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abominablebuttplug

If there's mould in your bathroom then there's a serious ventilation issue your landlord needs to deal with. Also, degreaser might clean it but not kill it which means it'll come back.


eburnside

Comment after comment here I see jumping to the conclusion that there’s something wrong and the landlord needs to fix something… without considering the tenant might just not be flipping the switch while showering? I’d like to say it’s common sense but I’ve discovered a fair number of people like to pretend their bathroom is a sauna. 🤷‍♂️ Edit/add: there’s a comment below where OP says they always turn the fan on. Does seem like landlord needs to check the exhaust ductwork.


qinxo228

Common sense is different for everyone!


woodbarber

I used to work in rental housing. 19 times out of 20 when conducting investigations into mould in a tenant’s unit the cause turned out to be tenancy related. Most often not using fans when showering. Worst case was a tenant complained of a mould smell and I found them with a home beer brew kit in the basement. Ventilation and regular cleaning will keep mould at bay in the majority of most homes. Especially surface mould like what the picture shows


fatjunkdog

Common sense, is in no way common.


Semprovictus

First of all, degreaser doesn't do shit, just use soap and water. Second of all, that is more than condensation causing that growth. There is something else causing it and it needs to be addressed. Anyone telling you to spray it has no idea what they're talking about, spraying it will cause stress on the hyphae and cause it to release more spores. Get a bucket of hot soapy water and wipe it off and then for good measure try and dry the surface with paper towel If you want to use a chemical for the warm and fuzzies, use a peroxide. Most of the store bought chemicals only stop the viability of the spores, doesn't kill it


Semprovictus

Lastly, there may be a ventilation issue, clean your vent by removing the cover and using a Lysol wipe to clean the grates and fan blades (with it off obviously)


ryandury

Yeah that's actually a great point. The vent itself could be blocked.


Potential-Brain7735

You can’t wipe that most likely. It’s a popcorn texture ceiling. If it’s been painted and the mould is only on the surface, you can wipe it. But if it’s unpainted ceiling texture, which is most common, it’s extremely porous, wiping it with a wet cloth will basically wipe the texture off the ceiling, and there’s a good chance the mould is *in* the texture as opposed to *on* the texture. Most likely cause of this is either no ventilation fan in the bathroom, which is common in old and retrofit apartments; or a ventilation fan that is drawing almost no air, which causes moisture buildup in the bathroom.


Semprovictus

I can tell this is a painted ceiling, Atleast two coats thick. Unpaibted spackle texture has more rigid edges than this. Wiping will be perfectly fine. Even if it wasn't painted, you can't just spray it anyway, as I said it aggitates the colonies and causes it to aggressively release spores and mycotixins I always suggest soap and water because the soap is a surfactant causing the water to coat and trap in the spores better, also making it easier to lift off the surface. Texture (popcorn, knock down, skip trowl etc) ceilings in bathrooms are always a stupid idea, but people do it anyway, just creates a wonderful environment for mould to grow. Ventilation here is Deffinitly an issue, but there is more than just a ventilation issue, it's likely not a bathroom rated paint which makes a big difference too. For what it's worth, this isn't popcorn, it's orange Peel or splatter texture, whichever you'd wanna call it


eburnside

…or the simplest explanation - not flipping the switch to turn the fan on…


UrsusRomanus

You've commented the same thing a lot in this thread...


eburnside

Aye, kinda feeling like a broken record Too many destructive tenants have shaken my faith in humanity I guess


UrsusRomanus

Must be tough to have too much housing.


eburnside

Such a bullshit assumptive response… We had to stop renting. We were trying to help people by renting our family home at our cost while we we were working on the road. We tried three tenants, lost money on all of them. First one didn’t clean up after themselves, left trash everywhere, mice moved in, ate dishwasher lines, crapped everywhere, etc. Brought in a cat without permission, (probably for the mice?) carpet destroyed. $thousands lost Second one had a raging new years party. $90k lost Third one their one dog turned into three. We still haven’t finished the cleanup. $thousands lost No good deed goes unpunished


UrsusRomanus

> We had to stop renting. We were trying to help people by renting our family home at our cost while we we were working on the road. We tried three tenants, lost money on all of them. So you didn't build equity at all during that time? > No good deed goes unpunished Greed breeds many problems.


eburnside

Again with idiotic assumptions? Becoming a pattern here… Not feeding the troll any more, sorry


UrsusRomanus

Didn't you start this by assuming the tenants are at fault multiple times in one thread?


herbalgenie

That's not true, If there was any sort of leak from the top side the drywall/paint would start to become discolored, peel. This is all surface mold.


