We have friend who's an excavator that said he'll help us make a french drain. Now, how to clean up the musty probably moldy but definitely dirty basement? It's unfinished, and really wet right now. My husband wants to spray the whole place with bleach and close the door for a week. Bad idea?
That is a good fix, and it will work. Use pool chlorine instead as it has more bacteria killer than store bleach, and its usually the same price. Drywall holds moisture, so if you have raw drywall figure a way to get it behind the face of the drywall, this will work for about 2 months. No drywall and the pool chlorine will work well.
Unfortunately, that's really the only way to do it. Use a 50/50 mix though. Then there's a special paint you can buy to help prevent the mildew from coming back. I forgot what that was called though. Make sure you get as much ventilation down there as possible. Good luck.
DONT USE BLEACH!!! It's such a harsh chemical and will do more harm than good. I saw this on a episode of Holmes on Homes the other day. I believe they have tips on their website for this. www.makeitright.ca/makeitright/in... Good luck and be careful, mold is deadly!
The first course of action is to eliminate the moisture that is causing the mold to grow. That should be partially accomplished with the new drainage you are having installed. Alternatively you can install a drain tile internally along the basement walls, which can be done without messy excavation, by jack hammering a few inches off the floor slab close to the wall, and laying a proprietary internal drain tile over a bed of gravel and a sump pump. Internal systems do the same thing french drains do but they cost about 50% less to install and are serviceable, which is why good companis offer Transferable Lifetime Warranty on them. Anyway, once you solve the drainage issue, run a dehumidifier in the basement to bring the relative humidity levels down to around 50%. That will cause the mold to dry out and stop releasing spores. Spores are the problem with mold. They are airborne, they trigger allergies and they cause mold infections to spread. When the mold is dry it can be safely removed, with a bleach solution. If you try the bleach while the mold is still active, it might release even more spores in the air. Mold is a living thing and will try to survive when under attack. When the mold is dry, wipe walls and floors with it. If there is mold in wood, fabric, paper, drywall or anything organic and porous, those materials will have to be removed and discarded, because according to the US Center for Disease Control, there is no way to effectively or safely remove mold from such surfaces. However, if the contamination is wide spread, consult a professional as only mold remediation pros have the proper gear, technique and products to disinfect large mold infestations.
