Mold On Lower Wall Area

The mold on the lower wall area in the picture above is obviously going to be a problem. If you look closely, you can see pencil marks around the electrical outlet and that's because this piece of drywall hasn't been finished yet.

There's no paint on the drywall and if you look to the right side of the picture you will see where the old drywall that is painted meets the new drywall. Using the right paint, semi gloss, high-gloss or enamel, works great in bathrooms, basements and kitchens where moisture could be a problem.

Flat or satin paints can allow moisture to penetrate easily into the drywall or plaster.

The staining in the picture above, is actually cause from the mold growing in between the drywall paper and the interior layer of gypsum. Keep one thing in mind here when looking at the picture, this drywall was replaced for a reason. Do you think the reason could have anything to do with the fact that this is not the first time, this section of the wall has been damaged from water.

This is a good example of finding the original cause of the problem, fixing the problem and then replacing the damaged parts to the building. How many times do you need to replace some damaged framing or drywall?

Mold on the lower wall area is common in basements, where moisture from the outside seems to accumulate near the bottom of the basement exterior (on the other side of the wall, where the basement is back filled with dirt). If you run into this problem, in your basement, there is very little you can do about it.

To fix this situation correctly, the dirt would have to be removed from the the other side of the wall, waterproofed correctly and most importantly, make sure that you install a good drainage system to prevent moisture from accumulating around the lower perimeter of your basement.