I have the same problem in my bathroom! I'm so glad you posted this question because I'm interested in what others have to say. What I do is spray bleach in my bath tub and along the tile walls (a lot of the mold is in the tile grouting), go out and leave it all day. When I scrub it at the end of the day, the mold is still there but at least it's probably dead...I don't know why I can't get it off the wall! If you hear any good solutions please let us know!

If you can prove that the mold has affected your health, you should get the landlord to install an opening window or at least a vent. Or get him to pay for your bleach bill!

What about buying a dehumidifier and leaving it on after you shower or overnight? That should remove all the water in the air and make it easier for you to keep the mold at bay.

Let us know if you defeat it.

Don't use bleach. It's almost as bad for you as the mold is! (But there will be at least 20 more posts after this telling you to use lots of it.)

There are soaps and detergents made for cleaning mold and I am not sure how they do against any discoloration, but if you're having ventilation problems (even if you weren't) bleach is never a good idea.

The main thing is definitely to get the moisture down!

I have a basement the is given to growing mold, and just found out about a "mold bomb" - you can rent at a place like Home Depot. Maybe they have smaller ones you could use in a bathroom? It seems like you might have mold throughout your bathroom that easily re-seeds itself as soon as humidity is present again (i.e. every day!) Mold need above 50% humidity to grow, so a dehumidifier would help, as would wiping down the shower with a towel after use. Cleaning the tiles with bleach again and then painting wall surfaces with a product like Kilz as a primer might help too.

http://homedepotrents.com/moldcontrol.asp

I'm an architect and just had a lunchtime seminar on mold in bathrooms. The problem is that bleach will kill the mold living on your walls but it will not kill the mold spores. Once the spores grow up you are stuck with the same problem again (about every 2 weeks). Bathrooms are breeding grounds for mold because of the ideal conditions - lack of sunlight, lack of proper ventilation, moisture and food (body oils, hair, soap scum). If you have a shower curtain, I would leave it open to help vent out the tub area and allow the sunlight to do the trick. Keeping the tub clean is also important. You should be using bleach and not an organic cleaner (which in many cases provide the food for the mold to grow). If nothing else, buy a cheap box fan and run it during and after your shower.

Somehow you definitely need to get the humidity out of there, otherwise the problem will re-appear. If it is not possible to put in (or change) the fan to get the humid air outside, look at the surrounding rooms. The bathroom seems pretty small and maybe it is possible to at least get the air outside of the bathroom and thereby hopefully dilute it so that it does not cause any damage.

Also, check the heating so that the bathroom is warm enough to be dry, and remember to keep the doors open as often as possible (still considering the rest of your house though).

I would definitely go for a dehumidifier as well, they are not that expensive.

Oh, and by the way. I live in another country so I am not sure about the laws, but to me this seems like a health issue that should be taken care of by the landlord, not just a DIY-fix.

PS - if the grout in the shower is the main mold culprit, you might consider re-grouting (or asking your landlord to hire someone to.) Removing as much of the grout as possible with a grout knife or heavy duty carpet cutter, clean thoroughly and let dry, and then grout with fresh grout.

we had the same problem plus peeling paint. my landlord came in and scraped the bathroom down and cleaned it with Simple Green D Pro 3 (by our request - the bleach was terrible on my husband's lungs and didn't work that well)http://www.simplegreen.com/products_pro_3.php

then he repainted with Behr Low VOC antimicrobial.
http://www.homedepot.com/hdus/en_US/DTCCOM/HomePage/Know_How/Brand_Pages/Paint/Behr/Docs/PremiumPlusUltra.pdf

the paint was amazing - a day later we couldn't even tell he painted there was so little smell.

he also cleaned the fan out.

we have not had any mold problems since! and we sometimes take 2 showers a day.
i really recommend the paint - ask at your paint store or section for something for bathrooms and it will say antifungal/mold on it.

Not to be picky, but I think the word you're looking for is idyllic. Not idealic.

And the fix you're looking for is definitely ventilation.

