# A question about black mold....



## SittingElf (Feb 9, 2016)

Greetings! First post here.

I'm a prepper who plans to bug-in unless the situation requires bugging out. That being said, I live in the coastal region of East Florida, where our biggest concern is hurricanes.

Our house is in a gated community generally away from packed neighborhoods, so we'll stay as long as we can. It's a big house (3600SF + 1000SF garage)

Black mold is something we live with constantly in the area. Because of AC, it doesn't get inside the house, but blackens the driveway, sidewalks, pool area etc. What concerns me is if the SHTF and we lose power for any length of time, I am concerned that this mold would quickly start forming within the house due to the high humidity in Florida.

Does anyone here have any idea how to mitigate mold growth indoors in that situation? I am all ears!

Cheers,

Frank


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

do you mean now..or when the power goes off and there is no more AC


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## SittingElf (Feb 9, 2016)

> do you mean now..or when the power goes off and there is no more AC


When the power is gone...possibly forever.

I have limited solar, primarily for lights and to run the pumps in my aquaponics system. Can't run anything else with them.

I also have natural gas to the house which should last for a few days until it dies, and planning to bury a 1000 gallon LNG tank in the yard as backup for the short term, but eventually all power will be lost and we'll be cooking over wood fires.

Frank


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## txmarine6531 (Nov 18, 2015)

The only thing I can think of, is to leave windows open for air flow. Last house I lived in back in east TX had no a/c downstairs. It's a pretty humid environment, but we never had a black mold problem in the house. Outside we had it like y'all do. Other than that, welcome!


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## SittingElf (Feb 9, 2016)

Thanks guys. Sounds like that may be the only solution.

Glad to see other vets answering!! Former Army Officer here, and wife who is an O-6 Select in the Air Force.

Cheers


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

First, Welcome :icon_smile:

What do you have against "Black" mold? You aint a racist or some such nonsense?

Thanks!

Slippy

PS Bleach, airflow, sunshine and removal of dead bodies will help eliminate mold!



SittingElf said:


> Greetings! First post here.
> 
> I'm a prepper who plans to bug-in unless the situation requires bugging out. That being said, I live in the coastal region of East Florida, where our biggest concern is hurricanes.
> 
> ...


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## txmarine6531 (Nov 18, 2015)

Thank you for y'all's service! I have been contemplating going AF reserves for a while now. Been out of the USMC for almost 10 years now. Plenty of AF jobs in SA. Mainly want to do it for a little extra income, second retirement, and the get back to the life just a little.


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## dwight55 (Nov 9, 2012)

Try this:

The Truth About Toxic Black Mold: It's Not What You Think

At the same time, . . . you will have to get back to the thinking of lots of windows open as much as you can, . . . breeze going through, . . .

This is foreign to all my friends I have in Fla, . . . they are AC lovers, . . . would melt in the summer without it.

It WILL cause a different life style, . . . your well insulated 3600 sqft loft with no real design for natural air flow, . . . may be a problem.

Your gated community will definitely be a problem. Most of your neighbors think the term prepper, . . . means getting ready for a pep rally at the university before game day, . . . and will be clawing at you for your supplies, . . . while you are fending off the roaming street gangs who will be targeting you, . . . thinking you "have it" since you live in a gated community.

Good luck, . . . keep your powder dry, . . . your .45 loaded, . . . and your sights properly adjusted.

May God bless,
Dwight


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Got any .22LR?


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Squirt it down with Clorox about 2 T. per gallon of water..plus one drop of Dawn or shampoo. That makes the water wetter ya know? Kindly try that an report back. Thanks.


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## SittingElf (Feb 9, 2016)

> Your gated community will definitely be a problem. Most of your neighbors think the term prepper, . . . means getting ready for a pep rally at the university before game day, . . . and will be clawing at you for your supplies, . . . while you are fending off the roaming street gangs who will be targeting you, . . . thinking you "have it" since you live in a gated community.


