Question from Stacy D
I just recently discovered that my son’s fishtank that he has had for 2 1/2 months had been leaking from the tank every time that I opened the tank to feed the fish or clean the tank. A small drip would travel from the tank, down the cord to the floor. The tank was sitting on a wooden bookshelf. I discovered some dirty water around the bottom of the front corner of the bookshelf yesterday while vacuuming his room.
After feeling around to the back of the bookshelf, I realized what had been happening. After emptying the bookshelf and removing it from the room, I saw black mold on the carpet and onthe bottom of the bookshelf. I cut out the moldy part of the carpet and pad and removed them from the room.
We were going to replace the carpet with hardwood next month anyway so it wasn’t a big deal. I also saw a small amount of mold on the subfloor. I was unable to completely remove the trim from the wall because my son’s bed is too heavy to move without disassembling it. I did, however, pull the trim away from the wall as far as I could with a screwdriver to check for water damage. I’m fairly certain I saw a small amount of mold on the inside of the trim as well.
I applied 3 seperate applications of tea tree oil to the floor and between the trim and wall and let each application dry naturally. Was that enough to kill the mold? What else should I do to completely get rid of the mold and the spores that it will leave behind? I thought that I might be able to salvage the bookshelf by spraying bleach and water and letting it dry out in the sun. The bookshelf was givin to my son as a gift and was very expensive. I am apprehensive to put it back in the room.
Luckily, my son hasn’t slept in his room for most of the summer.I am grateful for that. What else should I do before allowing him to return to his room? should I scrap the bookshelf? do I need to wipe down the walls in his room to get rid of the spores?
Debra’s Answer
I have successfully used heat to kill mold throughout a room (put a space heater in the room, close windows and doors, and let it bake for a few days to a week). However, mold can be very damaging to health.
My most prudent recommendation is to call a professional mold remediator, to get their evaluation and recommendation at least. You probably also want to have the air tested for mold.
Children are much more susceptable than adults to the effects of indoor air pollutants. It will cost much less now to clean this up and know it’s done right than it will if you need to handle your son’s health problems in the future.
