Dealing With Mold in a Bathroom Reno

[Harry Palmer]

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking for a little while and this is my first post.

We are in the middle to late stages of a bathroom renovation down to studs that shares a wall with another bathroom. When we took down the walls we discovered plenty of mold, but mostly on the walls we removed. I sprayed the other bathroom's sheetrock walls with some bleach solution (but didn't use very much) and redid this bathrooms wet walls with cement backerboard.

My question is, how long do I have before I need to do the second bathroom renovation? My fear is that the leftover mold will eventually transfer to all of my new construction. We probably can't begin work for about a month, but depending on your recommendations, I may start the demo early, just to be safe.

Thank you in advance.

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[Davestone]

Welll, i'm no expert but mold spores can spread throughout a house in no time.They are in the air constantly, and latch onto cellulose and begin to grow.I cut out the moldy drywall in my house and replaced it.

[ddmoit]

Welcome aboard, Harry. :)

I'm not sure I entirely understand your question. But here's some general information. Mold needs food and water to propagate. Remove those two elements, and it's no longer a problem. It may never be dead, but dormant is as good as dead. Did you use a moisture barrier behind or on the surface of any new cement board that you installed in a wet area? Do you suspect that your non-renovated shower is contributing moisture to the molded area?

Cement board cannot be harmed by mold, so your new construction should be fine for a while.

Feel free to provide more details about the construction of your renovation. It may provide more insight to better answers to your question.

[Harry Palmer]

Thank you for the replies so far. I did not use a moisture barrier behind the backerboard and you are correct that the unfinished bathroom is a contributor to the moisture problem. When the first bathroom is complete, the second bathroom is not going to be used any longer, so that will help matters.

You made me feel better by telling me that the cement board won't be harmed by the mold, so it looks like I have some time before I need to start tearing out the second bathroom.