Mold is a dangerous element that everyone will want to avoid. It grows tremendously when your home is in a suitable, moist environment. Fortunately, they can be removed when found under your hardwood floor. However, molds can sometimes be difficult to see and kill under hardwood floors. So, you may need to know the signs that indicate mold infestation and how to remove it under the hardwood floor.
The signs that may indicate that your house is infested with mold include strange smells, visible moist stains, pulling the hardwood tile or planks carefully, and using a mold test detector. To remove mold, you can use vinegar, bleach, or mold remover.
Signs of Mold under Hardwood Floor
The following are a few ways to know if your house has been infested by mold:
- Strange smell: You can perceive a must odor in your home if there is mold under the hardwood floor or tile. This is because of the gasses released by the mold that are unpleasant to the nose. The smell is often described to be meaty, rotten wood, dirty socks, or earthly.
- Visible moist stains: The visible moist stain is a common sign indicating mold infestation. Your hardwood floors can have a spongy texture while walking on the affected spots because of liquids that stay long before cleaning, which results in mildew.
- Pulling the planks up carefully: To see mold growing under your hardwood floor, you can carefully pull up the planks or tile. You can do this yourself or ask specific cleaners to help you do the job.
- Using a mold test detector: One of the best ways to know where mold is and the number of pores in the air you can use a mold test detector.
How to Remove Mold under Hardwood Floors?
Your first act towards removing mold under hardwood floors should be thinking about the infestation causes. If there’s a spill or leakage in your home, ensure you fix it before starting the removal process. You can get in touch with a wood flooring expert if you find it difficult to remove mold completely.
Step-by-Step Guidelines
- Clean out the area: You should remove the room’s furniture and take them to an area not infested by mold. Put the furniture and washable carpets in the sun and return them after removal. Every infected item that can be replaced easily should be thrown away.
- Provide proper ventilation: Leave the doors and windows open to let air circulate in the room. You can use a fan to keep well ventilations by setting it on your window and pointing it outwards.
- Remove the room’s flooring: You can remove the entire flooring, but if the infestation is on a small area, remove only the needed trim to work on the area of the floor.
- Carefully observe the hardwood flooring: if the hardwood floor needs treatment, you should pile it and focus first on the sub-floor treatment. Start from the room’s corner and pry the hardwood boards up.
Using vinegar to remove mold
Vinegar can be used as a solution to get rid of mold under your hardwood floor. Using vinegar requires tools like a spray bottle, paper towel, bucket, water, distilled white vinegar, protective hand gloves, and a face dust mask.
Usage
- Use hand gloves to protect your skin (extended vinegar exposure can irritate the skin).Also, when working with vinegar, ensure you use your face mask. To keep the proper ventilation in the room, you should open the windows.
- Mix in a large bucket one gallon of water and one cup of vinegar. Then put the solution in the spray bottle to deal with the affected spots. If the spots are too large to be addressed using a spray bottle, you can apply the solution directly from the bucket.
- Mop the liquid on the subfloor. Wait for about ten minutes to let the water soak the mold, preventing the spores from releasing. Then scrub using a broom or broom before re-applying another solution and leave it for another 10 minutes.
- After the process, use warm water to wipe the space and leave the area to dry. You should repeat the method if the mold persists until you have a perfect result.
Using bleach to exterminate mold
To use bleach, you need tools like a spray bottle, paper towels, bucket, water, bleach, protective hand gloves, and a face dust mask.
Usage
- Put into the bucket water and bleach (8:1 ratio).Mix properly and out in a spray bottle. Spray the moldy area with the bleach solution and wait for some minutes to let it sit. Put on a facemask and hand gloves before you make the bleach solution.
- Wipe up the bleach solution using a paper towel. The bleach solution will kill any live mold before spreading.
- You should know that tiny spores may still be present (invisible) though it may appear that all the mold has been physically removed.
Using mold remover
Several mold removers are available in the market. Mold removers are designed for killing and removing mold. They are ideal when it comes to removing mold under hardwood floors. Some experts recommend this product for use when you’re facing mold infestation challenges.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Please, review the following questions:
What is mold?
Mold belongs to the family of fungi. It’s an inimical element that can be found on any moist surface and flourish in objects that are cellulose-based. It can cover the character rapidly by spreading to every corner of the house. Besides, researchers show that molds characteristically reproduce dangerously and very fast.
How do you know if mold is making you sick?
Some symptoms can indicate that mold is making you sick. These include shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, vomiting, nausea, chest tightness, fatigue, headaches, diarrhea, nosebleeds, eye irritation, and skin rashes.
Conclusion
You can’t be ignorant of something dangerous like mold. They can affect your floor and your health. Therefore, to keep you and your family safe from this little tiny enemy, you may want to watch out for the related signs and take active steps to remove the mold when noticed.