Cleaning Mold From the Ceiling

Mold thrives in any moist, warm environment with rooms such as bathrooms or kitchens a perfect place for it to grow and spread quickly. It is not only unsightly but can become a health risk as it spreads by releasing spores and these spores can affect breathing. Mold will grow on any organic material and, given the right conditions will do just as well on non-organic material.

A danger for your home when you’ve got mold growing in one or many rooms is that it actually consumes the object that it is living on and can release an acid that will permanently mark the wall or ceiling. Whether your ceiling is made from ceiling tiles, sheet rock or wood, mold is just as likely to begin growing with rooms that are often moist, such as the bathroom, the most susceptible.

Black mold is the most common type of mold that will grow on the ceiling and it can be identified as black spots of varying sizes dotting the ceiling in clusters.

Cleaning a Mold Damaged Ceiling

It is important to appreciate the danger mold poses to your health, so before you start cleaning the mold from the ceiling, ensure you have taken necessary safety precautions and have put on gloves, goggles and a face mask.

In the room you will be cleaning, close off any accesses to other parts of the house such as doors or vents. Open the window to allow the room to dry out.

An initial wash of the ceiling with a mild detergent and warm water will start the cleaning process. A quarter of a cup of bleach mixed with a quart of water can be used to follow the clean up and, if necessary, can be repeated after allowing the first application has dried. After the second application the ceiling should be allowed to dry out completely.

There are alternative products available to the bleach solution mentioned above that will remove the topical mold and also kill the remaining spores. It might be worth seeking out one of these products to be comfortable that you have thoroughly cleaned the room.

To safeguard against the return of mold in the room, all water leaks should be repaired so the environment isn’t constantly moist. If there are no leaks, it might simply be necessary to introduce more ventilation into the room. Finally, a regular clean of the bathroom to remove or kill and stray mold spores should be carried out regularly.

Make sure that if you are going to be painting the ceiling you have completely removed the mold. Painting over mold will not solve the problem and the mold will simply return in full force. It is possible to buy paint with mold prevention chemicals already mixed into it. I have actually painted such a product on the ceiling of my bathroom and have never had a problem with mold in that room.

This mold damage clean up advice assumes that the mold damage is not too extensive and that you can tackle the job yourself. If, however, the mold damage has become completely out of control, it may be necessary to call in a professional who specializes in this kind of damage clean up.

Other mold damage articles:

Prevent Mold From Taking Hold In the Home
Restoring the Home From Mold Damage
Repair Mold Damage In Books
Mold Detection and Treatment of Clothes