How to Rid a Block House of Mold

Block house construction is common for garages, sheds and other outbuildings. Very often ventilation and lighting is a secondary concern for these buildings, and many have dirt floors. The dark and damp space creates an ideal breeding ground for all kinds of mold to prosper on the cinder block walls. Cleaning mold out of a block house is a simple procedure but ridding the block house permanently of mold is somewhat more involved.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 2 buckets
• Bleach
• Scrub brush
• Sponge
• White vinegar
• Spray bottle
• Old rags

1. Open all the doors and windows in the block house to create the best ventilation possible.

2. Make your main disinfecting solution in a bucket, using 1 cup bleach for every gallon of water.

3. Scrub the cinder block walls with a plastic scrub brush and your disinfecting solution. Apply this to any surface that has mold, and that will not be bleached-out by your disinfecting solution. You will need to scrub the walls hard and thoroughly, because cinder block presents a pitted surface that provides plenty of places for mold to hide and survive.

4. Allow the disinfectant to sit in place for five minutes, and then wipe it up with a damp sponge. Wring the sponge out in a bucket of clean water, dunk it to cleanse the sponge, wring it out again and continue wiping.

5. Clean up mold infestations on things you do not want to apply bleach to (leather, for example) with white vinegar. Apply the vinegar with a spray bottle, let it sit on the mold for five minutes and then wipe it off.

6. Allow your block house to remain open and fully ventilated for the next several hours, so the drafts can blow out any spores floating in the air.

Tips & Warnings

• Ridding your block house of mold permanently means addressing the cause. Inspect your building for leaks and have them fixed to mitigate moisture. Other good ideas are to install exhaust fans to improve ventilation or to put in more windows to improve the amount of mold-killing natural light that gets into the block house.