I am going to have to make a move with my new bench work for my new layout. My mother-in-law is very ill and I need to relocate to my mother-in-law’s home to assist with her care giving. As I was visiting her home last week, I went downstairs into her basement. This would probably be the place where I have to put my layout. There is a very strong mold smell in the basement. No dehumidifier has been used or has been running in the last year. I know that a dehumidifier will help. Are there other things that can be done in order to help the laying of track work and keeping trains running besides the dehumidifier for this mold problem?
My inital thinking was of course a dehumidifier - you will need one of those. The real cure is to rid the basement of the source of the dampness and this will usually cost a lot of money and effort by way of drains and damp course - there is a lot of digging to be done.
Increase ventilation where you can, but first you need to give the basement area a very good clean getting rid of all dirt particles where possible and treating the basement with a suitable chemical recomended for the purpose. You should seek recomendations from your local hardware store for a suitable brand.
Always keeping the basement clean and dust free is an ongoing excersie that you can do and while labor intensive there is not too much money to spend in doiung this.
Lining the basement walls using that black builders plastic damp sheet, treated battens and a damp resistant insulation will also help - but again, it’s expensive.
When it comes to mold there is no easy cure or a remedy that is cheap. But you do need to seek professional advise as all this damp in a basement is not good for an old lady who is unwell anyway.
Bruce[:)]
As CITYLIMITS has suggested above, and get rid of all sources where dampness can gather, (old clothes on the floor, old carpets etc.). Next, go outside and make sure that the ground around the house slopes AWAY from the house as far as possible and any eavestrough downspouts are directed away from the house. A couple of fans in the basement windows blowing the damp air out can’t hurt either.
If you DO find any indications of mold, this could be contributing to your mother-in-law’s illness. Some strains of mold found in houses can be deadly. If you do find mold, get the experts in to get rid of it for you. Seriously, it’s nothing to mess around with.
Good luck.
Blue Flamer.
Ciylimits and Blueflamer have giveen excelent advice. I have a dry basement but run a dehumidifier as a preventative measure as it is a walkout basement in the back so when it rains a lot the humidity from outside comes.
My point is that I just replaced a dehumidifier and the new one which has digital controls removes an unbelievable amount of water. Where as I emptied the old one every several days I have to empty the new one twice a day. So the selection of a good dehunidifier is important.
As Blueflamer said mold can be dangerous so you need to solve this problem before starting your layout.
Bob
There are two potential sources of dampness in basements. The first is the obvious…ground water intrusion. This is pretty evident and self explanitory. The cures for this can be as simple as redirecting runoff water away from the foundation to completly digging out the foundation and waterproofing it. The other source is condensation. Warm moist summer air gets into the basement thru open doors and windows and condenses on the cool walls. This can be remedied by simply using a de-humidifier as most people do. I went to the next step in my basement and insulated the walls to keep the cool walls separate from the air. This has helped a lot. prior to insulating the de-humidifier pulled about 5 gallons of water/day out. After insulating the amount went down to about 1/2 that to keep it comfortable. I still get the musty smell once in a while. I remedy that with a good mopping of the floor (tile) and general dusting. I also try to limit the amount of cardboard storage boxes. When I do store stuff I do not put it directly on the floor but, instead put things up on small risers to allow air circulation.
I have gone down this road before. All the above ideas are good advice for cleaning and dehumidifying. The one additional thing I did was painting all the walls with “DryLock”. It is a special paint, which creeps into the cement walls and seals the moisture out permanently. There are many other products, which do the same thing so check with your local hardware store.
Good Luck, Doc
Before investing a lot of time and money in trying to get rid of mold and mildew, a key question I would consider is – who gets the house in the event your mother-in-law suddenly passes away? Will it become yours, or are you going to have to move out because some other relative inherits the house?
Also, is her medical condition possibly related to that mold and mildew? Mold can be the source of many types of illnesses, and the spores can infest the entire house even though it is visible or apparent only in the basement. I’d seek more professional advice from people who specialize in ridding structures of mold and mildew, not only for your mother-in-law’s health but also for your own.
