Splish splash.

[Paisley_Chic]

DIY = "Did it yesterday"

There is a water spigot just outside my laundry room, at the corner of the house. My ultra-conservative boyfriend turned it off, which made the pipe freeze and split just under my kitchen sink between the floor and cabinet base during the last freeze - HUGE mess.

Now, there is mold growing on the drywall in the utility room, and since I'm not living in the house, and I don't get a chance to work on it every day, I only just noticed it.

The mold was growing around two exterior walls inside the laundry room. (There isn't anything hooked up in that room at the moment, and no sign of water leaks from the faucets.) I've cleaned the mold off with bleach and water, and opened the windows to air out the house. Behind the drywall is tongue & groove, 2x4 studs and exterior lapboard. There is no insulation. I know I'll have to cut out and replace the drywall, but if there's mold growing inside the house, then there's going to be mold behind the tongue & groove, right?

When I cut out the drywall, and clean off the wood behind it, is there a retardant I can apply to the wood before replacing the drywall?

Also, I am going to remove the exterior lapboard, and see how much damage is behind it, while I've got it off, I am going to insulate. My next question: Is exterior lapboard/vapor barrier/insulation/drywall the correct way for insulating the sides of the house?

 

[handyguys]

relax - Clean up with bleach, dry everything out. If necessary run a dehumidifier. Go have a glass of wine with your bo.

Only rip into if if you are intent on adding insulation for energy efficiency reasons. Even then no need to rip into it like I suspect you are thinking.

 

[glennjanie]

Hello Denise:
Unless there is something else you need to repair in the wall there is no need to take the siding off; you can blow the insulation in the walls through holes drilled in the siding. They even make plastic plugs to fill the holes after you're done. You can get the celulose insulation at the big box store and most of them will even give you free rent on the machine to blow it in with.
Glenn

 

[Paisley_Chic]

Hi Handyguys,

Thanks for the advice. I'm allergic to mold, so is there a mold retarder, or will the paint with the inhibitor be enough? I checked out your site and couldn't find anything on mold. Do you have a direct link to the podcast?

At the moment, it's not a glass of wine I want with the bo - He just cost me the entire sub-floor in my kitchen. I know from having him help before, that he is not a carpenter - or he was playing dumb so I wouldn't ask him again! The sub-floor is 3/4" plywood sheathing - screwed to the old floor. I've got to rip all of it out and start over since the pipes burst in the house - hence my "Big Mess." I can't afford to keep redoing the same job over - I'll never get finished if I do that!

Glenn,
How long does the cellulose insulation last? I've got 2688 sq. ft of wall space to insulate.

 

[guyod]

Dont blame your bf. I dont see how turning off the water caused this. Did you have the water dripping? a dripping outside faucet will make an icicle and freeze over just the same. the setup is what is to blame. the shut off valve for it should be i a heated area of the house and slope downward to the spigot or a anti freeze spigot that extents into the house.
Just thought i would stick up for the man

 

[Paisley_Chic]

Hi guyod,

I'll let you stick up for him this time. I had both the kit' sink and the outside spigot running half open because I didn't want to take the chance of anything like this happening. I'll be looking into those anti-freeze spigots. Thanks for the info.