How To Remove Black Mold From Drywall [Step By Step Guide]

If you have read some of our previous articles on black mold, you would see that we have touched on several issues as to how black mold can be gotten rid of from different places. 

We also have an article about how you can get rid of black mold in your shower, on your concrete, and in your basement.

Today in this article, we will look at how you can get rid of black mold in your drywall by yourself.

Having black mold or any other type of mold in your house can endanger your health and your family, so any mold infestation must be dealt with as soon as possible. 

Knowing how to get rid of the black mold from any part of your home can be an essential home skill to have as a homeowner. 

Tools Required To Remove Black Mold From Drywall

Before we go ahead and look at how you can remove black mold from your drywalls, there are some tools that you would need to have first. 

Make sure to have tools ready when it is time to tackle the black mold on your drywall. Here are the needed tools below.

1. Drywall saw
2. Paintbrush
3. Safety glasses
4. Scrub brush
5. Utility knife
6. Window fan
7. Shop vacuum
8. Rubber gloves
9. N-95respirator

Materials Required For The Removal Of Black Mold In Your Drywall

Apart from the tools, you will need some materials for the black mold removal on the drywall. Here are the materials you will require below.

1. Bleach
2. Heavy-duty cleaner
3. Plastic sheeting
4. 6 mil plastic garbage bag
5. Shellac or oil-based primer

Black mold is one of the biggest nuisances of a home. When the mold attacks, it blackens the grout of our bathrooms, concrete, and basement and threatens the health of people around as well. 

When a mold grows on your property, it creates some microscopic spores capable of causing reactions such as running nose and sneezing among others. 

Black mold is also capable of causing irritation and other health conditions. So now, in this article, we are going to look at how one can get rid of the black mold that appears in drywall. 

Make sure that you have got all the tools and materials that are needed ready before seeing how to get rid of the old black drywall. 

Black Mold Drywall Removal Safety Precautions

Before we start cleaning the black mold, there are some safety precautions that one has to follow. 

If you are getting rid of black mold anywhere within a few square feet, then you should adhere to the guidelines below for safety reasons.

These guidelines will help you stay safe while you work on getting rid of the black mold. 

Remember we said that black mold could be dangerous to people’s health due to its mold spores containing some poison that can cause people to have allergic reactions and even asthma. 

Here are the guidelines below.

1. Wear clothes and shoes that you can afford to throw away after cleaning the black mold from the drywall.
2. Wear special respirators such as N-95 or P-100 respirators. You should also make sure to wear goggles and gloves as well.
3. Get the room ventilated with an old box fan or a cheap new one by placing the fan in the window while cleaning the black mold off the drywall. 
4. Make sure to throw the fan away after cleaning the black mold. The reason why you should throw them away is that the black mold spores are sometimes impossible to clean off, and maybe the fan, it works while you are cleaning. It would be best if you also taped plywood or cardboard around the window openings so that the black mold spores that get blown out will not be able to blow back into the room. 
5. Plastic with mold should be wrapped and taped in 6-mm and double bag other mold-infested debris and disposed of them in the garbage bin.
6. To control spores that may go airborne, you should get the surface of the black mold area moist with a sprayer before you work on it.
7. Before you start work, make sure to switch off your air conditioner and your furnace, and also make sure to cover ducts and doors to keep the black mold spores contained in the room.
8. Keep the wet/dry vacuum out of the room while you vacuum. Please do not keep it inside the room, clean the black mold.

Steps On Cleaning Black Mold From An Infested Carpet 

Now, let us look at how you can get rid of black mold from an infested carpet. The steps for doing this are pretty short and do not take long.

1. Cut the stained carpet into sections with a utility knife. (remember you need to bring along a utility knife as part of the tools that you will need for getting rid of the black mold from the drywall)
2. With a pump sprayer, get the cut surfaces wet with water so that you can control the spread of the mold spores, and then roll the cut sections and double wrap them inside 6-mm plastics. 
3. Get them taped with duct tape for disposal. Make sure you are in complete protective clothing before you start this. You do not want to get black mold spores on any part of your body. If you have long hair, make sure to wear a hair bonnet to keep your hair safe from spores, and throw the bonnet away after the job is done.

