How to Stop Mold Growth in Wet Basements

Stop Basement Mold

I have tackled mold issues in wet basements and tried a lot of different ways to solve the problem. I have come across pretty bad mold damage that required me to remove drywall and even tear out studs and replace them. My experiences have lead me to discover that you can tackle and beat mold issues in your own home basement without the use of professional services. Wet Basements are nothing but bad news when it comes to mold growth. Standing water in a basement and constant leaks are ideal for promoting mold growth and helping the spread of mold throughout the entire house. Mold remediation can be a pretty challenging project and usually involves very caustic chemicals that can make you sick. As a homeowner and rental property owner, one of the best ways I have found to kill mold and prevent mold growth in a damp basement is to dry the basement and repair the cause of the water collection, then use a mold remediation technique called Fogging. Fogging is a technique that uses environmentally safe products to kill the mold and prevent its spread. The use of these safe products reduces your chances of getting sick, only attacks the mold, and guarantees a resolution to your mold issues. Here is how you do it.

Things You'll Need

• Utility Pump
• Air Mover
• De-Humidifier
• Mop and Bucket
• Bleach
• Water Spray Bottle
• fogger
• concrobium
• MoldZyme

Instructions

1. Like I stated in the introduction of this article, typical mold remediation efforts in a wet basement involve the use of caustic chemicals such as bleach and very strong cleaning products to kill and clean the mold. These chemicals irritate the nose, throat, eyes, and skin - and are very unpleasant to work with. You have probably even used them in the past to try and solve your mold problems. Typical mold remediation can also be very expensive when using professional services. Mold is a very serious issue and can cause many health issues to residents in homes with moldy wet basement conditions. You may not see a lot of mold in your basement or you may just smell a musty odor in your basement - but you need to take the promotion of mold growth in a wet basement as a very serious problem which can cause further health conditions and property damage. If you have visible mold growth and water in your basement, then you will want to follow the steps below immediately.

2. The most common cause of mold growth and spread in a basement is water. Water can get into a basement in many ways and once in your basement promotes a damp, cold, moist condition for mold to thrive in. The first thing you need to do is find the cause of water and moisture in your basement. When trying to find the cause of water collection and accumulation in your basement these are the most common things to look for:
   1) Plumbing/Pipes/Drains that need repair
   2) Condensation Buildup
   3) Water Runoff getting into the basement
   4) High Groundwater seeping into the basement

3. 

   Once you find the cause of the water problems, pump the water out of your basement using a heavy-duty 1/6 HP portable utility pump. You want to get a pump that can be submerged and has a garden hose attachment that you can run out of a basement window for easy water discharge. Home Depot sells these pumps. I use this kind of pump to help me get rid of water during flood problems in my basement.

4. 

   Once you have gotten rid of the bulk of the water, get an air mover or carpet fan and run it in the basement to get rid of the rest of the standing pools of water. You will also want to use a mop and bucket and soak up the water puddles that are left to help improve the efficiency of the air mover.

5. 

   You will also want to purchase a humidifier and place it in the basement and keep it running to pull the moisture out of the air of the basement. Be sure to run a hose from the collection bucket on the humidifier to you storm drain so that it can continually run and drain. Be sure to get a humidifier that will last a long time because you will need to keep using this humidifier to help keep water moisture manageable. You want to keep the moisture in your basement less than 55%.

6. After you have pumped out the water, dry your basement with an air mover, and have a dehumidifier running - fix or repair the issues that are causing the water to collect in your basement. If the water is being caused by any of the 4 items mentioned in Step 2, repairs can be made to stop the water from entering your basement based on what type of conditions you have. Once the repairs have been made, you can work on getting rid of the mold for good!

7. To get rid of the mold in your wet basement, I recommend that you use a borate bleach solution/chlorine bleach solution mixed with a little bit of laundry detergent and you spray it onto the mold using a household spray bottle. Wear a respirator before working close to the mold to protect yourself from any mold spores. There have been EPA tests that show that Bleach alone does not kill mold, so use detergent mixed in as well. Allow this solution to work on killing the mold over the next week. While you are waiting, do a search online for a product called MoldZyme and purchase it in concentrated form. We are going to use some to fog your entire house in the next step.

8. 

   The reason I recommend you use the product called MoldZyme is that is an enzymatic mold remediation product that literally will eat the mold and digest it. The enzyme in the product is natural and will not harm people or cause allergic reactions. We need to use a fogger to basically fog the enzyme throughout the home and any areas that are affected with mold to ensure full coverage of the area. You may have not heard of this because it is a relatively new way to get rid of mold, and there are not a lot of companies out there that do it. I personally know of a company called Guardian Preservation Services that uses a special enzyme to kill mold, but there services are not widely available. Visit their site and read about how they do it to get a better idea how to do this yourself!

9. 

   After you have purchased and received your MoldZyme product, go to the Home Depot and rent a fogger. The Home Depot rents foggers for Mold Remediation with a product called Croncrobium. We will use this in a later step, but we want to first fog the entire area of our basement with the MoldZyme. Mix the concentrated MoldZyme into the fogger as directed.

10. Follow the directions that come with the Fogger and fog your entire basement with the MoldZyme starting in the areas that are most heavily affected first. I recommend that you fog every room in your house as well to make sure that you are killing all mold spores that may have spread. Even if you can not smell the mold - fog the room! Then fog your HVAC system by removing access panels and registers and getting the fog directly into your duct work. You will need to move your furniture around when fogging your rooms to make sure that you get full coverage.

11. Once you have finished fogging your rooms with the MoldZyme, allow this to do what it has to do for at least a week. This gives the enzymes time to digest and kill the mold that you have growing in your home. You may have to go through and fog the basement and rooms a second time to really get rid of all of the mold.

12. 

    Once a week has passed, or after your second application of MoldZyme, go back out to Home Depot and re-rent the fogger. Now we will want to fog the entire house again with the Concrobium product that you can purchase from the Home Depot. Concrobium is a protective fungicidal film coating that is applied to areas where there is mild mold growth and also applied to areas that you do not want mold growth. This product literally lays down a clear film that dries over mold and crushes it and kills the mold. It will also kill the MoldZyme by trapping it so that is why you should allow this product to do its job first before killing it with the Concrobium layer.

13. Fog your entire basement with the Croncobium product now and allow this to dry as directed.

14. Keep a humidifier running in the basement and also install a humidity to check the levels of moisture in your basement. Keep it above 55% humidity to ensure that mold will not have the proper conditions to regrow. Also check your basement water repairs regularly to make sure that you are not getting any more water in your basement.

Resources

• About Fogging Mold
• Mold Zyme Product Link