I'll try to explain this as best as I can. The problem is at the door to the walk-in closet off of our bathroom. On the left of the door is our shower stall. On the right of the door is the wall to the closed toilet room. The bathroom is tiled. On the carpet right at the door of the closet is a wet spot. It's right in the center of the the carpet immediately off of the tile. It a circle about 3"-4". The carpet is dry everywhere else between the spot and shower and wall to the toilet. That's problem number one. Problem number two is related and something I didn't notice until last night. Behind the closet door (which always remains open so I've never seen this before) is part of the wall and a built-in shelf for shoes, etc. On the bottom of the baseboard is something black...I'm fearing mold and it has me going crazy. The toilet room is behind that wall. The house is only 2 1/2 years old. There has never been a leak that I know of. The toilet was replaced about 2 years ago under warranty because of a crack. I've never noticed the spot, or didn't pay attention to it before because it's so small. I only noticed it was damp last night. If there is indeed a leak I can't understand why more of the carpet is not wet. The tile surrounding the toilet is not wet either and there is no sign of black on the baseboard in the toilet room. Any ideas? And who should I call to come look at this? Thanks.
faos, I can tell you right now that the leak is coming from the shower. I had the same problem with my house, and actually, continue to have it. You might want to carefully inspect the caulk around the base on the inside of the shower (where the walls and floor meet) and see if any of it has deteirorated. If so, just peel off the old caulk, spray some bleach/water mixture in there to take of the mold and then recaulk it (make sure and clean the joints real good with alcohol or the caulk might not stick long term). If you don't want to mess with it, definitely call your builder. They should handle it, assuming you bought the home new. You might need to replace the baseboard, or have the builder replace it if the wood is actually rotted. But the mold should go away on its own as long as its source of water has been eliminated.
Codell, The only reason I don't think it's the shower is because the mold is on the other side of the toilet room wall. Now doing some further inspecting I notice the carpet is very slightly damp on the back of the closet wall behind the toilet room. I've never noticed it before because it's under a shelf and my wife keeps her shoe boxes down there. I still can't understand why everything looks normal in the toilet room. The wall and carpet in the closet adjoining the shower looks fine.
It could be that your toilet seal (the wax ring) did not seat properly. That would cause water to run under the floor every time you flush the toilet. It won't come back up through the tile so you won't see it there, but if it leaks out enough, it will come out where ever it can like the closest carpet. At that point, mold will gather, but not on the other side of the wall since the tile keeps the moisture in.
I can't really understand the relative positions of the shower, toilet and the wetspot but let me add that leaking shower pans are a very common problem. They usually reveal themselves as wet spots on the outside of the slab under the shower. Even in this rainy weather you should be able to see where the mold and alge have been growing for a long time. What kind of warranty did you get from the builder? The toilet seal would be a much easier fix so I hope that's what it turns out to be.
Here's the layout. If you are standing in my bathroom looking into the closet, the shower is on the left and the toilet room is on the right. There is a tiny damp spot in the center of the carpet right at the door. But it's only a small spot. The mold and very slightly damp carpet is on the RIGHT side in the closet (not near the shower) on the baseboard wall that backs up the toilet room. I think the plumbing is not covered anymore under the warranty now (2 years if I read it correctly).
Fix the leak, or have the leak fix. Clean up the mold with 1 part bleach, 4 parts water. Just an FYI: Every house in Houston has mold and they have all had mold since Houston has existed. Just clean it up, it is no big deal. "toxic" mold was a term developed to sue people. Oh, if the mold is on the carpet, use carpet cleaner. The bleach would ruin the carpet.
Sorry. Misunderstood the layout of the bathroom. Definitely get with your builder Faos. Along with the toilet drain, there could be pipes in that wall that are leaking. You can pick up something called a moisture meter at home depot or lowes if you feel inclined to doing this all on your own. You run it along drywall and it will help pickup where the water is. Supermac34 is right that most mold is nothing to be scared of.
I confirm on the bleach use to clean up, but we had a a/c leak that caused black mold on the carpet. Carpet cleaner wouldn't touch it (even Blue Corral - which I think is the best). So since the carpet was cream color, I figured white would look better than black and used the same bleach mix to clean the carpet. It looked good as new and didn't turn it any abnormal color. I will say, only use bleach as a last resort and test in a small out of the way place if possible - but it can work.
Most builders have a 2 year warranty that covers the whole house and then a 10 year warranty that covers major struture. Your problem is borderline, but I would think they would at least look at it to see which category it falls under. If you have mold on the carpet, make sure and replace the padding underneath.
Ding, ding...we have a winner. Two of the three walls in my toilet room are gone now, awaiting repair after everything dries out. The carpet in the closet has also been removed. A dehumidifier is running and will continue over the next few days. They also had to take down a built in shelf.
I don't know much about houses, but... why is everyone so freaked out about mold? It's not like people haven't always lived with it. Or haven't always been allergic to it. Can't you just clean it up yourself, at least enough that you can live with it? It just seems ridiculous when people move out of their houses for months just to get the mold cleaned up. It makes me want to just live with mold on purpose just to see what happens. I bet nothing happens at all.
It's not the mold that's freaking me out. There was water damage to the walls, carpet and shelving in my bedroom that had to be taken care of. And it wasn't just plain ol' water, it was the stuff that goes down the drain when you flush it if you get my drift.
Allergists: Mold Scare "Not Based on Facts" LAST UPDATE: 11/19/2002 7:23:19 PM Posted By: Jim Forsyth http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=D7453276-4A57-4AA1-BD6C-E93C3632D583 The nation's top allergy and asthma doctors, meeting in San Antonio, say there is no evidence whatsoever that mold growth in homes and businesses is a health risk. "There is no evidence whatsoever that toxins caused by mold have caused any health problems, now or ever," Dr. Emil Bardona of the University of Portland in Oregon and a leading expert on mold borne disease, told the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology meeting in San Antonio. The College's research mirrors similar studies performed in recent months by the Texas Medical Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all agreeing that while indoor mold might aggravate certain types of allergies and asthma conditions, mold is not a health risk. "Mold is not a major indoor allergen," Bardona said. "It's actually more of a problem in the out of doors where it's much more prevalent." Bardona and other allergy and asthma specialists attending the convention say the mold hysteria which has lined the pockets of attorneys and so called 'mold remediation specialists' and prompted a huge increase in Texas homeowners insurance rates is based on 'bad information.' "If mold was going to harm us, we would have been harmed thousands and thousands of years ago," he said. "Mold makes up 25 percent of the earth's entire biomass, and are nature's natural garbage can. Without mold this planet would be swimming in waste." Allergy doctors say while the presence of mold in a home is evidence of a water leak and could amount to a structural problem, the climate which has people ripping out entire walls when mold is found due to fear that it will cause health-threatening diseases is 'ridiculous.'
