I own an apartment with mold issues. I developed health issues from living there, I moved out, but don't have the capacity to remediate right now. What can I do to prevent further damage to the apartment until I can fix it?
More details:
- New build. External walls are solid, internal - solid or drywall. Air ventilation is through recuperation/HRV - I suspect it's the source of mold, so I keep it turned off. No other air ventilation installed, but I can open windows and kept one slightly open.
- Suspected timeline: mold in HRV unit from the beginning a few years ago (always felt weird when using it, so mostly used windows), then situation got much worse last summer with unusually high humidity outdoors.
- Spotted some humidity damage, some baseboards started peeling off. Found some mold in HRV (small patches in the draining pan), in the mattress (small area under zipper), under baseboards, in one shoebox. I suspect most mold will be hiding behind an integrated sliding door, but haven't had a chance to open up the wall yet.
- Otherwise no visible mold, except small patch in the shower.
- I've also seen at least 2-3 species of small creatures that love humid environments (like booklice) - only 1-2 individuals of each, everyone is hiding well :)
- Strong earthly smell. During dry winter it had no smell but it's back now when room humidity reached 35-40%. Thus looking for solutions urgently.
- I assume that smell is from mold. But it could be from a bacteria or smth. It smells like somebody just replanted my plants (they're still there but watered minimally to survive, so not that, the smell is way too strong for that).
- I haven't done the tests yet as it's hard to find a reliable provider (I'm in Europe). That's partially the reason why I want to keep it as is until I find how I can test it (so that it's easier to know how to heal from the mess).
What can I do to stop the mold from growing or spreading?
Is it enough to keep humidity at 30-35%? If I keep humidity low with a dehumidifier, is it better to keep the apartment air tight or with slight air circulation through windows? But then can I ensure sufficiently low humidity?
Or is the humidity a wrong approach here? What would you do to minimize risks/damage?