How to Get Rid of Black Mold on Drywall

The unpleasant presence of black mold in your house does not only pose a health risk for you and your family but might also suggest another larger problem in your house – broken insulation or water infiltration system, for instance. You will want to learn how to get rid of black mold on drywall and how to take preventive actions in order to ensure the health of your family, yourself and your pets.

Although the mold is not harmful itself, it produces unhealthy toxins that can harm people and pets if they spread across the room or house. These toxins can cause allergic reactions and worsen respiratory problems for small children, the elderly, and those with a weak immune system.

Therefore, you should immediately take action when you spot black mold on drywalls, furniture, ceilings or other installations.

Mold on Drywall in Basement

Black mold on surfaces is usually caused by moisture damage. It appears on walls, ceilings, and even floors where moisture is not properly managed, particularly in your basement. Mold may also occur in other humid or damp areas of a house such as your bathroom walls if the air circulation is not sufficient.

What Kills Black Mold on Walls?

There are various ways of how you can kill black mold on wall surfaces. You can use cleaning agents such as bleach and vinegar essence, or commercial mold removers. You should be careful when removing mold and using these chemicals to prevent any health damage. The use of gloves and masks is highly recommended.

You can also opt to use natural, more health and environmentally-friendly cleaning agents such as baking soda, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and oils such as tea tree oil and grape seed oil. While these will be working well for smaller mold issues, chemical mold removers are inevitable when it comes to greater mold issues in notorious areas and when prevention of future mold problems is needed.

How to Get Rid of Black Mold on Drywall

This instruction will show you how to get rid of black mold in 5 comprehensive steps. You will have to get some tools and equipment first – follow this list and order or buy them first before you start your mold-removing project.

Tools and Equipment for Mold Removal

5 DIY Steps to Get Rid of Black Mold on Drywall

1) Assess the Damage

Firstly, you should assess the damage caused by the black mold. Thus, you will find out whether or not you can remove it by scrubbing or if you have to remove and replace the damaged part or object entirely.

In particular, try to find out whether the mold sticks only to the surface or whether is has soaked into the wall itself. In the latter case, you might need to either replace it or seek help from a specialized mold removal firm. Otherwise, you can usually remove the mold yourself.

If the mold occurred repeatedly in the same areas, you should try to figure out what the root cause is. Damaged insulation, insufficient air circulation, thermal bridges or abnormal humidity are examples of reasons that you might want to tackle in the long run.

2) Get the Equipment You Need for the Project

After assessing the damage, you should get your equipment ready. You will need at least a brush, a towel and a cleaning liquid – be it a natural one or a commercial mold remover. Keep in mind that rubber gloves and masks are a must, taking the health impact of mold into account.

Check the list above whether you also need other equipment.

3) Prepare the Area

Clear the affected area and remove anything that might be damaged by bleach and other commercial mold remover products. Also, make sure that no other person – at least no one without proper safety equipment – and no pets will enter the room.

4) Remove Mold

Safety

Wear appropriate protective equipment such as gloves and respirator before you begin. Open windows to get air moving and to help disperse fumes from the bleach or mold removal solution.

Bleach as Mold Remover

Killing mold with bleach is often effective. It is able to remove any kind of mold it comes in contact with on non-porous surfaces.

However, killing mold on porous surfaces such as certain tiles, wood, walls or concrete with bleach can be rather difficult. This is because the chlorine of the bleach might not reach the root level of mold growth but soak into the material. In such cases, you can steep a towel or cloth in bleach solution and put it on top of the affected area. Alternatively, you can use commercial mold removers that usually come with a thicker viscosity, i.e. they stick better to the surface.

In order to make your bleach solution, combine 1 cup of bleach to 1 gallon of water and mix them thoroughly (source). You can put the solution in spray bottles or use a sponge or a towel to wipe the solution onto the infected areas.

Wiping the Mold Away

Let the solution take effect for a few minutes after its application. If you are using a commercial mold remover, refer to the details on the back of the bottle.

Afterwards, you can use a brush to scrub the infected areas and wipe the mold away. Use a vacuum to immediately clean the area after removing the mold.

If you are using bleach, you should slightly rinse the area or use a wet sponge to remove the residuals of the bleach solution. For commercial mold removers, follow the instructions on the bottle.

5) Repaint the Surface and Take Preventive Actions

You might need to repaint the bleached area to make it look like the unaffected areas again.

