From the archive of ByebyeMold
Question i moved into my apt six months ago, it looked clean when i moved in but ever since then, all of the perishable food I buy grows mold within days, the same mold grows in my toilets within 2-3 days…where is it coming from and how do i get rid of it?
Mold does not occur spontaneously. It grows from spores, which come from somewhere.
There is a certain concentration of mold in outdoor air, even though outside mold does not grow everywhere. The key then, is that mold will grow in an environment which is hospitable to it. If you are living in a naturally humid location like New Orleans then you may wish to get a dehumidifier.
You may have a water or humidity source and a temperature in your house that is hospitable to the mold. If you don’t see any visible leaks, I would guess, offhand, that perhaps carpeting in the apartment may have been cleaned, then the apartment possibly closed, trapping the moisture within.
Either that, or there was mold already established, and whatever cleaning they did before you moved in was inadequate remediation. Inform your landlord right away, and perhaps something can be worked out. You may want to have a company like Bye Bye Mold come in and test for mold, if you need to prove to your landlord the existence of the mold—or possibly in case you have to go to court. Superficial mold can be removed with a bleach-water solution, and keeping the property dry and ventilated. That is, it can be removed if it has not grown into the drywall nor integrated within the soft surfaces.
If you’re in California, you might want to give us a call and see about getting an assessment from Byebyemold.