Sealing Off Damaged Areas

You will need to seal off the room you will clean from the rest of the house to avoid any black mold spores slipping to other parts of the house. 

You can cover the doorway with a barrier made of plastic sheeting and taped to the wall and the floor. Make sure to cover all air ducts inside the room with plastic and tape.

Opening The Black Mold-Infested Walls

Here is how to go about it to open up the black mold-infested walls.

• Pry the baseboards off and trim them from the parts that have been infested with the pry bay and block of wood. 
• With a screwdriver, probe places that have been stained heavily or swollen with moisture to help you find black mold damage hidden in the insulation and the wall’s framing.

You have to open the black mold-infested wall up so that the black mold growth inside is visible to you. 

Before cutting out the infested part that has been plagued with black mold, poke a hole through the damaged part of the wall to locate the wires so that you do not end up cutting into them. 

Make sure that power has been turned off before you cut out the black mold part. 

• Now get the black mold wall and insulation moist with water from the spray pump to prevent the black mold spores from spreading while you are cutting. 

• Now double bag the black mold area inside a heavy-duty plastic bag and tie it shut. If the moisture damage goes a long time without being noticed, these black molds will start to rot. 

Make sure that such never happens to your property. Here are some tips to follow:

• Whenever possible, try and replace soft and spongy studs and wall sheathing

If you find it hard to remove that particular area, treat it with wood preservation after cleaning the wood and allowing it to dry.

After that, double up on the parts that have been rotten with pressure-treated lumber.

Cleaning And Repair 

After you have finished cutting the infected parts of the drywall and tying it up, you will need to vacuum the debris in the place. 

Vacuum all the black mold debris with a standard wet/dry vacuum. It would be best if you got an extra-long hose so that you can keep the vacuum itself outside the room while you vacuum the black mold debris. 

The long hose will allow you to keep the vacuum outside through the window so that you do not get any black mold spores on it since you will need to send the void back inside the house after the whole work is done.

Make sure to clean the vacuum very well after vacuuming the black mold debris. Dispose of the filter and then wash out the tank and the hose and all other attachments with a solution of bleach and water. 

Scrubbing Black Mold Surfaces With A Mold Cleaner

Scrub the surface of black mold-infected walls and wood trim with a mixture of one quart of water and ½ of bleach. This would kill all the black mold.

You can then use a soft brush to brush off all the remaining black mold until none is left on the wall or wood trim. 

After you are done with the surface, allow the bleach solution to sit on the black mold to penetrate the surface and kill the black mold roots and the spores. 

Comprehensive the bleach solution off the surface wall and wood trim, but not rinse with water.

If possible, allow the wood trim to sit in direct sunlight for some time to get the bleach solution to dry correctly. 

You can also scrub your black mold-infected concrete with TSP or automatic dishwasher detergent.

Sealing Black Mold Areas After Drying

After the old black areas have dried up, you will have to seal the spots up. Set out dehumidifiers and fans in the area to help dry the place for about three days. 

After three days, check the areas for yourself and see if you can smell the black mold still. Make sure you are wearing a mask to protect your nose, just in case. 

If you detect black mold still in the areas, you would have to clean them again with bleach to get rid of it. 

After you can confirm that the black mold is now gone from the wood trim and wall, seal the surfaces with pigmented shellac such as BIN, or you can use an oil-based primer such as KILZ. 

Now get the walls repainted with regular latex paint with mildewcide to prevent the black mold from appearing there again. You can get new insulations and drywall and then nail the trim back in place.

How To Prevent Black Mold

You can prevent the black mold from showing up in the first place. As you can see from our previous articles, black mold grows in areas that have been moist or flooded by water for some time. 

So this means that black mold needs the presence of water to grow. So to prevent black mold, always make sure that bathrooms, kitchens, and basements are always dry and free from moisture. 

Also, make sure that such places are always ventilated very well. Always make sure to fill water vaults to stop leaks.

Conclusion

So that is to get rid of black mold on drywall and wood trims. Always make sure that you are in protective clothing before you start cleaning the black mold so that you do not contact the black mold spore, which can be dangerous to your health.