I’m in town doing a little cleanup for our Florida house after the double whammy hurricane deal. We had water about up to the baseboards for a few hours during the 1st hurricane surge, then the water dissipated. The floor is all tile. I sprayed all nooks and crannies as well as floorboards with a mold inhibitor last time I was here (in between Helene and Milton). We had to turn off the A/C when we ran from Milton, then the whole town had a bit of time before power was restored and our A/C was turned back on. We’ve got a dehumidifier running nonstop since I returned last Thursday to check on the place, and the A/C has an air filter in it.

I cannot find any mold on the walls or the floor; we threw out a bunch of textile materials, sleeping chair, couch mattress, rugs back in October, but there is a scent (not strong, and not classic “moldy” to me).

I know the bug guy was in here last week spraying.

The place smelled like poison to me when I first arrived (pesticide) and it’s dissipated somewhat, but I just want to check with those who might know..I looked up black mold smell and the description of rotting leaves, smelly gym socks, and cedar don’t really add up to me..that’s quite a variety of odors, none of which smell similar to me, and none really seem like this odor, either.
Does anyone have any experience or thoughts they could share here? I’d sure appreciate it.
Thanks!

If the house had 6” of water in it you could have mold growing in the sheetrock and insulation in the walls, and under the cabinets. I’d urge you to have a professional inspection.

Take off a piece for wall molding at the floor. cut a section of drywall and look at the back side of the drywall. If you have mold on the back of the drywall, you must cut it all out while wearing protective gear.

The smell could be coming from the A-coil in your AC unit. Have it looked at.

What Comet said. And the sooner you remove submerged drywall the better.

Open the windows and doors (screened ones of course) and let fresh air circulate in the house, maybe get a fan or two to push/pull air through the house.

When you said water up to the baseboard did you mean just on the floor or up over the baseboards.

You could pull a baseboard and check behind it, depending on how long the water was there you may or may not have drywall issues depending on how long the water was there

I've got a pal with a place on Siesta Key. He got water in house about 18" deep. Removed drywall down to studs and then ran fans for a couple weeks to dry completely and then replace the drywall.

I will add more as I've seen water damage and mold before.

You really need to check for mold behind the drywall. The front of the wall usually does not show mold as it is open to air movement and dries out easier. Mold doesn't usually grow if it dries out in a few days.

Behind the wall, it will be very hard to dry especially if your power was out in FL with humidity. I know no one wants to start cutting their walls but I would check a few spots near the floor. Cut out a small square and look at the back of the drywall you cut out. If you find mold cut it out until you have clean drywall.

Drywall is like a sponge if it gets wet it will suck the water up. Hopefully, you got lucky but I would want to check behind the walls.

cut 4ft up from floor and replace dry wall. makes it easier to lay full sheets on length. if the mold has gotten into the gypsum replacing is the only remediation

Our kitchen was remodeled this summer after mold was found behind the walls... My wife had actually mentioned, for a while actually, about a "musty stale" smell in the area where we later found the mold.

There were no visible signs until I noticed some drywall cracking above a window.... I touched it and it was SOFT. I knew then that she had been right.

This had apparently started during the winter wet season and water was entering the house from a failed window seal. It took 6-7 months from first rain for the outward sign to become visible. By the time we noticed the crack black mold had grown over perhaps a 12 linear foot portion of a wall, around the window, followed the studs all the way to ground (concrete slab) and then spread outwards behind cabinetry and backsplash.

Remediation required the removal of large chunks of counter, cabinets, wall, and backsplash.

Sooooo, check now. If the insulation is wet, it won't dry there if it didn't dry here (we don't have much humidty).

See if you can find an out-of-the way area-like a closet-and as mentioned, pull off the baseboard and cut out some of the drywall. Pretty easy to do; oftentimes the hardest part is getting everything out of the way.

But…if you’re living there, don’t delay!

Thanks, guys, I’m cutting into the drywall tomorrow.

I'll add that for the 8-10 months before we discoverd our mold it seemed at least some members of household got sick every 6 weeks or so with some sort of respiratory condition... mostly cold like symptoms, but all the time. All the freaking time.

After the mold was discovered and dealt with we've had zero issues. None.

It isn't a coincidence.

quote:

Originally posted by irreverent:
Thanks, guys, I’m cutting into the drywall tomorrow.

So what did you find?

quote:

Originally posted by snwghst:
cut 4ft up from floor and replace dry wall. makes it easier to lay full sheets on length.

This. I had a water heater blow once when I was working in NY for a few months. I came home early for a local interview (my current job) and I'll never forget opening the door that night. The stench and mold going up the walls 2-3 feet was horrible. The restoration folks came in while I was gone again to finish my contract and they cut off 4 feet up around the whole place. It made it a whole lot easier to rebuild everything.

I would pull the lower 12" of drywall pretty much everywhere, and fully inspect. If nothing else, this will help with the drying process.

I know several persons who have had major or significant health problems due to mold.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:

quote:

Originally posted by irreverent:
Thanks, guys, I’m cutting into the drywall tomorrow.

So what did you find?

Nada. I pulled the baseboard off, cut out a chunk, and found a few specks of mold, but nothing I’d write home about, tbh. Back side of sheetrock was completely clean. I’m sending for a test kit to check on mold types.

Good. Might be a good idea to check an insulated exterior wall as well, if you haven’t. The insulation might affect the wall’s ability to dry out.

If you had water to the baseboards, you’ll get mold under the tile. Grout has voids and when water rise it fills those voids. Had a co-worker who had rising water during a hurricane and I told him the same. He did not want to replace the tile since it was some expensive stuff he had installed.

He finally pulled the tile and there was water under it.

Well, damn. The whole house is tiled floors…the building itself is cinderblock, so I thought we dodged a bullet there..