Moving out of rental, mold found. pics

bleach

My personal opinion as a landlord is that this is not something you could be held responsible for. On the contrary, the landlord is opened up to liability for providing unsafe living conditions.

I would tell him that you found a problem that he needs to fix.

He is aware. That is why I posted. He was suggesting the faucet was left on. That makes me think he my try to pass it on to us. We do not use the faucet.

ryryfree said:   When moving out of our rental today, we found mold in a closet behind a picture that was in storage. I believe the mold came from the sprinklers being on too much. The owner takes care of the sprinklers and yard, so we do not regulate the flow and it opereats during the night so we do not know how much it waters. My question is what recourse do we have if he tries to charge us for it? We are moving out of state.

Edit Directly below the faucet is the sprinkler the shoots in a 90 degree fashion.The wall with mold is on the wall that is perpendicular to the wall.

PS we have had a great relationship tenant/landlord relationship up to this point. IE always paid rent early, very little maint. needs, improved property, will be returned in very clean condition, and he gave us a glowing recommendation to our new landlord.

I can't even begin to imagine how an outside sprinkler could penetrate the brick and get into the walls in sufficient quantity to cause mold. Possibly if the brick and/or mortar were deteriorated, but in the photos you post they both look superb (by the way, terrible bricking...raked joints are the worst way to do exterior bricking). I'd guess the problem was a combination of high humidity, poor insulation, and no airflow.

alamo11 said:   Paint. Paint it and call it a day

It saves the OP the headache.

I also think it would be pretty odd to have a sprinkler spray enough water through a brick wall the cause mold. Aren't the sprinklers only on for a set amount of time each day? It also seems weird that the sprinkler would only cause mold in that 1 spot.

To me, it looks like the picture was leaning up against the wall, and since it was in a basement closet, moisture built up and sat for quite some time. Additionally, it looks like the mold is ONLY where the picture was.

MrGlobe said:   I also think it would be pretty odd to have a sprinkler spray enough water through a brick wall the cause mold. Aren't the sprinklers only on for a set amount of time each day? It also seems weird that the sprinkler would only cause mold in that 1 spot.

To me, it looks like the picture was leaning up against the wall, and since it was in a basement closet, moisture built up and sat for quite some time. Additionally, it looks like the mold is ONLY where the picture was.
Bingo
The pictures sitting there meant there was no airflow to keep the area dry. If the picture wasn't there , no mold would be there

Clean with bleach and call it a day

SUCKISSTAPLES said:   
The pictures sitting there meant there was no airflow to keep the area dry. If the picture wasn't there , no mold would be there

Clean with bleach and call it a day

While this is true, it hardly makes it the tenant's fault (unless the landlord specifically said something about not putting things against the wall in the basement). Generally, as a tenant, I expect I can put things up against the wall. That's pretty typical in most houses and does not cause mold.

I agree that you have let the landlord know there is a problem that needs to be fixed, that's it.

And the mold can definitely be caused by exterior issues, at least according to these sites:

http://www.moldinspectionboulder.com/mold-odor-roof-leaks
http://www.doh.state.fl.us/environment/community/indoor-air/mold...
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Odor-Control/2011/8/musty-basement-sm...

All of which specifically talk about exterior sprinklers spraying against the house.

In a basement = damp and something flat against the surface = no airflow. Looks like it was just by the picture. Why not just clean it with some bleach from a spray bottle, and if the wall starts to cave when you touch it tell the LL they've got some sheetrock to replace and a leak to fix?

It doesn't look that bad. I just renovated my office and had to replace entire walls because the studs rotted away from the floor

LordKronos said:   I can't even begin to imagine how an outside sprinkler could penetrate the brick and get into the walls in sufficient quantity to cause mold. Possibly if the brick and/or mortar were deteriorated, but in the photos you post they both look superb (by the way, terrible bricking...raked joints are the worst way to do exterior bricking). I'd guess the problem was a combination of high humidity, poor insulation, and no airflow.

I don't know how much water it represents going through but our back yard fence is hollow concrete block and yet there are fairly extensive mineral deposits on our side of the fence from where their sprinklers hit their side of the fence.

