Recently I've seen mold growth in my home, they're the white kind. I cleaned them up but I don't know if I can get rid of them all, and they might spread. I've been living here for more than 10 years and never had mold issues until now. I don't know what to do. How can I stop this? and what preventative measures can I take to keep the mold from stopping? I appreciate any help I can get. Thanks in advance!

 

Controlling the humidity and having good ventilation is important to preventing mold growth.

 

I would let your landlord know and let them figure it out and fix the problem, especially since they'll be putting the place for sale soon.

 

I planned on staying in my place and hoping that the new owner would allow that. I try to remain optimistic, but when you mentioned that the landlord is selling the place, as in I have to move out (that's what I took it as), now I am bummed out. Now I am more depressed than ever.

 

Telling us where it is occurring might help.

 

Sorry, didn't mean to make you feel bad. Guess it would depend on what the new owner's intentions are. If they want to continue to rent, then I'm sure they'd let you stay on.

 

@Shadeladie,

That's ok, I know you were only trying to help. I guess it's me who is frustrated with things in my life that go wrong one after the other.

I've spotted mold in two places. The wooden cabinets in my kitchen area, and my closet (where I put my clothes) which is about 15 feet from the kitchen area. I've seen the mold on my clothes in the closet, and the wooden floor in my closet where my clothes are. The mold is white, and a few of them (in the closet) are white mold and green mold on the wooden floor in the closet. I even have a de-humidifier. They're easy to wipe the mold off the clothes and cabinets. I'm just concerned that they will continue to grow.

 

Part of the reason you have mold in the closet is because of the lack of ventilation which allows moisture to gather. It's possible your de-humidifier isn't up to the job .... or maybe needs to be placed in a better location.

 

Makes sense because I've recently kept the closet door closed. I've never placed the humidifier in that location. I just assumed that you can place the de-humidifier in the center and it takes care of the rest. As for the kitchen, I've been boiling a lot of water lately. Also, I usually don't open the windows because bugs and flies come through the screen window. I only open them when I take a shower.

 

I meant to say "I've never placed the De-humidifier in that location"

 

I didn't even notice I'm made that exact same mistake a time or two myself

Keeping the closet door open more might be enough.

 

I opened the windows this time to ventilate the whole house. I'm going to wait a day or two to see if mold is still growing. Hopefully the open windows and placing the de-humidifier in the right locations will do the trick. Thanks for all the advice!

 

Found more mold today. My biggest concern is that mold spreading and making me sick. Lately I've been feeling very depressed and sick. I did some research and it was said that mold can cause memory loss, depression, and illness. I am at a loss now and don't know what to do.

 

I still think you should run it by your landlord. They own the place and should be responsible for taking care of any issues, I would think.

 

Mold has been around since the beginning of time. Most folks aren't affected much by mold. Those who are affected the most are those with respiratory ailments. I wouldn't be too concerned unless you remove the mold and it comes back. If the mold is just on the surface it is pretty easy to take care of. Increasing ventilation and controlling the humidity takes care of it the majority of the time.

 

I emailed my Landlord about the mold situation. The problem is that he's lazy. I have to ask him like 5 times about a situation before he replies back. He's all about the money and will actually do some work himself (e.g., cutting grass, etc.) just to save money, instead of hiring a contractor. My issue is that the unit was buit poorly. For example: there are gaps underneath the baseboards in the floor area, and that causes moisture to collect in the walls, and can cause gnats to grow, and all other sorts of problems. I don't know what they're called, but it's something that goes underneath the ground baseboards to seal the gaps underneath it. Mostly all living spaces have that, but not mine. The landlord knew that the unit was dilapidated from the start and did nothing to remedy that problem.

I cleaned up most of the areas where the mold growth was at. I'll wait a day more or two to see if they grow back. This time I'm opening the windows when I eat hot food, and even use the de-humidifier to see if that solves the problem. If not, then I'll let the landlord know that he needs to send a mold removal expert to assess the situation to see how bad it is. I hope the mold doesn't come back after ventilating my unit and using the de-humidifier. Thanks for all the advice!

 

Shoe molding is often put at the bottom of baseboard to close up any gaps. It's normally used where there is hard flooring and not when there is carpet. It's highly unlikely that those gaps are allowing moisture to get in the walls!

If your landlord was lazy I doubt he'd be doing much of the maintenance himself. He could be strapped for cash.

 

are you in a basement? Are you on a crawlspace? What is the humidity outside? Opening windows could be making it worse.