Commiserate with Me, Mold Folks!

Yesterday I opened my bedroom door, and found that my whole house reeked strongly of mold. As you might imagine, this was alarming! I figured out the smell was originating in the drains of my first-floor bathroom, which we rarely use. I dumped baking soda and vinegar down them, followed by lots of hot water, and shut the bathroom door, leaving the vent fan on. I left air purifiers running all day, and all the other vent fans, but the house still smells a bit moldy.

Today, those drains still smell acrid and awful.

My mold inspector and plumber (both of whom are excellent) both are sure the issue is the unused drains. The remedies I used (the mold inspector also recommended hydrogen peroxide) can correct microbial issues from the drain opening downward, but there's no way to pour things into the overflow drain on the bathtub, so that's one stretch I won't be able to address. Also, they tell me that a dried-out P-trap (which happens when a drain isn't used for a while) will allow in sewer smells, which are not always the classic sewage odor, and can just smell like mold, since all sewers have mold in them.

Just thought I'd share this little story! It's exhausting to do so much to remediate a new house, get rid of so much stuff, clean and seal all the non-porous furniture, move, never open windows, no shoes in the house, keeping the whole space below 60% humidity year-round, constantly purify the air with purifiers that filter down to 0.1 microns, etc. and still wake up to a house suddenly reeking of mold from a source you can't totally control! The plumber said last summer (which was extremely rainy here) he got lots of calls from people who smelled mold in their pipes that was coming from that unreachable stretch of overflow drain. So frustrating!

We're all a little sneezy with sore throats. Yesterday I also had a headache and a twitchy eyelid. I am taking glutathione and using xylitol nasal spray.

May all your drains be unproblematic!

I wonder if ozone could be used to clear out the mold in the pipes and the trap, or if it would damage the pipes.

saraeli said...
The remedies I used (the mold inspector also recommended hydrogen peroxide) can correct microbial issues from the drain opening downward, but there's no way to pour things into the overflow drain on the bathtub, so that's one stretch I won't be able to address.

Howdy. The cover plate for your overflow drain doesn't have any screws that can be removed? Some bathtubs have just a cover on the overflow drain with removable screws. Others have a lever built into the cover plate that also allows one to close the drain to fill the tub.

The place I'm in has just plain drain cover plates that are removable. To close the drain and allow the tub to fill, the drain stopper (for the main drain) has to be turned 90-plus degrees so it will lower into the main drain.

The toilet in the master bath here has a funky smell, too, from lack of use. I use the smaller bathroom next to the bedroom where I sleep. Every once in a while, because the water in the bowl gets low (evaporation?) and stagnant, I have to go flush the toilet in the master bathroom to exchange the water and try to get rid of the gross smell.

Though I forgot to buy them the last time I was at the store, I plan to buy some denture cleaner tablets (Efferdent, etc.) and drop several in the bowl to attack some stains that resulted from the stagnant water. But, I digress...

_

Post Edited (The Dude Abides) : 2/13/2024 8:31:15 AM (GMT-8)

Lucky me, my basement is unfinished. Which means I have two 6”inch diameter metal plates covering the two basement floor drain “P” traps surrounded by concrete. One is right under my basement, laundry tubs, the other is where the basement bathroom would be if I actually had a full basement bathroom.There is a toilet down there that I don’t use. So all three of these things can dry up since they don’t get used to much and then ill get the moldy sewer smell (not sewage smell ) coming through it.

An oldschool trick to stop the water from evaporating in P traps is putting a thin film of oil on the top. In the old days that meant a teaspoon of any oil (motor oil).

But since we think about the environment nowadays, a biodegradable oil or citrus oil is probably best but you’d have to add to it more often because well it’s biodegradable. It will still slow the evaporation stop pipe, smell from permeating out of the water into the air.

Usually a basement shower sitting on concrete will be directly over one of these drains which I think is what you’re describing? so you don’t have direct access to the ugly cover plate because your shower drain is fit into the cover plate whole. But,… the fancy stainless steel drain cover in your shower is removable, and usually smaller for inch in diameter. Anything you dump in your shower drain will get into the P-trap.

You know that poop Parrie stuff (wrong spelling ) marketed for one ladies use the toilet and don’t want the smell lol? That’s how that works. It’s citrus oil and the smell in the water will not come up through the oil top layer and it’s biodegradable.

Post Edited (astroman) : 2/13/2024 9:32:30 AM (GMT-8)

lol I am proud to have had a hand in indirectly resurrecting the PooPourri commercials. Thanks for the links, Dude!

And Thanks for the oil tip, Astro!

saraeli said...
Conveniently, because of the missing tile, I can see inside the wall to know there aren't leaks.

Very convenient, indeed! Glad you can see that there are no leaks. That was my biggest concern when I saw your post.

saraeli said...
. . . who really knows when we will get around to learning how to tile.

LOL!!! Oh, the things we’ve had to learn and do.

saraeli said...
Clearly I don't spend enough time thinking about my plumbing fixtures.

That made me laugh. It’s staggering to think about all the stuff I have learned about since I learned I had Lyme/mold and have been on this forum. Aside from all the medical information, I have learned about supplements, herbs, mold inspections and testing and remediation, what the innards of a house look like with a bare slab and no drywall, repairing cracked concrete, sealing sill plates, filling cracks in mortar, and a whole lot more.

Sara,

I get an email newsletter several times a year that has home maintenance tips. I got an email this morning, and it mentioned sink drains and p-traps. I remembered this post, so I came back to share what the tip said:

- Clean shower and sink drains. Take your sinks apart by shutting off the water to the sink, removing the trap (put a bucket underneath!) and pulling out the gunk! Put the sink back together and then disinfect it. Boil two quarts of water. Put a cup of salt, a cup of baking soda, and a cup of vinegar into the drain. After about 30 seconds, pour in the boiling water. Do not use the sink for a few hours after disinfecting. You won’t be able to take the shower apart, but you can disinfect it the same way.
- Disinfect garbage disposal. (Follow steps above for disinfecting drains.)

sara what air purifier do you have? I bought mine from amazon, highly rated in a nyt article. it doesn't have ozone option.

also how do i look for a mold inspector? are there certain things to ask? I am considering this but want to ensure its someone legit. also unsure if i should even go this route since we will be moving in some months

I have the Coway Airmega. Reduces 99.999% of 0.01-micron particles and 99% of VOC's. Has an ionizer option too.

We don't have many dr's here who treat mold I found just a few. I'll call them. I'm in Ontario Canada so your guy probably won't want to drive up LOL! I'll have to search around.

Thanks, Astro! I'm now providing intensive care for a sick pet, so have not tried your idea yet. We're just closing that bathroom door and keeping its vent fan on, which eliminates the smell from the rest of the house but of course is not a solution!

Sara,
I saw your update yesterday. That’s quite a scenario and would be amusing if you weren’t having to deal with it! Hope you can get somebody out quickly to open that up and investigate the entire area and clean everything out and seal it up.

Still seems a little strange, though. I have a hard time picturing how mice could create a mold problem bad enough to smell up the house. There may be something else going on in that 8x8 corridor that the inspectors were not detecting. Did anyone send a camera up the corridor? Sounds like the plumbing pipe goes from the basement up through the house inside of an 8” x 8” enclosed space. Is the enclosure made of drywall? wood boards? plaster? Is there insulation inside of it?

Hopefully, it’s just a small area that’s affected and will be relatively easy to access. Please keep us posted as the saga continues.