Normal Mold vs. Toxic Mold (apartment, house, analysis, landlords)
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My apartment recently had a water heater leak through a ceiling and down two floors of our apartment. There is now mold growing on the ceiling in the basement bathroom. There was mold in the upstairs pantry for a while too. My landlord is claiming that the house is 100 years old and the mold was there when he lived there. He said it isn't toxic and doesn't need to be torn out, that Killz and some paint will fix the issue. Does this sound valid to you? How does he REALLY know it isn't toxic?
Maybe he had it tested once before. The bottom line is that only a very small percentage of mold is toxic. If you're concerned you can buy a toxic mold testing kit and send it off to a lab for analysis.
Maybe he had it tested once before. The bottom line is that only a very small percentage of mold is toxic. If you're concerned you can buy a toxic mold testing kit and send it off to a lab for analysis.
I extremely doubt he tested it. In the case that he hasn't, which he never mentioned he has. Who is responsible for finding out for sure?
I extremely doubt he tested it. In the case that he hasn't, which he never mentioned he has. Who is responsible for finding out for sure?
How much are those kits?
I'd say it's your responsibility given that in only a very small percentage of cases does it turn out that such mold is toxic. If it did turn out to be toxic mold then your local health department would probably get involved to do further testing and you'd likely have to move at least temporarily with your LL bearing some of that cost.
You can google, "mold testing kits" and find plenty of them. Home Depot carries them as do most hardware stores and they run under $10 with results in 48 hours. sware2cod is probably right in that it's just mildew ...
My apartment recently had a water heater leak through a ceiling and down two floors of our apartment. There is now mold growing on the ceiling in the basement bathroom. There was mold in the upstairs pantry for a while too. My landlord is claiming that the house is 100 years old and the mold was there when he lived there. He said it isn't toxic and doesn't need to be torn out, that Killz and some paint will fix the issue. Does this sound valid to you? How does he REALLY know it isn't toxic?
Because he stayed at a holiday inn last night and by virtue of being a landlord he is a doctor too and because landlords know everything of course.
The only way to tell if it is toxic is to take a sample of the mold, grow a culture and have it tested to discover the species. Both toxic mold and non-toxic mold can make you sick. Kilz won't handle the problem.
The only way to cure the problem is usually removal. Any removal needs to be done by someone familiar with mold and also done by a lead safe certified firm (lead based paint precautions).
Kilz doesn't kill mold/mildew It 'kills' stains, including those made after cleaning mold.
It's possible there is mold behind the ceiling but from a short term leak, cleaning with a mildewcide or a Clorox &water mixture will usually take care of the problem
Clean it up properly and see if it returns.
If it does, the LL needs to get involved.
mold always grows on wet things.if you fix from where the water is leaking.the mold will go automatically
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