I know this sounds callous, but is something you might want to consider before undertaking a major rebuilding of the basement.
BF:
Ah, mold. Sometimes there is a health problem, usually an allergic reaction, rarely severe, but I have to laugh, because there’s so much mold-paranoia online. I suspect some of it is encouraged by companies that make big money cleaning it up. Others with good intentions unwittingly spread fear by resorting to C.Y.A. Disclaimer Syndrome. Fear breeds fear.
Personally, I do have a problem with mold allergies, so I wear a N95 dust mask and feel fine. If I don’t, I get the usual obnoxious hay-fever stuff. Stupid immune system.
I did this a couple weeks ago, when rebuilding my garage, which had plenty of mold from water leaks. Somebody with a more severe allergy or respiratory problem, like asthma, should probably get advice, maybe even hire a pro. The important thing is to use the reason, not the fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Don’t be scared but don’t be dumb.
Here, the EPA has some rather levelheaded advice:
Auto bus to help solve your problem there is a drain system that can be installed in your driveway. It can be found at a concrete supply company. A company that supplies rebar , concrete tools , cement etc…With this system you can saw cut the conrete in two parallel lines , remove the concrete between the two cuts , remove the gravel , soil between the cuts to the required depth , insert the drain system . Attache a drain “tile” to the end and bury it under ground until it reaches “open air” Be sure you drain it away from your house. Second part of fix , since the grade on your house is running into the house ( this was REALLLY stupid of the builder of the house to do ) you need to cut a “swale” around the house. A swale is a very shallow and wide ditch that channels water away from and around the house. Directing it generally towards a ditch , underground storm sewer system etc…These two items will help to greatly solve any water problems you have. If you need more info feel free to PM me.
Time to whip up a 50/50 bleach/water solution and wipe down all the walls, floor and whatever else is down there.
wcu boy , first let me say that it is very commendable that you would make this move to help out your mother in law. Secondly having helped taken are of my grandfather later in his life there was very little time for any thing else and when there was time exhaustion left the family members to tired to do any thing else. Lastly , mold can be gotten rid of with a simple solution of water and clorox. Spray it on the area , scrub , let dry. You do need to rid the house of the source of water and water can access the house in a myriad of ways , plumbing leaks , failed caulking , roof leaks , poor construction methods , failed foundations , poor grading etc… Once you have a chance to review the conditions feel free to PM me and I will assist you in whatever way I can. FYI I build large projects for a living and have solved just about every type of leak known to mankind related to building.
We should remember that codes change with time, and an existing home that does not meet code may have to undergo some expensive retrofitting. Maybe, maybe not, but it would be good to ask…the insurance folks may get snarky if things are done do-it-yourself and when they don’t meet code or the company’s specs.
Insurance may have a solution…it would be worth talking to them. Look, too, for any improvement grants that may be available locally.
If the house has perimeter drainage, it can get clogged with debris over time…pine needles, leaves, grit from the roof shingles…the list goes on. Roto-Rooter and other agencies provide cleanout services. Eaves troughs need cleaning, especially around the screened instakes to down-spouts and at any elbows.
Re-grading the lawns is a must, as has been mentioned. The perimeter drainage may need to be completely lifted and re-installed (now to code). If the soil must be removed to the footings, it would be a good time to seriously look at the integrity of the footings and the basement walls. If you are lucky, it might only mean applying fresh sealant to the exterior cement and jumble blocks or whatever it comprises. This could unfortunately get very serious and very expensive for an older home.
-Crandell
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/blackmold3
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/black-mold-health-effects-what-kills-mold-444759.html
Mold is not to be messed around with casually. It can lead to severe asthma attacks and a number of other health related issues, especially in the elderly. It’s such an issue, that most states require that you list on your sales contract if your home has been tested positive for mold. And I believe one or two will NOT issue you a permit for sale if mold is found. (It’s to be taken seriously like Radon) You yourself can google the health risk of mold.
Most insurance companies will NOT cover for mold, because mold remediation is so expensive, and is the result of inproper care. See the exclusion limits on your homeowners policy. It is a special policy add-on in most cases.