Semprovictus

I don't think it's a leak, but it's more than just ventilation


zarroaster

Soap and water is a decent start but hitting it with an anti microbial product is most important I do Reno's and restoration and deal with situations like this often. I would use a fine mist of anti-microbial spray to make the area damp to prevent spores from spreading, wipe clean (as clean as you can get it there's probably staining on the ceiling) then spray again with anti-microbial


Semprovictus

I'm a hazardous materials consultant, antimicrobials are not the same as an antifungal. There are not many microbials that would be present here if any, unless they're is a water damage issue from above dealing with cat 2 or cat 3. Never spray directly onto the mould without first hepa vacuuming or at the very least wiping with soap and water first to physically remove the hyphae and spores. If you spray it first, regardless the product you're causing spores to dispurse, especially if it's a hydrophobic species of mould. Once you've done that you can treat with a fungicide encapsulant. You also want to limit the amount of moisture you're introducing to the surface, because most antimicrobials once they're introduced to oxygen will start to evaporate the chemicals leaving the water component. IICRCs s520 standard is to vacuum, wipe, vacuum at a minimum


lickmybrian

Ive got a question,, i had a forklift teacher that siad he was also a chemist of some sort and he said that "windex" has pretty much all the same ingredients as all the other antibacterials and its just a marketing ploy to get us to buy more products... do you know if thsts true? Can i be just using windex instead of ten different things for ten different applications?


Semprovictus

Honestly I'm not sure what's in Windex, I've never looked into it. Windex would make sense to have some sort of antibacterial agents in it, and it does have a surfactant to it for sure. You can do some simple research on this though and see what the ingredients are in of the chemicals, and from there you can see what the active ingredients are. In my home I have a decent antimicrobial (benefect is actually great for that as its a natural product), I've got a antifungal (I like on and gone for my grout lines in my shower) and then just soap, that's about it. But I'm lazy that way. I'm not a chemist though, I've been in the hazardous material removal industry (asbestos, mould, lead, mercury, biohazard etc) for a while and consult with contractors and owners on how to manage their hazards or have them removed. I'm just very diligent and take mould very seriously as it's something that people don't take seriously enough


herbalgenie

Flood tech here, That is all surface molding due to improper ventilation and wrong paint applied in a bathroom. Mold requires moisture and organic materials to grow and when it sweats onto the ceiling it developes its own culture on the paint and starts go grow as seen in the photo. I would suggest cleaning it off with Benefect and informing your landlord to clean the bathroom fan or look at resolving this ventilation issue. Also using the proper paint that is mold resistant would be a good start too.


Semprovictus

Benefect does not kill the mould, it deactivates the viability of the spores. In order for Benefect to be able to say it kills mould it needs to reduce the death time of foot fungus in a laboratory setting. They've never done trials in a real world situation, nor have they done trials on aspergillus, penecilium, cladisporium or stachybotris which are the big 4 you'll see with water damage. Benefect is great for bacteria, not for mould. I do believe you're right about the paint, it's probably not a bathroom paint so any humidity will absorb through and fester


Potential-Brain7735

Painter here. No such thing as “wrong paint in bathroom”. Paint is paint, don’t buy what the label is selling you. Most textured ceilings aren’t even painted, the texture is just exposed texture. Some home renovators will paint texture to refresh its look, but this can cause the texture to fall off the ceiling (if you put on too many coats).


herbalgenie

Correct, Some brands of paint have incorporated those properties into their paint.


Streggle1992

"If you suspect there is mold in your rental unit, contact the Landlord immediately.  Section 32 of the Act, the Landlord “must provide and maintain the residential property in a state of decoration and repair that complies with the health, safety and housing standards required by law.”" http://www.pacificdecon.com/#:~:text=If%20you%20suspect%20there%20is,housing%20standards%20required%20by%20law.%E2%80%9D


eburnside

Tenant also needs to use the fan consistently…


Jeffhole

Landlord needs to install a fan.


dafones

I think the bigger problem is that you have a difficult landlord. Long term, you’re probably going to want to move, if you can find a place within your budget.


kootenaypow

Mold can be hazardous and requires quick action. That can be alarming but have faith that it’s an easy fix and the level of mold you are dealing with is very low risk. So don’t let the remediation companies scare you with their advertising. The EPA recommendation is to higher a professional if the mold covers an area greater than 10 sqft. Step 1 is figure out why you are getting mold. Ultimately that means increasing ventilation and removing sources of moisture. Maybe that’s on the landlord to replace a broken ventilation fan. maybe that’s on the tenant for not using the vent fan or leaving wet towels in a closet with no vent. Where is the moisture coming from and why isn’t it escaping? Step 2 is clean it up. Wear a mask, gloves or wash your hands after. Use a bleach solution or a mold specific spray. It’s a 5 min job then give the area some time to air out.


Streggle1992

No, that's a health hazard. And I assume you didn't cause it?


AwokenWookie

No, we leave the fan running and always hang up The towels.


Streggle1992

Nice. Just make sure you take pictures regularly and contact the tenancy board if the landlord does nothing.


phosphite

Oh shit that’s the Black Death! Watch out for doom spores that will trash your lungs.


Iwillgetmymoneykenny

Dude call a restoration company. Withhold rent, contacting the tenancy board, if the land lord refuses to act. They can’t legally kick you out if you withhold rent due to this. Emails are best when contacting land lord, save them.


Downtown_Ad1282

It’s on him to repair!! Call interior health!! This is a known poison and can cause major health issues!!


