Our washer unit has been leaking for a while and, frustrated that the landlord was dragging his feet, we called in a handyman ourselves to take a look at it
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You could get two or three containers of DampRid (http://www.damprid.com/) and one or two big sheets of plastic and some wide masking tape. Set the DampRid up in the area and then seal the area off with the plastic and tape. Keep the area sealed off and only go in to empty the water from the DampRid buckets.
Keep the receipts and ask your landlord for reimbursement.
The seal doesn't have to be perfect. Any plastic curtain, sealed or not will help to block mold spores from getting out and any moisture from getting in and making it hard for the DampRid to do its job.
I was imagining plastic draped over the washer, and the drier if necessary, and then taped to the wall. Or, if they are in a closet-like space, a curtain of plastic taped to the door frame.
Ah, I see what you mean. It's a very awkwardly shaped set-up but I think we can rig something like that up. We'll try calling the landlord again today and see if he's arranging something for today, but if not then I'll make a trip to Home Depot.
Cat litter is great at absorbing air moisture (it's great to put some in the bottom of wardrobes etc to minimise mould on clothes and shoes and is in many of the commercial hanging products for this).... cheap bag of kitty litter, put it in a tub or bucket or whatever and leave it in the room. You could try sprinkling it also on any damp areas and vaccuming it up later.
And you could try using a fan heater blowing over any obviously damp areas for a while too...
If you run your dryer make sure you are venting the room well - all that hot wet air needs to get out.
The less you disturb it the less chance you have of breathing it in, and if you are really worried you would have to wear masks (and dicky little 'dust masks' from the hardware won't cut it - mould spores need heavy duty specialised masks usually) but many moulds aren't dangerous in short term/small doses.
Ah, we have cats so cat litter is abundant here. Unfortunately we can't get to any damp areas because it's all behind the unit, that's the frustrating part. I'll have to wedge something in around the sides and top where I can to absorb some of the moisture.
I'm pretty sure if it was black mold or something else dangerous the handyman would have let us know (and if it is and he didn't then hoo boy he'll hear from us), right now it's just enough to make my allergies hate life.
Go out and buy a relatively cheap (~$100) dehumidifier that catches water. Our basement has a drain that we just put the dehumidifier over and it automatically drains itself into that. Otherwise you'll have to go down and empty the catch-bucket when it gets full. We've noticed a huge difference in the moisture in our laundry room since purchasing the thing.
We absolutely can't afford that right now, especially not now that we're having to save every penny for a deposit on a new place. But I appreciate the suggestion, I'll keep it in mind for the laundry room at our new place!
Place a slice of white bread in a shallow bowl with just enough vinegar to cover it. It will absorb the smell. Spray everything you can reach with 50/50 bleach and water. It will kill it and stop the spread.
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Keep the receipts and ask your landlord for reimbursement.
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I was imagining plastic draped over the washer, and the drier if necessary, and then taped to the wall. Or, if they are in a closet-like space, a curtain of plastic taped to the door frame.
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And you could try using a fan heater blowing over any obviously damp areas for a while too...
If you run your dryer make sure you are venting the room well - all that hot wet air needs to get out.
The less you disturb it the less chance you have of breathing it in, and if you are really worried you would have to wear masks (and dicky little 'dust masks' from the hardware won't cut it - mould spores need heavy duty specialised masks usually) but many moulds aren't dangerous in short term/small doses.
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I'm pretty sure if it was black mold or something else dangerous the handyman would have let us know (and if it is and he didn't then hoo boy he'll hear from us), right now it's just enough to make my allergies hate life.
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