moisture & mildew

[articulatekitten]

in my closet.

There were no signs when I moved in, but when I pulled out my suitcase to take a trip last week, I noticed a small area in that corner of my closet where the wall has started mildewing. Messed up a nice little pair of suede boots, too. :mad:

The water heater is in there, but the area most affected is actually not right at the water heater.

Is there anything relatively inexpensive I can do to reduce the moisture in there?

[Trace]

in my closet.

There were no signs when I moved in, but when I pulled out my suitcase to take a trip last week, I noticed a small area in that corner of my closet where the wall has started mildewing. Messed up a nice little pair of suede boots, too. :mad:

The water heater is in there, but the area most affected is actually not right at the water heater.

Is there anything relatively inexpensive I can do to reduce the moisture in there?

roof leak in the wall. Any bathrooms near by or on the floor above? Mildew/mold only comes from constant moisture.

[Redsnapper]

Yep, something made that mold appear, and if you don't find the source, it will continue, to get rid off quickly, mix bleach and water in a spray bottle, then spray contanimated area, quick fix, but more investigation is needed.

[Trace]

but more investigation is needed.

Like behind the wall.

[blackjackwally]

Yep, something made that mold appear, and if you don't find the source, it will continue, to get rid off quickly, mix bleach and water in a spray bottle, then spray contanimated area, quick fix, but more investigation is needed.

Half cup to a cup of bleach per gallon of water.

[builder]

http://www.veritemp.com/Products/Bulk+Silica+Gel/

Usually, you can bake this stuff in the oven until it changes colors and use it over and over.

[VA49er]

Half cup to a cup of bleach per gallon of water. You can also add a couple tbsp of ammonia.

Have you ever mixed bleach and ammonia???

[blackjackwally]

Have you ever mixed bleach and ammonia???

I'm glad you caught that. Bleach and ammonia mixed can kill...literally. I meant to say half cup to a cup of bleach per gallon of water or add a couple tbsp of ammonia to a gallon of water.

NEVER MIX BLEACH AND AMMONIA.



My mistake. Thanks VA49er.

[articulatekitten]

The setup is kind of odd here. It's a ground floor apartment. Mine is a 1-BR that shares an entryway with another 1-BR, & there are 2 identical apartments on the upper floor. The rear of the closet shares a wall with that entry/foyer area. It's an odd shape--5 walls actually, but tiny & not proportional.

The closet door & the left wall are "normal," shape-wise. Then there are 3 shorter walls kind of angled off to the right. My bathroom is on the opposite side of the left wall. The water heater is in the left rear corner of the closet. The mildewed area is on the opposite side

Damn, I wish I could draw a picture & post it--this is too confusing. But if you have 5 line segments corresponding to the closet walls, the door/wall is A; left wall B; back wall C; short right wall D; slightly longer right wall is E. Water heater is at BC. Mildew is at DE, more on the D side. B is opposite my bathroom. C is opposite the outer entryway. D is opposite my entry, in my kitchen. E is opposite the area where my kitchen & living area meet.

It's a small apartment & a tiny closet, & stuffed full. I guess Imma hafta drag everything out for a closer inspection. :sad:

I sure can't afford to replace all this stuff....

[Trace]

The setup is kind of odd here. It's a ground floor apartment. Mine is a 1-BR that shares an entryway with another 1-BR, & there are 2 identical apartments on the upper floor. The rear of the closet shares a wall with that entry/foyer area. It's an odd shape--5 walls actually, but tiny & not proportional.

The closet door & the left wall are "normal," shape-wise. Then there are 3 shorter walls kind of angled off to the right. My bathroom is on the opposite side of the left wall. The water heater is in the left rear corner of the closet. The mildewed area is on the opposite side

Damn, I wish I could draw a picture & post it--this is too confusing. But if you have 5 line segments corresponding to the closet walls, the door/wall is A; left wall B; back wall C; short right wall D; slightly longer right wall is E. Water heater is at BC. Mildew is at DE, more on the D side. B is opposite my bathroom. C is opposite the outer entryway. D is opposite my entry, in my kitchen. E is opposite the area where my kitchen & living area meet.

It's a small apartment & a tiny closet, & stuffed full. I guess Imma hafta drag everything out for a closer inspection. :sad:

I sure can't afford to replace all this stuff....


Your upstairs neighbor might have a leak in their water heater. If it is an apartment call the office and get someone to look at it.

[articulatekitten]

Your upstairs neighbor might have a leak in their water heater. If it is an apartment call the office and get someone to look at it.

Knowing I'd have to pull tons of stuff out of the closet in order for them to look at it, I did that before calling the landlady. Dayum. It's all around the bottom foot or so of the closet. Looks like it's my water heater after all. Shit.

Thanks for all the advice, ya'll. This sucks, but it could have gotten a lot worse. :frown:

[Playa]

NEVER MIX BLEACH AND AMMONIA.



WHy? What happens?

[articulatekitten]

WHy? What happens?
You'll need one of these before you try it:

[articulatekitten]

Well, I emptied the damn thing & had the manager come look at it. She says all the units have that problem if you don't open the rooms up for at least awhile every day & let the air circulate, because the building is so old, & there's a crawl space underneath that gets very damp--especially in our rainy winters. Says to Tilex the mildewed areas till the mildew is gone, & keep the door open at least an hour a day. I have no problem with doing that & just leaving the door open all the time.

Isn't Tilex just bleach & water?

And is that enough action to deal with the problem, really?

I doubt I'll be staying here another full year. We're shopping for property for the kids & me where we'll each have our own place on the same piece of land, & expect to buy within a year at most.

[Superfluous_Nut]

dang. honestly, i don't think that's a reasonable solution. your landlord sounds like a cheapskate and is probably not abiding by the law. mold can be a very serious problem and simply saying "oh yeah, well, it's an old building" is bs.

[articulatekitten]

dang. honestly, i don't think that's a reasonable solution. your landlord sounds like a cheapskate and is probably not abiding by the law. mold can be a very serious problem and simply saying "oh yeah, well, it's an old building" is bs.

I wasn't too thrilled with the answer either. The manager generally does a damn good job of keeping things nice & taking care of things. The owner is apparently some guy in California whose English (both speaking & understanding) is fairly poor (not Hispanic; Russian or something).

Unless it's pretty damn serious, though, it doesn't seem worth my time & effort to fight about it. Maybe if I planned to live here longer I would. I just have too many other things to deal with if it's going to be a huge pain in the ass, & no financial resources at the moment, either.

I've been spraying the mildewed area with a solution of half bleach & half water for a couple days, & it seems to be clearing it up. There's not enough space to keep stuff from touching the walls when I put it back in the closet, though. I'm wondering if leaving the door open will be enough to keep it from happening again, or if I need to do something else.