Good points...but we have that covered to a degree. Here's a post I recently made on another blog site regarding bug-in or bug-out.... and barter materials. I hope this gives me a few bonafides here!:armata_PDT_36:

My family will initially bug-in within our gated community which is somewhat separated from mass population. We'll leave only if the situation becomes extremely dire. That is if foreign troops or marauders are invading our locale.
Our neighbors are prepping along with us, and we have defined specific skill sets amongst ourselves that cover many of our survival needs. Neighbors include:
-A retired Marine Master Sergeant who's son is currently active duty Marine as well.
-A Pharmacist who will have instant access to supply a mass of drugs and other items for local storage when the SHTF.
-My Wife, who is an active duty Air Force Colonel and Critical Care Nurse.
-Myself&#8230;a former Army Officer who was connected with Special Ops
-A couple who spent a great deal of time in Africa, teaching efficient gardening and food production techniques, with the added benefit of being a golf course frontage house on a fairway that would become a great veggy gardening plot if necessary.
-Multiple other veterans in the neighborhood, and some of Cuban descent who are vociferously anti leftists!
- There are other skill sets as well, including woodworkers, electricians, and solar experts.

We live on the Atlantic Coast in Florida, so our primary concern is hurricanes. The last one that did extensive damage was Andrew, and the Southern tip of Florida was decimated, not recovering for many, many months. That being said, we are also concerned about nefarious incidents, attacks, disasters, tyranny, invasion, and epidemics, and as such are prepping for multiple scenarios.

We have fields of fire determined and ranges marked. Our firepower is sufficient to resist marauders/invaders beginning at more than 1000 yards with clear shots. We train at a very extensive range near our neighborhood, and we have an alternate bug-out area to regroup if necessary.

We believe gold and silver will be virtually worthless for bartering within 3-6 months of SHTF. You can't eat it, grow it, shoot it, or use it for bartering if the people you are trying to trade with don't have a use for it or don't want it. It will work initially based primarily on the belief that all will be well soon, but once it becomes clear that the grid is not coming back online anytime soon, it will lose its luster, and its value as a trading commodity.

Most of us have our long-range preps pretty much covered, and only adding or replacing as necessary, or as new products become available. Some of us, including my family, have buried emergency supplies cached as well. So&#8230;our concentration now is on buying and storing barter items for outside our community, and I list some of those below that we believe will be in high demand to trade for goods and services that aren't generally mentioned in articles on prepping&#8230;.

1. .22LR Rimfire Bullets! The reason is that 22 cal guns are EVERYWHERE and extremely useful for small game hunting, and to a lesser degree, defense. They are also not as loud as other calibers. The reason 22LR rounds are so valuable is that they can't be reloaded, so once shot, the brass is useless, unlike bigger calibers that can be reused repeatedly (I personally reload six different calibers and have the brass, bullets, powder, and equipment to last for many years). When the unprepared run out of 22's, the supply is going to get even more limited than what we experienced the last couple of years. I have stocked more than 25,000 rounds of the 22LR, bought in Remington,s Bucket of Bullets bulk loads and stored properly. Buy them as you see them available in Academy, Bass Pro Shops, and elsewhere. .223, 5.56, 7.62, and 9mm bullets will be tradeable, but will always remain readily available in large numbers, so their barter value will be appropriately lower than bullets that are not so readily attainable.

2. SCOTT Toilet Paper (Single Ply). My Attic has over 1000 rolls stored. The reason I say Scott over other brands is that they are more environmentally friendly as single ply, and will break down quickly either in the outhouse, or in the compost pile. Those rolls will be very valuable when the SHTF for more than a couple of months and folks start having to use leaves, newspaper, old cloth, or god forbid, their hands! I know if I didn't have any, that I'd trade food or services for the ability to wipe my behind without pain, marks, or "leftovers"! LOL!

3. HEIRLOOM Seeds. Forget the hybrids. They are grown once, and then done. The Heirlooms will produce viable seed, producing essentially the same plant repeatedly. Buy and store them NOW! We have stocked a very large variety of these seeds for both our use, and for barter. We have also doubled our seed stock within our buried cache.

4. AA, AAA, and CR2032 batteries. Now that Duracell and others have a shelf life of a minimum of 10 years, it only makes sense to purchase bulk batteries for later barter. We rotate the oldest ones each year and replace with new&#8230;and in large quantities, bought whenever there is a sale on them in the warehouse stores.

5. Soap&#8230;.and lots of it. Doesn't really matter what brand, but we purchase unscented as it will be somewhat generic for trading.

6. Shampoo&#8230;. We have been buying those hotel-type shampoos that are good for 1-3 uses. Easy to store, and can be used for barter without having to trade full-size bottles.

7. Liquor&#8230;.NOT beer. Alcohol has SO many uses in addition to drinking, though that is also very important. We are stocking various full liter bottles, the mid bottles, and the mini airline types for barter and other uses. There will come a time when liquor is one of the most valuable commodities you can have to trade.

