Solved: Mold/Mildew...tired of scrubbing!!

[Farmgirl22]

We have a nasty tub in our apartment that looks like someone threw up in the tub and never cleaned it out (there's stains that are rough and won't come up...*blech*) anyway, I'm getting tired of scrubbing that area daily to keep the mildew/mold out of that area. I clean it with Comet (contains bleach) but the darn stuff keeps coming back!

We have a fan in our bathroom which runs constantly, but it's not helping. I leave the door open, the fan on, the shower curtain open as much as possible, but the darn bathroom never dries out! The mold/mildew only grows in that area where there's the rough part (I'm pretty sure the enamel is gone there, but I'm obviously not an expert), I don't want it to take over my bathroom, but I can't keep scrubbing it everyday because I'm running out of time to do it. And motivation too, I'll admit. I scrub it before I shower in the mornings, and by the time my hubby showers at night it's already starting to come back, and it's in it's fully glory by the time I get ready to shower again in the morning. It's black, nasty, and starting to get under the caulking around the tub as well (can't recaulk though, it's the only tub/shower we have and can't wait for it to dry.)

Does someone know something else I can do? I've even tried drying the tub with a towel, but our place holds humidity so well that it doesn't seem to make any difference.

 

[blues_harp28]

Hi you mention a fan in the bathroom, is there any heating..radiator etc.
Black mold, damp etc needs heat to properly dry out after using the shower etc
Cold air will keep the mold growing..you need some heat in there.

If it's enamel, then try an enamel spay, after cleaning and drying.
http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/bathrepairs.htm

 

[Farmgirl22]

No, there's no heat in the bathroom, and no outlets in/near the bathroom to plug in a heater either (believe me, I was furious when I discovered this earlier this spring!!)

I'll have to check out your site for enamel spray later...I'm not sure if this is an enamel coated tub or not--it may just be porcelain (it's pretty old, this place was built in the fifties and the tub is original).

 

[LauraMJ]

Spray it with a sprayer filled with Chlorox Bleach. We had some black mold growing under the paint on a wall once. I sprayed it twice a day with bleach. In a few days it was gone.

 

[JohnWill]

Bleach will indeed kill mold, but it also takes the color out of many materials, be careful out there!

 

[LauraMJ]

I figured I could repaint. The mold had to go!

 

[Farmgirl22]

Did you rinse the bleach off? Or just leave it until it dried? Will it for sure get under the grout? It won't erode the grout away will it? (Grout is already is poor shape even though it and the surround for the tub are only about 9 months old.)

 

[hewee]

Well if the grout is really bad water can get in behind the tiles so it is wet back there all the time. Your need to get that dried out and regrout to seal things again but that will mean taking the time to redo it and not being able to shower. Now if it is a tub then take a bath and not a shower till you clean then up so your not getting water into places you need to fix.

 

[LauraMJ]

I agree with hewee. Remove the old grout and redo it. If it is molding behind there, then it's leaking behind there, and that will eventually cause a whole lot more problems than just unsightly mold.

And yes, when I'm killing mold on something, I just leave the bleach dry, I don't wipe it off.

 

[JohnWill]

If the grout is bad after 9 months, it's either a really bad job, or you have significant settling/shifting of the tub and the floor!

 

[Farmgirl22]

If the grout is bad after 9 months, it's either a really bad job, or you have significant settling/shifting of the tub and the floor!

Honestly, I'm SO not an expert, but I suspect that it's because of shifting/settling (shroud was installed by a professional). The lines look pretty enough to have been done by someone who knew what they were doing.

I also doubt I'll be redoing the grout, probably have the landlord do it when we move out...which is hopefully soon--and not because I'm concerned about rotting out the wall behind the tub!!

 

[SIXX]

We have a nasty tub in our apartment

Why is the Apartment complex not taking care of it?

landlord

Ok, so why is the landlord not taking care of it?

 

[hewee]

Also how was the tile put on the wall? So many now days is not done the good old was where they papered and hot mop the wall to seal it and then put down a grout bed and then the tile was set on it. Plus a good grout job will last years and I have seen old homes where they have not ever been redone.
But then they got really cheap and started gluing the tile to the green board. Doing that they say is only good a couple years because once any water gets to the sheetrock your be looking at some work to get it all fixed. Now they use the cement board that better but I don't know if that is still as good as a hot mop behind everything because no matter good or bad all is the worse that can happen is the tile coming off and mold. But with the hot mop you really should not get mold if the grout is done right because no water should get behind anything and if it did it should not damage the wall because it's sealed.

One thing you may do is look higher up on the wall to see if it's sealed good to make sure water is not getting in there and running down behind the tiles.

 

[wacor]

look for something like a calk tape.

you can put it on and then use the shower right away.

as to the mold it looks like the enamel is worn away. unless there is a way to reseal the area I would guess that will always be an issue.

you rent this place dont you??

 

[Farmgirl22]

Why is the Apartment complex not taking care of it?

Ok, so why is the landlord not taking care of it?

Because my landlord told me in no uncertain terms that if we wanted stuff fixed that we either did it ourselves or we paid double the rent. I told him I'd be d@mned if I was going to pay him twice what the place was worth (if it's even worth what we pay now) just so that he would do his job. He knows I'm not going to fix anything, just as I know he's not going to. So far we're agreeing to disagree or something like that. *grimace*