Is the area right below that window the level of the soil? If so, it looks like the mold is occuring below grade. You could expect water infiltration if the area has poor drainage (can't tell from the vegetation if the ground slopes away from the house there). The only thing is if there was sufficient water infiltration to cause the mold, then you would expect to see water intrusion into the basement. Is there some sort of interior french drain system in the basement? So the water infiltrates through the foundation below the brick line, stays in the wall enough to cause the mold to form, but any excess water is drained away by an interior french drain? [A bit far fetched and one would think that if there was a way for the water to drain, then it wouldn't be present in high enough concentration to allow the mold to grow].

the place where i currently live is a total mess with countless tiny mice and black mold growing every where under the walls and even in bathroom.

we caught/killed as many as 4 tiny mouse within 24 hrs and find 1 glued to death almost every 2-3 days. we don't drop or put opened foods on or near the floor and we keep our room clean always. I felt so bad for those tiny mouse crying in pain when stuck to the glue board. The landlord acts nice , talks as if he cares but he is still condescending and does nothing when there is any maintainence problem except only for emergency problems. moving out of this place within few days anyway. Despite his carelessness and condescending attitude, I never acted smart or argued with him.Maybe he thinks we are easy target becos we are asians? I really don't know!
Our lease ends in june 30th and he knows we chose not to renew the lease, so the other day, he asks me when we are moving out, i said June 30th, he says you have to be moved out before noon on the 30th or there is a HOLD OVER, asked what that is and replies, one month's lease. he means he will charge us july's rent if we dont move out by 30th. June 30th is the lease expiration date. Don't we have until June 30th 12 am actually?

Pardon my English!

Tell the landlord to pound sand.

Take pictures with the sprinklers on and water hitting the wall.

ryryfree said:   Walk through will be tonight.

Good luck

SUCKISSTAPLES said:   MrGlobe said:   I also think it would be pretty odd to have a sprinkler spray enough water through a brick wall the cause mold. Aren't the sprinklers only on for a set amount of time each day? It also seems weird that the sprinkler would only cause mold in that 1 spot.

To me, it looks like the picture was leaning up against the wall, and since it was in a basement closet, moisture built up and sat for quite some time. Additionally, it looks like the mold is ONLY where the picture was.
Bingo
The pictures sitting there meant there was no airflow to keep the area dry. If the picture wasn't there , no mold would be there

Clean with bleach and call it a day

Should I expect to find mold behind any pictures I have hanging on the wall in my lower level of which half is below grade?

The picture helped keep the area moist due to lack of airflow, but the moisture didn't build up from the inside of the home. There is evidence of moisture inside the wall. Just look at the wall to the left of where the picture was sitting; there is staining from water infiltration inside the wall. Since it is below grade, the moisture is most likely coming in from the outside. Water doesn't typically get in through bricks, but it does get in through the mortar joints and it surely gets in through unsealed cinderblock below grade. Even if it's poured cement, if it isn't sealed, it will leak.

With all that vegetation (the two trees growin there need to be removed), it's no wonder that the ground is holding a lot of water. The vegetation helps prevent evaporation. If the sprinkler is wetting the brick, the water is running down the wall and soaking the ground. That kind of defeats the purpose of the gutters.

Oh.. how'd it go? I missed the walk-through last night post.

Well, he again tried to suggest it was due to a faucet being left on, but his property manager suggested the sprinkled theory was much more accurate. He said the wall needs torn out. They did suggest some of the deposit will be kept, but did not specify what it was for. I asked for an itemized document with the refund check. So the story continues.

sometimes it's nice to be a renter.

these "paint it" posts are idiotic. moving the picture will do nothing for the [probably sizable amount of] mold growth behind the wall. you have to eliminate the water source and remove all moldy materials. i think cause is either:

> an overactive sprinkler pounding the brick wall and either a) wicking through the mortar, or b) entering the wall thru an unsealed faucet hole
> the (unbroken) faucet itself spraying or even leaking water behind the wall via an unsealed hole
> a busted faucet pipe in the wall between bricks and drywall

honestly, with a little investigation this should be easy for landlord to assess and rectify, and that drywall HAS to be removed anyway. just turn everything on as it normally is and observe from the inside (once insulation removed). if nothing is seen dripping after a few minutes of faucet-on, sprinkler-on, then the "wicking" scenario is likely....which is easily solved by moving the sprinkler. spray bleach on studs a few times, replace insulation, replace ALL drywall in vicinity, then float mud, paint, replace trim.