We have a U shaped galley style kitchen. The subfloor is concrete and the floor in the kitchen and dining room is tile. However, the builder did not put tile under the cabinets creating an area 1/2' lower than the top of the tile. Please see attached drawing.
Our dishwasher started leaking some time ago and we didn't notice it leaking until we noticed mold on the baseboard along the back side of the 42" high wall where the eat at counter is.
We have removed the dishwasher and fixed the leak but there is black and grey mold growing on the drywall 12" to 18" high, 3 to 4 feet in either direction of the corner. (See drawing again please)
The drywall still seems very solid when I tap on it with my big mag light. It doesn't seem like it is crumbling. I have sprayed straight household bleach on the exterior surface of the wall under the counter.
We do not have the money right now to remove the cheap cabinets and counter so that we could remove the drywall completely and rebuild the area. Some of the cabinets would probably also be damaged as well as the counter and back splash and I doubt that we could find identical replacements to match.
I am thinking of cutting 6" access holes in the drywall in the corner and behind the dishwasher and using my 2 gal yard sprayer with wand and spraying more bleach in the cavity between the metal studs and the drywall on either side. This would hopefully kill any surface mold and some in the paper perhaps as deep as 1/16" into the drywall in between the studs.
Is this a viable alternative to removing the drywall? Is there a better product than bleach for killing mold? Will the mold most likely come back after killing it with bleach even if I keep the area dry?
Thanks...
Regards,
Tom
Our dishwasher started leaking some time ago and we didn't notice it leaking until we noticed mold on the baseboard along the back side of the 42" high wall where the eat at counter is.
We have removed the dishwasher and fixed the leak but there is black and grey mold growing on the drywall 12" to 18" high, 3 to 4 feet in either direction of the corner. (See drawing again please)
The drywall still seems very solid when I tap on it with my big mag light. It doesn't seem like it is crumbling. I have sprayed straight household bleach on the exterior surface of the wall under the counter.
We do not have the money right now to remove the cheap cabinets and counter so that we could remove the drywall completely and rebuild the area. Some of the cabinets would probably also be damaged as well as the counter and back splash and I doubt that we could find identical replacements to match.
I am thinking of cutting 6" access holes in the drywall in the corner and behind the dishwasher and using my 2 gal yard sprayer with wand and spraying more bleach in the cavity between the metal studs and the drywall on either side. This would hopefully kill any surface mold and some in the paper perhaps as deep as 1/16" into the drywall in between the studs.
Is this a viable alternative to removing the drywall? Is there a better product than bleach for killing mold? Will the mold most likely come back after killing it with bleach even if I keep the area dry?
Thanks...
Regards,
Tom