What kind of mold (whatever) is this?!?!?

Question

Okay so this is in our apt., we live in a very old building, parts have water damage from roof leakage, the apt above us has been getting construction from it. Anyways when we moved in there were small signs of this white, puffy, under the paint mold (or something), my dad said it looked like dry rot. Anyways its gotten worse, some spots have "bursted" through the paint. What is it and is it dangerous?

file:///C:/Users/Cassie/Pictures/mold2.jpg

file:///C:/Users/Cassie/Pictures/Mold1.jpg

Sorry about the terrible quality
Thanks!

Answer 1

White, puffy powder-like substance that erupted through the paint sounds like efflorescence. Older apartments normally have plaster walls. When plaster gets wet under latex paint the minerals in plaster rise to the top of the plaster. When the plaster minerals dry they accumulate under latex paint until the paint can stretch no more and it erupts. This is usually not mold. To clean this the wall eruption can be scraped, after it is water misted, with a putty knife until it no longer sheds loose paint and the powdery substance. Wash the recently scraped area with water and TSP, allow it to dry(making sure the cause of the roof leak is stopped). To be on the safe side, while in home depot picking up the mold testing kit, buy a lead paint test too as any building built prior to 1978 is bound to have lead based paint on the walls or even asbestos fibers in the plaster.

Answer 2

tried to click on the url,without it blue highlighted,,,doesn't lead anywhere.

home depot sells a mold culture kit for 9 or 10 dollars,follow the instructions for collecting a sample,close

the lid,(not too tightly) leave it in a dark area for a couple weeks,,mold has hundred of varieties,

different colors,some like stachybotrus cause illnesses,like lung fungal infections,skin lesions,sinusitis,

memory problems.

after the kit has grown cooties for a couple weeks,send the sample to the lab cited on the instructions

they look at it under the scope to identify it,,,,an environmental consulting/inspecting company

can do all this,plus the remediation,some of these businesses are slick,claiming dangerous mold,or fungus,and needle you to plop down 5-10,000 bucks to clean,spray,then put down new paint everywhere.

Answer 3

Ugh! Sounds like 'black mold'. That can be very dangerous to your health. You need to get a health/building inspector to evaluate it. If it IS, the landlord, by law will have to fix it or be fined and still have to fix it. The building code people can assist you to see that the right steps are taken. (It needs to be done quickly)







Papaw