains properly, into the right kind of receptical.
Flipper/Rehabber · WASHINGTON State · Member since 2015 · 179 posts · 67 votes
9y
If that is an exterior wall I would make sure the outside is not leaking into the structure, insulation then drywall. Sometimes the exterior trim will need to be caulked to make it water tight to ensure this does not happen.
Like @Marcia Maynard mentioned above "get to the root source of the problem"
It could also be your drain line for the washer or the supply lines for washer. That is a lot of mold/discoloration, being wet and in a dark location is the perfect environment for it to grow. I would remove the drywall with the discoloration and find the source then repair and dry out the structure then reinstall new insulation, drywall and paint.
Real Estate Investor · plattsmouth, NE · Member since 2008 · 94 posts · 11 votes
9y
I've just been busy lately. I believe all the evidence points to the washer being the source of the problem, I think the water lines were good but I think the washer leaked water. It has some mold on the cement where the washer was. I think that is why my mom started to go to the laundry mat.
It's Nebraska so it rains pretty hard here, so I would've witness a water leaking coming in when it rained. I sprayed the drywall with kill mold spary/clorax on the dry wall before ripping it out, don't want to breathe it in. Thing is I have the water turned off for the moment.
I was thinking of using cement drywall, at lowes they showed me green anti moisture wall for it? So paint it with anti-moisture primer? I was thinking of using a baseboard and wall covering. Can I just remove the drywall and slap some anti moisture paint on it? I'll take a picture of insulation to see if its still good or not.
Investor and CPA · Arvada, CO · Member since 2015 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
9y
The others have some great advice as far as moisture remediation for the future and I'd follow most or all of that.
It's not clear to me that this is actually mold. It could also be mildew, which doesn't have nearly the implications as mold. (Mold tends to be fuzzy if you look at it under a magnifying glass. Mildew looks bumpy. Usually.)
Home Depot sells a testing kit where you take a Q-Tip and swab the stuff and send it in. They'll tell you what you've got - type of mold or mildew or whatever.
If it's toxic mold, the best advice would be to get a professional remediation company to deal with it. 9 times out of 10, it's not toxic, but you still don't want those spores to spread when you remove the drywall (and yeah, with that big and dark of a patch, I'd remove it rather than try to kill it and paint over it).
Wear a respirator.
Get a roll of painter's plastic and tack it to the drywall in an area much larger than the area where the mold is. Duct tape the edges to get as good a seal as possible, including the bottom.
Cut the drywall larger than the plastic area. If the mold has traveled to the back of the drywall, try to wrap that in plastic as much as possible before you remove the piece.
Once you've got the piece removed, wrap it in more painter's plastic, then put it in a couple layers of trash bag before disposing.
Investor · Escondido, CA · Member since 2017 · 55 posts · 15 votes
9y
Nate S. The insulation seems to be in good shape and the framing doesn't seem to have any water stains. So I would think that it was just the drywall. If you see any mold either remove what's or clean it with bleach and scrub it with a brush. Then let it dry. Install green board. If you want buy some cheap tile and tile the wall that will help in the future. I would also suggest an exhaust fan that would turn on when you turn on the lights or put a separate switch for it possibly time delay switch that way the fan would run for 30 minutes or longer. Get the moist air out of the room. Good luck.
Whitehouse, TX · Member since 2017 · 159 posts · 61 votes
9y
Nate S. Looks like the mold was probably caused from the washer leaking or something of that nature. I would use green rock which is a sheet rock that better handles moisture. Then use kiltz primer to prime with. I would use the green rock in your wet areas such as laundry, bath, and kitchen.
Real Estate Investor · plattsmouth, NE · Member since 2008 · 94 posts · 11 votes
9y
I checked out kiltz paint there is water based and oil. I dont know which one to get it. I do have green sided dry wall. Now for flooring, should I do a cheap sticky vinyl for now? Make it look nice, looks like ****. I gotta fill the crack with some filler other suggestes I use a epoxy floor paint for it.