very bad Mold situation on white bricks wall

[SlyouThai]

hey guys i have a ugly  problem with mold in a unfinished house that was left alone for quite some times. 

 

ok i would like advices if my plan is correct.  The idea is first to stop the source. i know this is Qblock walls and they taking a lot of rain water  Im pretty sure no sealant of anysort has been done other that a thai style rendering. 

 

I planning to "scratch " the paint of all the exterior wall , then seal it ( not sure  yet what would be best ) then repaint with a waterproof exterior paint. 

 

then i will make sure the windows doesnt leak anywhere. 

 

For the inside i will try to clean the mold out then let it dry before repainting over. 

 

Am i thinking correctly ? or is the mold too much spread already to not ask a company to come and clean it before ? 

 

Any suggestions welcome.

 

 

[johng]

Are you sure the block work/render isn't soaking up water from the ground ? If it is it will just keep happening whatever you do...

[SlyouThai]

Just now, johng said:

Are you sure the block work/render isn't soaking up water from the ground ? If it is it will just keep happening whatever you do...

good question and no im not sure of that...  its supposed to be a concrete base  then the brick in a decent wall build correct ? only the concrete base would be in contact with water from the ground and that would be enough to not have this kind of problem ? 

 

should i scratch  the wall as low as possible to see what's up ?

 

 

[johng]

Concrete without "waterproofing" chemicals added at construction time will soak up water and thus transfer it to the block work above..so yes dig down and see if the ground/earth is saturated with water.

 

 

[eyecatcher]

Its difficult to see if there is ground water causing the low level staining internally as you do not indicate the level of the tiles and the level of the gravel.

Cleaning mould however is dead easy, just use a bleach no need for fancy stuff or anyone to fleece you.

The bad stain on the outside is caused by rain and its dripping at that point either because the window sill (maybe window) is out of level due to incompetence or settlement due to incompetence. it could also becoming from a point above the window, fascia for example.

 

I am puzzled by the stringline. this is what I would do if I was setting out for a brick tile plinth or for painting in that contrasting brown colour. maybe the previous owners had this in mind and paid less attention to getting a decent render face on it?

 

first task is to find the source of the water stains and make waves to alleviate it. with a decent render even on q cons normal rain wouldn't be  an issue, however you can after cleaning it paint the wall with a silicone solution as an extra form of defence. paying particular attention to the area covered by the gravel

[CharlieH]

That looks like it going from the window down, not rising from the floor.

All the effected area is in relation to the window position only, judging by the pics.

 

I would take that window out and see what's going on there first.

[kannot]

Jet wash this area, looks  like window problem more than anything............Thais dont know what a damp course is

[SlyouThai]

thanks for the reply , i have to say its a complicated situation. Actually when i see thoses 2 pictures i have to point out its not even the same place sorry for that. 

 

So to be more clear , first picture is outside wall , you can see a part of window frame but its just 2 big pieces of glass. that actually broke recently with big winds ...  it was done terribly with no proper joint so the water could have go threw the frame without much problem then leaking inside the wall.   

 

 

I dont have all the infos i need about what happened  so im a little bit in the dark. i dont plan to do all that myself but i dont want to be clueless when someone gonna do something unproperly.

 

What would be a good window position in a case of just a frame with a big glass ? im joining a pic for best understanding . The idea was to have some statue there and plants , kind of like a indoor garden view or something....

 

as you can see there is only one part of glass left , the other one broke but im sure it was  not long ago

 

 

[sanemax]

1 minute ago, kannot said:

Jet wash this area, looks  like window problem more than anything............Thais dont know what a damp course is

Rising damp is not normally a problem here , because the heat evaporates the moisture before it can rise , problems only normally occur when theres no run off for the ground (rain) water

[sanemax]

57 minutes ago, SlyouThai said:

hey guys i have a ugly  problem with mold in a unfinished house that was left alone for quite some times.

Finish the house off first . 

[SlyouThai]

Just now, sanemax said:

Finish the house off first . 

yes thats the plan but finishing the house means taking care of infiltration problems and make sure they dont come back too ?

 

i try to gather informations so i dont just clean it and paint over and then its the same problem in months ????

[Lacessit]

Bleach only works on very thin films of mould, it won't penetrate biomass. I'd recommend spraying with copper sulphate solution and allow it to sit for a couple of days. Then power wash it.

Power washing alone can't get all the mould out because it isn't killed, it will simply regenerate.

[SlyouThai]

the mold problem isnt only on this window its other part too thats why i was asking about sealing exterior wall properly. I will contact a pvc company hopefully competent enough to fix the frame and glass first for the picture above. if you have infos about how it should be done in this particular case please share as i know i can easily end up with a new frame done unproperly again. 

[sanemax]

9 minutes ago, SlyouThai said:

the mold problem isnt only on this window its other part too thats why i was asking about sealing exterior wall properly. I will contact a pvc company hopefully competent enough to fix the frame and glass first for the picture above. if you have infos about how it should be done in this particular case please share as i know i can easily end up with a new frame done unproperly again. 

There are numerous DIY pages online , you can do a websearch .

[SlyouThai]

3 minutes ago, sanemax said:

There are numerous DIY pages online , you can do a websearch .

i guess DYI wasnt the good place to post , sorry if you get irritaded. Im looking for informations from people with knowledge since i know how i can end up in a new situation as bad as it is when i see the average professional skill around. Thanks for your time

[sanemax]

Just now, SlyouThai said:

i guess DYI wasnt the good place to post , sorry if you get irritaded. Im looking for informations from people with knowledge since i know how i can end up in a new situation as bad as it is when i see the average professional skill around. Thanks for your time

I wasnt irritated or being rude (just trying to be helpful) .

There are numerous youtube videos from professionals , explaining about damp and how to rectify it .

   Basically , you need to find out whats causing the problem and fix it

[weegee]

Get some strong pool chlorine and mix up a a very powerful brew....spray it on and leave it soak in for a few minutes.....Wash it off with a water Blaster and let dry completely before you try any types of paint....if you are not in a hurry, leave the washed wall alone for a while and repeat the chlorine washdown again. Poll chlorine is cheap as chips and better than just plain bleach by far....The chlorine will soak into every nook and cranny and kill the  mould spores more effective than anything....

 

 

[kannot]

On 10/15/2018 at 6:30 PM, sanemax said:

Rising damp is not normally a problem here , because the heat evaporates the moisture before it can rise , problems only normally occur when theres no run off for the ground (rain) water

When its trapped  under paint it  will be, bubbling paint the first sign.

I see a LOT of this problem here even on internal walls, the tell tale staining and  bubbling paint, very  common