That being said, there are a number of self fixes available.
-
Make sure drain pipes/spouts are a good 2->3 feet away from your house before dumping into the ground, and that the ground slopes away from the house. A sign of a drainage problem is white staining in the corners of the basement walls. These are crystals that are formed from the chemical reaction of water in cinderblock.
-
Wash all walls and floors with 50:50 mix of bleach + water. This will help kill existing mold. You can spray non-composite (engineered) floor joist with this mixture in a spray bottle. Lysol also works, but it is a much more expensive proposition for a whole basement.&nb
I would like to thank all of you for the wonderful thoughts and ideas that you have shared. I am blessed with your expertise. One gentlemen in thread asked if I would inherit the house when my mother-in-law passes, the answer is yes. Therefore, the mold is going to have to be addressed. This situation requires me to move back to help her to not deplete all of her financial resources before having to go into a permanent care facility.
I understand the enviromental issues related to the mold. After hopefully solving the mold issue, can mold hurt the layout, scenery track and other layout items? I was just wondering.
ygw:
It was pretty stupid but I can’t blame the builder, since he was expecting everybody to reach the house by streetcar. 
The garage was an ultramodern product of the progressive 1920s, and I suppose the concrete drive to it was sometime in the early Space Age. The amazing thing is that the soil here drains so well (being nearly all sand) that even the lousy grade only causes issues during very heavy rains!
I like this idea, and I will have to look into it. Driveway replacement isn’t “budgeted” for a few more years.
wcu: As long as you solve your humidity problems, the layout should be fine. Mold really is nearly everywhere. I do recall a time when I used coffee grounds for scenery and ended up with fluffy white fields of, eh, “wild flowers” on my model railroad.
50/50 is pretty strong Jeff. You only need about a 1% concentration to kill mold. I’m cleaning mold off homes with about .5% mix.
Clorox is 6%, so your mix would give you 3%. 20% Clorox/80% water will do the trick and not stink as bad. Just put it in a pump sprayer and use adequit ventalation.
(pool chlorine is 10-12.5%)
As others have said here, mold can be a very expensive issue to deal with.
But it doesn’t have to be, either.
First and foremost, go get a dehumidifier. One that can remove 6 quarts, preferrably 8 quarts of water from the air per day, and has a digital humidity sensor. Set it for 50-55% humidity, because mold needs humidity in the range of 70% to grow. Empty it as often as necessary to make sure it NEVER gets full and stops running until the humidity is down where you want it.
Get a small fan to help keep air circulating in the basement. That will help a lot.
You can spend an awful lot of time chasing mold… but most of it will die off within a few days of getting the humidity under control. I’d try that before I did anything else. Unless you actually see the mold colony, it’s probably not worth washing the whole place down unless you or your grandmother has mold-related health issues (asthma, allergies).
If you actually see dripping or seeping water in the basement, THEN it’s time to look for downspouts, poor drainage,wall coverings, etc. And even then, it may be controllable (my water filtration system daylights the effluent right above where the well pipe enters the wall, and it seeps a little bit, but I have a dehumidifyer and a fan running, and it never stays wet for long).
A more environmentally friendly solution to mold – better for you than a lot of bleach – is tea tree oil. It is a very powerful anti-fungal agent. Ask at the pharmacy (Australian Tea Tree Oil). I costs about $8 for a small bottle, but it lasts a long time. Mix 1 tsp oil with 1 cup of water and lightly mist any area that still smells of mold after a couple of weeks at the lower humidity. I had an air conditioner that was caked with mold, but a couple of spritzes of this mixture and it’s clean as a wh
E.P.A., Level-headed??? No.
[:D]
I know what you’re thinkin’, but in fact, that EPA flyer I linked is the epitome of calm, next to the typical mold-thread on, say, alt.home.repair…frightening as it may seem. [:)]
I think that’s what we both meant. I saw the same directions as Jeffery gave when I did my own research about cleaning in prep for finishing my basement. 1 Part Clorox to 1 Part water for a 3% solution.
50% solution would kill ya with the fumes! Literally!