Fungi fungus mold in basement after several floods?

Question

Our basement has been flooding a lot lately. It is carpeted down there and the walls are wooden. I just went down there today and noticed some type of fungi Fungus coming from the walls on the floor. The fungus is light tan colored ... kinda looks like little elephant ears . Any ideas on how to get rid of this problem and what the problem is? Im really scared. thanks!

Answer 1

The food industry only uses about 4:1 or 5:1 and that is meant to take care of anything you can't eat...so I would immediately use this to your advantage!

1.) Definately rip up that carpet and padding, and take anything out of the room that is porous or could trap infestation like drapes or wood picture frames.

2.) Bleach mixed to the above ratio will be strong enough to kill the mold but safe enough to use with thin gloves and eye protection.

3.) Get some strong cross ventilation for a day or two to take the brunt of the moisture out.

4.) Dehumidify until you think the walls are dry, then turn the settings up and go for another week longer!

The bleach might not kill it fully and may only pasteurize the spores rendering them inert for 1-3 weeks. If you can get a steady relative humdity of 50% or lower the spores shouldn't grow again and wil eventually die out.

I also want to point out that unless you have an amazing HVAC system with ultraviolet light killing mold and bacteria near the HEPA filter, you will NOT want to run your HVAC too much until the room is somewhat dry. You will spead the problem to your ventilation system, which will haunt you for years.

If all else fails, ask your question again on the forums at http://www.mycowiki.org/ they are growing but a fair amount of traffic is seeing their forum each day so you have a chance of it being seen.

Answer 2

It sounds like you need to remove all the wet material, carpet, wall coverings and really dry the place  out.. Lots of ventilation or dehumidifier will be required. Nothing that can hold moisture should be kept down there untill your flooding problems have been fixed. The fungus I don't think is anything dangerous but it is a sign that the wood is rotting.

Answer 3

Congrats! You do indeed have a full blown fungal problem.  A problem this bad requires the removal of all the carpet, base trim and any other potential food source for the mold(Wood or textiles)  Once the food source is removed thoroughly clean the surfaces with Krud Kutter (sold at home depot) or detergent and bleach.  Place a couple of fans at a 30 degree angle towards the walls and rent a dehumidifier and let it run for approx 3-4 days, emptying it as often as necessary.   Once the basement floor and walls are dry you might want to paint them with a mildew resistant paint(Perma-white at home depot).