I recently bought a fairly new townhome (4yrs old); have been here 2 months now. Not long after I moved in, I discovered there was a roof leak above the garage (which is attached to the home). Had the roof leak repaired but clearly the leak had been there for some time as there was previous damage to the drywall on the garage ceiling.

Now I can smell a strong mildew smell in and around the bathroom that backs up to the garage. I'm guessing there's mold growing in the space above the garage, but there's no access to that space (it's all drywalled in) so I can't check to see how bad the mold is without cutting into the drywall.

At this point I've decided I'm going to have to do that - cut a hole in the garage ceiling so I can poke my head up there and look around.

Anyway I guess I'm just looking for some advice (or maybe moral support) from anyone who's dealt with mold problems before. I'm worried about how bad it might have gotten, since the last big leak was several weeks ago. I also am hoping it's something I can clean up myself. I really can't afford to pay a professional mold service to come deal with it (I don't even know how much they charge but I'm assuming its many thousands of dollars, and my insurance doesn't cover mold remediation.)

Is bleach the best thing to use on mold? I have read different things on that - some sites say yes, some say no, it isnt a permanent fix.

Thanks for any info...