mold removal from basement

Anyone know what the average cost is for mold removal in a finished basement? TIA!

Re: mold removal from basement

How much mold and is it behind the walls or is it visible? What color is it?

You can DIY if you're interested but you need to be careful.

To remove mold you first must spray the entire area with chlorine bleach. Don't make it SOPPING but enough to offer a nice coating to wherever has the mold (wall board, beams, foundation, etc.)

****VERY IMPORTANT***** It must be entirely dry before doing anything else!!!

After the bleach is completely dry (should be a day or 2), spray the area with ammonia.

You may need to follow-up with a second cycle for black mold, but remember to let the area completely dry before you apply the ammonia, otherwise you'll create chlorine gas and that is extremely dangerous.

Mold removal services are pretty expensive and alot of times THIS is the process they use. They may also use UV lights to kill the mold.

As long as you wear a painters mask and follow the steps above, it'll cost you under $10.

HTH. You can feel free to FM me if you want more info. My company works with commercial mold remediation.

ETA: have you determined the cause of the mold? High humidity? Leak? If mold is on carpet or on a saturated wallboard, it may need to be replaced.

Message edited 7/9/2010 12:08:15 AM.

Re: mold removal from basement

If it's a lot of mold, I would get it removed professionally. You can cut away sheetrock or trim that is infested with it if it's a small area.. We did this in our basement for one area that got a lot of water this winter/spring. Just removed most of the sheetrock and trim that got moldy. We have yet to replace it, but we made some adjustments to our drainage outside and our gutters, and we're kind of waiting for a big storm to figure out if that did the trick or if we need to expand our French drain.

If it's a really small patch, use gloves and a mask, ventilate the space, and squirt with bleach. Let the bleach sit for awhile, then squirt again later with more bleach and clean. The first squirting is to wet the area and keep mold spores from flying around the room when you wipe.