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Removing Drywall Mold   by Slade Tanner

If you happen to see small black spots on the walls of your home, you may be looking at a very serious mold situation. If this is in fact true, you will want to do what is necessary to get rid of the mold so that your home will again be safe.

This is a simple guide to remove the mold from your drywall.

The first thing you need to do is make sure that you are actually looking at mold on the walls of your home. You can generally smell mold that you have in your home. If the mold smells musty, than there is most likely more mold growing in additional places in your home.

You can generally find the mold by searching for water damage. You can find water damage mold in your basements, near the doors and windows, and in your attic. You can even find it behind your appliances that need to use water such as deep freezers, washers, refrigerators, water heaters and dishwashers.

The next thing you will want to do is assess if you have enough damage to employ a professional company such as a mold removal company or if it is a small problem that you can take care of on your own. If you have at least 10 square feet of damage, it is best to hire a mold removal company.

If you find the job is a small job and you can do it yourself, be sure to wear protective attire and gear. You will need a respiratory mask, goggles and rubber gloves. You should wear these items because mold can travel easily and quickly with even the smallest touch. Now you need to cut around the areas of your wall that has the fungus present because mold can't be removed from these types of walls. Make sure to be very careful around the electrical wiring when you are cutting out the wall.

Now that you have removed the wall and gotten rid of the areas that are contaminated, you need to sand down any of the wood studs that are in the moldy wall in order to completely get rid of the traces of the mold. Many owners try scrubbing the area with bleach. However, this is not quite enough to get rid of the mold.

After you have sanded the areas, you are going to want to clean the surfaces that surrounding with a product for mold removal and allow it to seep into the area for a minimum of fifteen minutes. You can locate these products for mold removal at most farming stores, discount stores and hardware stores. It is very important to remember to be careful when you are cleaning around the electrical wiring. Please remember that bleach is not enough to get rid of the mold. It has actually been shown in recent studies that bleach is ineffective in seeping to the surface where the mold normally hides.

Once the mold has been removed and the surface has dried, you can start to repair the wall. Remember that you might want to use some fans or another form of ventilation to help dry the surface quicker. A dehumidifier will even be helpful if you happen to own one.

If you have begun to remove the drywall mold and you have found that there is even more damage than you thought, you should call a professional in to check out the damage, take care of the infected areas and conduct any repairs that might be necessary to eliminate the growth of the fungus. The health of your family is more important.

Follow the tips above to clean drywall and other household mold.

About the Author

Slade Tanner likes to write about household mold.