Home Repair Mold in Showers

Has anyone had problems with mold in and near shower floors, especially on slabs or lower levels of homes. Can you recommend a way to test for the amount of mold present and any way to remove it or do I need to call in an professional company. The mold is restricted to the base of the shower and woodwork right next to shower stall.

 

We've got a ton of problems w/ mode in the grout but it's in an upstairs shower. Drives me nuts as the only way that I know of is to re-gout, which I really don't want to do. I'm also curious on what solutions people have implemented.

 

The best way to remove it is to RIP EVERYTHING OUT!!!! I have done this at 2 different houses. The first house the vinyl floor "looked dirty" We cleaned it with bleach, etc and i made a small difference, but I looked harder and found the "dirt" was from underneath the vinyl. So me being anal, cut the flooring to look at the subfloor. The wood floor was rotten and their was mold all around the shower pan. I removed the flooring and then cut the wood that was damaged and replaced. I also had to add "stringers/floor joist" underneath the shower and the area outside of the shower. After that, I replaced the plywood subfloor. When I got the floor level, I proceeded to install a ceramic tile floor.

The other is my current house. We had mold around the shower seat. We cleaned the grout and it would come back about a week later. So, I did the same thing, I removed the some of the wall tiles and found out the builder did not use "greenboard" drywall in the shower area of my bathroom. I proceeded to rip the entrie shower drywall out along with everything surronding the soaking tub. I had mold in places that never saw water! After the walls were removed I found that the shower seat frame was rotten, along with the subfloor around the shower pan and in front of the shower door. I rebuilt the shower bench, replaced the subfloor added joist to nail the plywood to. After all of that was done I had the Schluter System installed. http://www.schluter.com

This system Kerdi for the walls; Kerdi Shower system for the showwer drain and Ditra for the floor. If water gets behind the shower tiles, it flows to the drain system preventing it from starting a mold problem. (Water will get behind these tiles as the grout is porous and the water will seep through)

Good luck with you project

 

we love Spectralock epoxy grout which has microban in it and never needs to be sealed. Good stuff.

+1 for the Schluter Ditra/Kerdi -- I'm in the process of installing both in my master bath!

 

The bathroom fans that the builders put in are terribly underrated for the size of the bathrooms - you can get a much quieter fan with a MUCH higher CFM rating that will help keep the bathroom dry for around $100

 

I wonder HOW many homes in Broadlands don't have the green drywall and how many have mold underneath the tiles (how can we confirm???) Looks like many of the homes grouts don't look clean...when its dry, it looks white but when its wet, it looks greyish....ugh.

 

Same issue with our master bath and mold in the shower. How easy is it to install a new bathroom fan with a higher rating? I assume it uses the existing ductwork and you just replace the receptacle?

 

The trick is having open or attic space above the fan. I opted for a much bigger fan and had to cut the ceiling hole larger and increase the duct from 3" to 4", but I think it was well worth the trouble. I did it myself in about 4 hours, including the duct. Now even after a long hot shower, the mirror isn't even steamed up....