8. Playing Cards. We are storing 12-pack loads of playing cards for barter when there's no internet, phones, or electricity, and folks need something to keep them entertained. We have stored 200 decks for barter.

9. WD-40 and Lubricating Oils. Essential for keeping tools, equipment, and other items properly maintained and lubricated. We buy a LOT in the warehouse stores for barter later.

10. Tobacco and rolling papers. Packaged cigarettes will be long gone in short order, but bulk smoking tobacco can be stored and traded with rolling paper much cheaper than the packs. Smokers will trade almost anything for their habit.

There are many other items that we have been hoarding for trade, but the 10 listed above are among what we think will be the most valuable non-food/water commodities as time progresses without the comforts we have become accustomed to while the world is operating normally.

Cheers&#8230;and remember to Duck and Cover!


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

You had me at "Liquor"



SittingElf said:


> Good points...but we have that covered to a degree. Here's a post I recently made on another blog site regarding bug-in or bug-out.... and barter materials. I hope this gives me a few bonafides here!:armata_PDT_36:
> 
> My family will initially bug-in within our gated community which is somewhat separated from mass population. We'll leave only if the situation becomes extremely dire. That is if foreign troops or marauders are invading our locale.
> Our neighbors are prepping along with us, and we have defined specific skill sets amongst ourselves that cover many of our survival needs. Neighbors include:
> ...


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## SittingElf (Feb 9, 2016)

Slippy said:


> You had me at "Liquor"


heh heh.... my wife wants to hide our barter liquor stash so that I can't get to it, when I run out and don't want to run to the liquor store!

The other thing we did as neighbors was we all bought super-loud air horn aerosol cans. We developed a code for emergencies to let the rest of the neighbors know what emergency is taking place by the number of blasts if the phones are down. 1=Medical help needed 2=Single or very small group spotted prowling 3=Large group approaching 4=Tango(s) breaching inside house.

Cheers


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## SittingElf (Feb 9, 2016)

bigwheel said:


> Squirt it down with Clorox about 2 T. per gallon of water..plus one drop of Dawn or shampoo. That makes the water wetter ya know? Kindly try that an report back. Thanks.


I'll try that! I have plenty of Dawn, as I use it exclusively with my brass tumbler.

Will run a test when I get home from my current work tour in Nigeria. (I fly heavy helicopters for the oil companies on a month-on, month-off basis there).

Cheers, and thanks for the suggestion.


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## Sasquatch (Dec 12, 2014)

Slippy said:


> First, Welcome :icon_smile:
> 
> What do you have against "Black" mold? You aint a racist or some such nonsense?
> 
> ...


#BlackMoldLivesMatter

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. :bs:


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## SittingElf (Feb 9, 2016)

Sasquatch said:


> #BlackMoldLivesMatter
> 
> Sorry, I couldn't help myself. :bs:


That must be what this was all about.....:-?


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Did yall hear about the Nigerian Astronaut stranded on the space station? He needs a ride home..due to home sickness. Hes been up there for years but its going to take several million to schedule a flight back home. The head of the Nigerian space program will give 10 million to put into your bank account then you to refund them a few million back to give to the Ruskies who drive the space ship. It sounded like a real tear jerker on Fake Book.


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## SittingElf (Feb 9, 2016)

bigwheel said:


> Did yall hear about the Nigerian Astronaut stranded on the space station? He needs a ride home..due to home sickness. Hes been up there for years but its going to take several million to schedule a flight back home. The head of the Nigerian space program will give 10 million to put into your bank account then you to refund them a few million back to give to the Ruskies who drive the space ship. It sounded like a real tear jerker on Fake Book.


Apparently you haven't heard....

No one was willing to take the money, so the astronaut's brother built a helicopter to rescue him and bring him home. To save weight, the skin was made of plaster of paris......


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

SittingElf said:


> Apparently you haven't heard....
> 
> No one was willing to take the money, so the astronaut's brother built a helicopter to rescue him and bring him home. To save weight, the skin was made of plaster of paris......


I like this guy and his neighbors.


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## dwight55 (Nov 9, 2012)

SittingElf said:


> Good points...but we have that covered to a degree. ....................
> There are many other items that we have been hoarding for trade, but the 10 listed above are among what we think will be the most valuable non-food/water commodities as time progresses without the comforts we have become accustomed to while the world is operating normally.
> 
> Cheers&#8230;and remember to Duck and Cover!


