Can I kill mold without ripping out the wall?
I had an ice dam on my house, over the past couple of days water has been slowly trickling into my laundry room which has old plaster walls covered in wall paper and paint. The wall and the edge of the ceiling is wet and a little soft in places, and I think mold might be starting to grow, in some places the water running down the walls is orange (I don’t know why, possibly dye from the wallpaper, or something in the wood framing, the house is very old). I wanted to remodel this room eventually but I don’t have the time or money to do it right now. Is there any way to kill or prevent mold growth on and in the walls without ripping them out?
I was thinking of using a spray on the walls … but I have a feeling this is only superficial and that there could still be growth behind the plaster.
I’d just like to get some opinions.
tim r
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A common misnomer is that a bleach/water solution will kill mold. IT WILL NOT. You need an industrial strength bleach to accomplish this. Without removing the wall board, you will not be able to safely remove the mold. If you wait, you can only hope the water dries out so the mold doesn’t prosper.
Kilz primer will not be effective if the mold is continuing to grow. You have to remove the mold, dry things out, then and only then can you encapsulate safely.
There are many reasons mold is dangerous, and that doesn’t take in account the adverse health effects. Feel free to e-mail me with the particulars and I will try to help you further. Good luck.
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certified mold inspector & remediator
Filed under kill mold by on Mar 16th, 2009. Comment. 
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Comments on Can I kill mold without ripping out the wall?
Try a solution of bleach and water.
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Simple: Spray bleach, cheap and easy…
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Bleach will kill the superficial mold but as you say, it may be inside the wall. If so, you would need to replace your drywall.
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bleach doesnt always work. we had a bathroom that was infested withmold we tryed everything… bleach, paint, pine-sol,
bins primer. nothing worked and the walls needed replacement.
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Orange Water????
While you may be focusing on real problems caused by ice dams, etc, check your water pipes as well.
If your outside walls have old water pipes in them, the iron oxide on the interior of the pipes (rust = orange) might be part of the problem.
An ice dam is always a symptom – with a lot of problems to fix that you may or may not want to do – insulation, air flow, etc – but when ice builds it can also cause old pipes to flex – creating a crack in the pipes that leads to the orange seapage.
Old nails will also sweat orange – but I’d check to see if you have water pipes there first.
Another old house owner,
Bill