Long post, but please help😫 What is the best route to deal with this? Does it look like it’s from a leak?
For context on my question on if it could be a leak, I live in an apartment on the bottom floor and have an upstairs neighbor whose water heater I believe is directly above mine. It looks wet in the picture because I just sprayed it with undiluted white vinegar and am letting it sit for an hour before I scrub it off.
This is in my laundry closet right next to my washer and dryer. It started months ago on the smaller wall, and I kept putting off cleaning it because I wasn’t educated on how dangerous mold exposure can be. It’s hard to tell in the picture, but there were clear streak marks of mold from water from a leak or condensation dripping all the way from where the wall meets the ceiling down to the floor. I can’t tell if the spots at the base of the water heater are mold, but that has been there since I moved in almost a year and a half ago. About a month ago I noticed that I could actually smell the mold when I opened the laundry closet doors. I haven’t washed any clothes for the past 2 weeks because I’ve been in a depressive rut, so I wasn’t in the laundry room at all, and last night when I opened the doors I noticed that there is now fuzzy mold growth all over the ceiling.
I bought vinegar, CLR brand mold and mildew foaming stain remover, and Soft Scrub brand cleanser with bleach today. Not sure if these are good products, but it’s all I could find at the grocery store. When spraying the vinegar, I also noticed there is mold growth behind the water heater, but I don’t know if that’s new or has been there and I just never saw it.
Part of the lease agreement for my complex specifies that residents should clean mold themselves with bleach unless it’s in an area they can’t access. I obviously can’t get behind the water heater, but I’m honestly really embarrassed that I let it get this bad and am reluctant to call the apartment maintenance crew to come identify the source and help clean me. I feel like they may try to say I violated my lease by not cleaning it months ago when I first noticed it.
Any advice, suggestions, or stories of similar experiences in an apartment and what to expect if I do call maintenance will be greatly appreciated! Thank you all in advance
TLDR: Mold has been growing for months and has progressively gotten worse over the past few weeks. I’m too embarrassed to call my apartment maintenance for help, and am worried I’ll get in trouble with management if I do. Trying to clean it myself but seeking advice on the best route to do that.