MOLD under the flooring!

Submitted by twentytails t3_yde5ye in DIY

That's right, mold.

Tiles are loose in the bathroom floor, and underneath the few pieces of tile is rotted, damp wood that crumbles away. Musty smell in the bathroom all the time. Obviously there's a leak from the tub I need to seal.

A remodel is in store. BUT I don't have the time or money for that right now. So I need a temporary solution (1-2 years)

Should I:

  1. Keep the tile in place and cover it up with a rug, keeping the mold covered? OR
  2. Removed the tile and rotted wood, run a dehumidifier, treat the exposed mold, and paint over it with mold killing primer using painted subflooring as a temporary bathroom floor?

Or any other ideas? Right now I'm more concerned about health and safety THEN function. The whole bathroom is getting gutted later.

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Comments

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mordac_the_preventer t1_its1kny wrote

The longer you leave it the worse it will get. It might be cosmetic right now but might turn into a structural problem if you leave it for another 2 years. Find the leak, remove the rotten wood, treat the rest. If you need to economise you could put cheap vinyl down (maybe look for an offcut or damaged piece).

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FaerieFires t1_itsuw54 wrote

Also, mold spreads and grows. Like mordac writes, don't go another two years with the osb rotting. Worse things have happened than bathtubs falling though the floor and having to replace struts on your house.

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twentytails OP t1_itv3l5s wrote

Very true. Luckily the issue seemed to only appear in the last year or so. The faucet and hardware in the tub wasn't sealed correctly, so I did that, but maybe it was too late at that point. Maybe when I rip up the tile I can see where the dampness is coming from.

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Justbu1ldit t1_itrs3w6 wrote

Find the leak, water and gravity are very unforgiving.

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ThreeBlurryDecades t1_itru446 wrote

Find leak, fix, rip up and fix mold and rot. If you are short on funds, maybe a piece of cheap vinyl floor for the short term. you can often get deals on ends of rolls and odd pieces.

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dracogiraffa t1_itsch7h wrote

I would certainly attempt to get to the leak. Especially if it's on a upper floor. In two years it could weaken the structure enough that your next bath will end up falling through to the floor below. Covering up and treating the mold you can see won't stop it for good it grows fas and you can get sick by the stuff you can't see/reach.

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[deleted] t1_ittx9e7 wrote

[deleted]

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twentytails OP t1_itv5c0j wrote

Thanks for your input! My intention wasn't to ignore the mold, but to try to seal the leak in the least invasive way. Releasing the spores was one of my main concerns. I'm moderately allergic. But I'm seeing that there's no way around ripping up the floor, even if just to help find the leak and treat the mold.

The rot didn't seem to go too deep or spread far, but very localized. Luckily, the very bottom subfloor seems to have a coating over it that prevented water from affecting that layer.

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Sometimes_Stutters t1_ituetlt wrote

Well first off there shouldn’t be wood under your tiles. Someone decided to not use tile underpayment.

Second, your tiles are screwed and you should probably remove them. Personally I’d replace the tile with vinyl plank flooring. You can easily install that yourself.

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twentytails OP t1_itv5t9l wrote

Oh it was worse than just the wood: There was vinyl flooring under the tile, then wood under that, then the subfloor.

Tiles are definitely screwed. I have no hope for them.

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nescko t1_ittapqy wrote

Check if it’s covered in your insurance. You can always call them and ask

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tuckedfexas t1_itvfdex wrote

I’d see if insurance will cover it, though they’re touchy about long term damage. Renting humidifiers and fans is quite expensive and then you need to isolate the areas with plastic and run them for a long time. We caught a small flood right away and it took about a week for it all to dry out with about a dozen pieces of equipment and professional setup and monitoring. The tile (backer board really) didn’t even start to dry and had to come out.

Obviously their prices are inflated to make a profit but a smallish leak was able to do around $20k in damage in a day. It was running right onto a piece of exposed subfloor though

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chrisbe2e9 t1_itsg0qv wrote

Remove the floor. Lay down a layer of rice to absorb the water.

Bonus, if you drop your phone in the toilet, just toss it on the floor to fix it.

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