Congratulations, . . . very few have plans as well set up / laid out. Kinda wish I was one of your neighbors, . . . but no, . . . I ain't coming to Fla, . . . and if I did it would be to the panhandle, . . .

Glad to see some community cooperation.

Around here, . . . it's pretty much zero.........

But that's OK, . . . I'm 71, . . . been around the pond a couple times, . . . kissed the baby's belly, . . . and seen the southern cross.

If I don't last too long out there, . . . maybe someone needy will get my stash, . . .

May God bless,
Dwight


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## Gunner's Mate (Aug 13, 2013)

SittingElf said:


> I'll try that! I have plenty of Dawn, as I use it exclusively with my brass tumbler.
> 
> Will run a test when I get home from my current work tour in Nigeria. (I fly heavy helicopters for the oil companies on a month-on, month-off basis there).
> 
> Cheers, and thanks for the suggestion.


You need to a tablespoon of cream of Tartar to your Dawn and water when cleaning brass, Are you using the Stainless Steel media if so add the Ccream of Tartar. Brass will shine like a diamond in a goats ass


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## SecretPrepper (Mar 25, 2014)

Use poroxide and borax mix and spray moldy areas. Let it soak then wipe clean. Give it a second spray and let it dry do not wipe it off. The poroxide is supposed to kill the mold and the film left by the borax will keep it from growing back. I just researched this last week. Bleach was less recommend as it doesn't kill all molds and doesn't penitrate into all materials and may only kill surface mold. I used the mix about a week ago. No new mold yet. Others recommend vinegar but I dident want to smell it so I don't know how effective it is.


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

Slippy said:


> You had me at "Liquor"


:shock: Had me as well ! Welcome aboard SE. Sounds like you have a good plan working and thank you and your wife for your service.


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## Kumarkalliente (May 1, 2015)

mold hates water its hydrophobic.
There has to be a certain level of moisture for mold to grow and after a certain saturation point you can drown it. you need to pre-wash your walls and get a bottle of anti-microbial(this is how my computer wants to spell it) and a hand pump sprayer. Where ever there is a lot of moisture in your house( bathrooms, kitchen basements or were you keep your water heater and the pipes come into the house) will need to be cleaned and wiped down all the time. They also have paint called encapsulant that prevents mold from coming back or forming. I did mold mitigation for 5 years. In Ohio its a lot of attics. Just because the mold is black does not make it the "black Mold" i have seen mold in every color. bleach really just cleans the stain,dawns not a bad idea but your going to want to use as little as possible on things that are not dishes get a moisture meter from home depot if your that concerned see how much moisture are in your walls


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## AquaHull (Jun 10, 2012)

1. .22LR Rimfire Bullets! The reason is that 22 cal guns are EVERYWHERE and extremely useful for small game hunting, and to a lesser degree, defense. They are also not as loud as other calibers. The reason 22LR rounds are so valuable is that they can't be reloaded, so once shot, the brass is useless, unlike bigger calibers that can be reused repeatedly (I personally reload six different calibers and have the brass, bullets, powder, and equipment to last for many years). When the unprepared run out of 22's, the supply is going to get even more limited than what we experienced the last couple of years. I have stocked more than 25,000 rounds of the 22LR, bought in Remington,s Bucket of Bullets bulk loads and stored properly. Buy them as you see them available in Academy, Bass Pro Shops, and elsewhere. .223, 5.56, 7.62, and 9mm bullets will be tradeable, but will always remain readily available in large numbers, so their barter value will be appropriately lower than bullets that are not so readily attainable.
Swaging a 22 bullet a pictorial (Graphic heavy) - Survivalist Forum


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## Operator6 (Oct 29, 2015)

If you live in Fl. and you have drywall with no form of A.C it will eventually start growing some mold, especially if it stays closed up. 

Just like a vacant house smells in a high humidity environment without humidity control.


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## SittingElf (Feb 9, 2016)

AquaHull said:


> Swaging a 22 bullet a pictorial (Graphic heavy) - Survivalist Forum


WOW! That's a LOT of work to produce a $0.20 bullet! Think I'll stick to stocking them.


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## LtDMorris (Feb 15, 2016)

I took a real estate course in the past and I would replace any walls (construction/remodel type), etc that could not be washed with bleach and soap, and dried with a high-speed fan.


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## GTGallop (Nov 11, 2012)

Cook, clean, shower outside. Don't do things inside other than breathe that generate moisture.


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