I decided to have a gander under the floor of my bedroom, as you do, and was disturbed to see how mouldy/nasty it looked.
Is this mould? I’ve been living in this place about 6 months. Since I’m a newbie on this site presumably I can’t post images, but here are 2 pics if you’d be so kind as to look.
I suppose I should call someone in about this? I’m very busy and I’d rather just pretend it doesn’t exist, but this can’t be too good for my health if it’s mould.
If its just near the walls… as CSI says, cleaning doesn’t clean the floor, it just moves the dirt down deeper. Maybe the dark stain is just dust from cleaning the floor… or coming out from the wall (we had cochroach poos coming out from the wall, or it could be the dust from decaying leaves in the ceiling space, and from construction/renovations, and so on… )
Is the linoleum or concrete damp ? Its the dampness that causes mould.
If the flooring is dry then the mould may just be the once off, from where it was flooded
(eg window left open, or floor washed…) This may be more obvious when you check to see if the mould /mark is only near the wall…
I’m not an expert, but the fact the weird blackish stuff is also on the underside of the rug makes me a bit suspicious too. Looks to my non-expert eyes like mold I’ve personally seen.
Sure appears to be mold. If you’re renting, call the landlord. If you own, call a contractor or engineer capable of assessing the cause of the moisture that is creating the mold. You need to correct the source of this problem as well as the result.
It’s mold, but harmless to you.
It will worsen if there is an ongoing moisture problem, and just sit there forever if it’s from a past moisture problem.
The dangers of mold are overrated.
You can clean it up with bleach, but if the root cause isn’t identified, it might come back. However, some spaces are prone to mildew without any particular leakage of water. If you can increase air circulation, it can help; if you live in a damp climate, a dehumidifier may be needed.
You could always try one of those home mold test kits that you can buy from the hardware store for under 10 USD or so. Not sure how accurate they are but I know at least one person who used one and tested positive, which was then confirmed by a lab test.
They will almost always give a positive reading, because mold is everywhere. So those kits are worthless.
Thanks for the replies. Also good to know it’s (probably) harmless, there seems to be a lot of alarmism about mould, on the interwebs at least.
I’ve called a guy to come check it out though.
True. There are no established action levels for mold, even for stachybotrys (so-called “black mold”). Cleaning with a bleach solution may or may not work, particularly for porous surfaces. If one notices allergy symptoms, it could be related to the mold, but it could also be from dust, pet dander, etc. An attorney once told me that “mold is the new asbestos” for lawyers.