Depending on the frequency and severity of the mold issue, you will want to consider preventive measures. A mold-preventing paint or primer, an electric or chemical air dehumidifier or even insulation (or its enhancement) could be the answers. Read more in the below section on how to keep your house mold-free.

Other Natural Mold-Killing Solutions You Can Use

If you are dealing with a small infected area only, you can try to use other natural mold-killing solutions that are probably available in your kitchen. Just replace the bleach solution with one of the following solutions and follow the same procedure.

Baking Soda and Water

• Mix baking soda and water with a 50/50 ratio.
• Follow the same procedure above but consider not rinsing the area. Baking soda will leave a thin layer of protection that can avoid recurrence of the mold.

Distilled Vinegar

• There is no need to mix the vinegar with water to make a solution. Vinegar in itself can already be effective in killing mold.
• Vinegar essence can be used alternatively but should be mixed with water.

Hydrogen Peroxide and Water

• Make a solution of 2 parts water and 1 part of 3% hydrogen peroxide.

For more useful tips, watch this short video.

How to Keep Your House Mold-Free

Technically, there is no way to fully eliminate mold and spores as they are coming in with the air. The key to prevent these spores from affecting objects or areas is moisture control. Here are some ways you can control indoor moisture.

Fix Your Water Infiltration System and Any Water Leakages

Repair any water leaks as soon as you find them. Not only do they pose potential structural problems, but wet areas also allow mold to accumulate and thrive. If it is getting out of control, you might have to remove all mold-infected areas and replace them entirely.

Decrease Indoor Humidity

Humidity allows mold spores to grow. In many cases, it is the north-facing (hence the coldest) wall of a humid room that is the most prone to mold affection. With proper air ventilation and circulation, there is a good chance that you can lower the humidity and thus keep your home free from mold.

Invest in air vents, air conditioners, and dehumidifiers in your bathroom, kitchen, and rooms with large appliances such as washers and dryers. Dehumidifiers can be chemical or electrical. While the latter is often more effective, they are also larger, make some operating noise and come with a higher purchase price.

An electric dehumidifier – a highly efficient tool to control moisture.
Find this one and other dehumidifiers on Amazon.

If you decide to go for chemical dehumidifiers, you will have to regularly buy tabs or powders that need to be filled into the dehumidifier box to absorb moisture. While the initial purchase of chemical dehumidifiers is rather budget-friendly, the replacement tabs and powders tend to be a bit pricey. Wherefore, these types of humidifiers are ideal to test whether humidity control would resolve the issue (if so, they can be replaced with electric ones) as well as for use in areas where you do not want to have operating noises (e.g. bedroom) or where you do not have electricity (e.g. barns or huts).

A refillable chemical air dehumidifier – an inexpensive starting point if you want to check whether dehumidifiers prevent future mold problems.
Find this one and other dehumidifiers on Amazon.

Make Sure You Have Proper Insulations

You can prevent condensation by insulating your roof, exterior walls, windows, and pipes to minimize the potential for moisture to form from the condensation. As mentioned before, mold can occur where humidity turns into condensation which is usually the coldest spot in a room. You can tackle this with insulating walls or corners prone to mold occurrence. However, this comes with the risk that you relocate the problem to another spot (the then coldest point) rather than resolving it. Talk to one or more insulation experts to get a holistic view of potential solutions.

Combine Different Measures

Mold control and prevention is a complex area and, from my experience, even the most experienced experts are having a hard time to recommend or predict the results of certain measures.

Therefore, fighting mold inside the house requires a lot of trial-and-error and usually a combination of different measures. For me, chemical dehumidifiers worked well in one case while, in another room, I had to go for a combination of dehumidifiers, special mold-preventing insulation and mold-preventing wall paint to eventually resolve the issue.

Conclusion

You have seen a couple of tips and instructions on how to get rid of black mold on drywall.

We cannot stress enough how important it is to tackle the problem quickly and to handle it with care by not mixing different cleaning agents together, wearing protective pieces of equipment, proper air ventilation, and not letting children and pets come close to the work area. The potential health impact of mold is considerable, so be careful when removing it.

Also, try to find out the root cause of mold affections. It is often related to water or humidity and cold areas or spots. Therefore, control mold growth by controlling the moisture and humidity in your home, e.g. with dehumidifiers. How do you get started? Order the necessary equipment now and remove the mold as soon as possible.