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diyer2009 · May 9, 2013, 08:11 PM

Hello all, I recently noticed brownish black mold growing in my bathroom where the bathtub meets the wall. I cleaned the area once with tilex and its grown back with a small mushroom added in for good measure. The ironic thing is this bathroom is never used so I'm thinking there's something leaking behind that wall. Any ideas what I can do short of ripping the wall down? The wall itself is tile and mirror covered. Also I'm in a condo and the bathroom is on the second floor with roof above that (flat I think, never been up there).

Thanks much in advance for advice.

tickle · May 10, 2013, 12:38 PM

I don't know what else you can do to solve the problem, it doesn't sound very healthy or hygienic, other then getting a look at what is behind that wall. Mould and mildew are one thing, but then having mushrooms growing is really disgusting and too organic for my liking.

smoothy · May 10, 2013, 12:47 PM

Is the wall "soft"? If your grout and caulking is compromised the water can be coming from your own shower.

How often does this get cleaned? And you certainly do need to use a cleaning product with bleach in it to kill the mold and mildew.

diyer2009 · May 10, 2013, 01:12 PM

Hi, the wall isn't soft but its hard to tell because its tile. The shower/tub is never used (guest bathroom and I have no guests ;) Here are a couple of pictures:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oukrjv7qpgqm6vy/mold1.JPG

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4pthc8o2w6vsh8w/mold2.JPG

The black thing on the floor is the mushroom head that I knocked off the wall last night. Last time I cleaned it was probably 2 weeks ago (and now).

tickle · May 10, 2013, 01:53 PM

Yes, I agree with smoothy about the bleach, but that isn't going to kill the mushroom growth. You still have to see what is behind the wall. Sorry, I am not an expert on this, but know this and that, and if it were me, I would be behind the wall now. As a woman who lives by good hygiene, as many of us should nowawadays, my first priority would be seeing behind the wall... maybe we can all write a book... called...

smoothy · May 10, 2013, 02:45 PM

That's actually on the outside of the tub between the tub and floor.

I see a HUGE void in the caulking between the tub and the floor... was the other caulking any better.

I'm also wondering if the wrong type of caulking was used for what's there...

2 weeks is actually a very long time between cleaning when you have mildew present. When there is you need to hit it as soon as it presents itself... even if that's every day or two.

Does your bathroom vent to the outdoors? It looks like an older Condo when it wasn't very common to do so... meaning you can have very high humidity for extended periods.