Mold on Laminate Flooring in Basement

15 years ago

We moved into an older home about a month and a half ago. Half of the basement is finished and has laminate flooring, which wouldn't have been our choice of flooring but we planned on leaving it since we'll probably only own the house for about three years. Yesterday I was cleaning down there and moved the couch to clean under it. It is a large sectional and I was horrified to see mold spots on the surface of the laminate flooring everywhere the couch had covered.

I immediately sprayed the floor with Clorox hard surface disinfectant, then washed with soapy water that had bleach in it, rinsed with clean hot water, sprayed the Clorox again, then hand dried the floor. Then I went out and bought a dehumidifier and it has been running ever since, and filling up quickly.

What do you think is the problem here? Since the mold was on the surface on the laminate only, not on the couch or the baseboard, we're afraid that there's moisture under the floor. Has anyone had this happen and what should we do from here?

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Comments (3)

worthy
15 years ago
No air circulation under the couch. Keep that dehumidifier going all summer! (Mine runs year-round.) If you get a hygrometer, keep relative humidity below 50%.
thatgirl2478
15 years ago
The clorox probably won't do much to remove it I'm afraid!

If it was just on top of the flooring, and you didn't see an stain coming through the flooring, then mold you found probably wasn't caused by water under the flooring.

That said, basements are by nature damp and mold likes damp dark areas. There are always mold spores in the air, and where ever they land, they grow if left for a long enough time. If you keep the air circulating and keep the humidity down, you should be ok.
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tom_p_pa
15 years ago
Basements are BAD places for carpet and laminate and wood flooring. I would only consider tiling a floor in a basement. And if you want carpeting, just get area carpets and only use them in the winter. In the summer, roll them up and store them.