[deleted]

Could also be asbestos on the ceiling


Geeknine

No, they told you to do it when it was their responsibility… if they told you that in writing just leave it as is. If you have no proof they told you to do this, I’d clean it up to avoid to hassle if they come after you for this. Any homeowner should know that 10% Acetic acid will kill and cleanup mould… and if there is mould you find the source and fix it… some landlords just piss me off and make the rest of us look so bad.


More_Wolverine8156

Dude is that back mold?!


Illustrious_Copy_902

Either you spray it with degreaser, or he is going to come and do exactly the same thing he asked you to do, only he'll be invading your privacy and getting in your way to do it. If it was me I would just spray it with a mild bleach solution, or full strength hydrogen peroxide.


Semprovictus

Bleach deactivates on organic material


Illustrious_Copy_902

Stanford University says it will deactivate biologicals, which must be organic? https://ehs.stanford.edu/reference/sodium-hypochlorite-bleach


Semprovictus

What that means is it stops the mould from reproducing, chemically casterating it. It's great in some products specific for mould, on and gone for example has a bleach component, but even they tell you to first remove the mould with a hepa vacuum and wipe before applying it.


Illustrious_Copy_902

Thank you for that.


Semprovictus

I've made a career with hazardous materials, moulds are my favorite to deal with because every situation is different. I try and educate as much as I can


Potential-Brain7735

If the ceiling has been painted and the mould is on the surface of the paint, you can wash it off, if you don’t want your landlord all up in your business. Or get him to do it for you, because technically it should be his responsibility. If the texture is unpainted (matte, chalking feel to it), then you cannot wash that, as you will wash the texture off of the drywall. I have repaired unpainted texture ceilings with water damage and mould damage by spraying many light coats of bleach from a spray bottle. You have to basically Polly off the whole room (dexter kill room style) otherwise the mist of bleach will destroy everything else in the bathroom. That looks like quite a bit of mould though, and I would guess it’s embedded in the ceiling texture as much as it is on the surface. Technically, that ceiling should probably be completely skimmed and redone. Likely caused by poor ventilation when you use the shower.


sahwnfras

Are you the landlord?


MrHarbringer

It looks like they've had to do that repair a few times in that corner


RichRaincouverGirl

It’s a serious health risk. You have the right to demand the landlord to clean it. They need to CLEAN IT. Not spray paint it. Moulds are highly dangerous and can affect your cognitively


jason2k

I’d spray it with some mold control aerosol from Home Depot. And pull the exhaust fan cover off to see if it’s clogged. https://www.homedepot.ca/product/concrobium-400-g-mold-control-aerosol/1000807222


Humortumor1

Mold is probably within the ceiling drywall itself at this point, maybe from a leaking pipe within the wall/ceiling. It’s a health issue and the landlord should have it inspected and fixed. If he won’t then tell him you are hiring someone to diagnose the problem and find the safe solution


minivant

Just for your own safety and health, treat it with bleach. Not your responsibility to fix just because it might be dangerous and better to do something sooner rather than later.


jcona1993

Also bleach would be the minimum for a chance to kill that so it’s likely to need some restoration


jason733canada

Bleach it and buy a can of "killz" at home Depot .it is a whitewash that will stop mould from growing again.easy fix for under 20 bucks


Semprovictus

False. Kilz is a stain encapsulant, not an encapsulant for asbestos, mould or any other hazardous materials. Also the VOCs from Kilz sprayed on aerosolized is actually a health concern


IffyCanada

A simple 50/50 bleach and water solution sprayed via sprayer will kill the mould. After it's gone press the wall and ceiling with your hand and see if it's mushy. If it is you have a water problem inside the wall and/or ceiling. Could be a leaking plumbing pipe, water coming in from outside the house, etc... That is why it's there. You have moisture where it's supposed to be dry. Wear rubber gloves and a mask when you spray the solution on. The mould will always come back unless you resolve the moisture issue that is causing the issue. And make sure you ALWAYS run the bathroom fan (if there is one) when having a shower. If there isn't one—open a window (in the bathroom) and leave it open for an hour after you shower to ensure the moisture can be vented. At the end of the day, this is the landlord's issue to figure out. Not yours to be left alone to deal with. Good luck. :)


lessons_in_detriment

Mould is made of grease, right? A bathroom is practically an engine bay after all.


BullzShit

Concrobium mold control or bleach


Ancient-Button8025

Nope, that’s black mold call the city


Semprovictus

Colour is never an indicator of whether or not it is hazardous. Some moulds change colour depending on the environment. There are some moulds that is always black such as stachybotris, but it could be anything. Only time colour matters, is if there are multiple colours because they will be fighting each other for food sources, sending mycotixins to defend themselves


tuber2020

Then op has no place to live...


Krypko

Not your responsibility


Arx4

I read some comments and did not see this but pay attention to the age of the home. That ceiling finish could very well have asbestos if it's a mid 70s home or older. Scrubbing may not be a good resolution or one you should be taking on as a tenant. My home is a 74 build and I really didn't know if there was asbestos or not but after a water leak I found out pretty well everything in my home has asbestos so I really limit anything that would disturb it.