Denatured alcohol will clean the walls and dry them out enough to kill the mold, but it will continue to come back until you figure out how to ventilate the bathroom.

Please check to make sure that a non-opening window in a bathroom isn't a violation of rental property code. Your landlord may be required to replace the window with one that opens.

The en suite bathroom in our apartment has no window and, although there is a fan, I don't think it's properly vented to the outside (we rent and have discovered that our landlord cuts a lot of corners).

We use a Dri-Z-Air dehumidifier consisting of moisture-absorbing crystals in a small plastic container. Judging from the warning on the package, it isn't the greenest solution, but it's the only thing that's worked for us.

But I agree with some of the other posters that it's probably the landlord's responsibility to install either a functioning window or properly venting fan and repaint with antimicrobial paint. (Even if rental laws don't require it in your state, an ongoing mold problem is eventually going to affect the property's value and rentability.) If you're willing to DIY some of the work, at least make sure s/he pays for the materials.

I ran into a problem with mold in a bathroom a couple years ago. The best solution I found was to kill the mold that was there with bleach and then put a layer down of Killz (I believe that was the product name, found it at home depot, staff there could probably help you find the product) that sealed the area where the mold was growing. It painted on white, but you can also paint over it if needed. I never saw the mold return in the 3 years I lived there after.

Just to add ... as a renter with a poorly ventilated bathroom myself, there's a difference between what your landlord should do and what s/he will do. Yes. It is his responsibility. That doesn't mean you can get him to address the issue properly.

My landlord keeps accusing us of taking long hot showers, which steam up the bathroom causing the problem.

It looks like you've got a window that just doesn't open. If I were you (there's nothing for a window to open onto in our row house bathroom) I'd work out what ought to happen in terms of a good strong fan that vents to the outdoors and a window you can open and close and then give your landlord a specific proposal.

For the record, if you're having an allergic or other reaction to the mold, "at least it's dead" is not a particularly good final solution. The mold itself may be dead, but the spores aren't necessarily killed by bleach, and "killing" the mold itself can cause the spores to become air-borne.

ANY scrubbing you do in a moldy situation should be done with excellent ventilation and a fine-pored mask on your face (the professionals have Hepa-masks, you need something finer-grained than a typical dust mask and it needs to be taped to your face. I'm sadly not kidding).

Mold's no joking matter -- it can make you really sick. Is there no fan? Or is it just broken / clogged? This is something that should be dealt with ASAP, before you get sicker. (for some of us, with major mold allergies, this would be grounds for breaking the lease. ... no matter how Idyllic)

If this is your "practice house" then replace the window with one that opens.

If the window is in decent shape without rotting wood, you can scrape/torch all the paint off around the non opening edges. I'm assuming it never opened originally; if it did, then for heaven's sake make it work again.

You could add some hinges to make it swing out or replace with a sash type window of the same dimensions that you find at an architectural salvage or Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. You'll probably need to replace the framing too. This is the stationary part that the window fits into around the edges of the opening (usually 1X4 or 1X3 ).

Find some books on replacing windows in old houses, read up, and decide if you're up to doing this yourself; a good used book store should have a wealth of cheap resources. If you don't wish to do this yourself, then hire a carpenter and replace or hinge the window. Hiring someone will probably cost about $150-$250.

This is what you'd rather have anyway? An opening window? It's not that hard to do but involved. Wait until the weather is nice. This will also give you a clear idea of what it's like to own a house.

I found that Tilex Mold cleaner is the best. I think it inhibits the spores and seems to last longer than bleach. It is hyper toxic though so you should spray your mold covered areas then close the door for several hours. I've even used it on impregnated walls, sheet rock and plaster.

Finally, it will be difficult to hold the landlord responsible; you moved in to a situation that already had visible mold. You need to be realistic about chances for recovering damages and the cost and hassle of moving again; your landlord won't just fork over some cash and litigation is expensive. Why not spend the money and effort on rectifying the problem? Ask him to split the costs of getting the window to open.

While I agree that an opening window in the bathroom would be a really nice feature, I don't think that it's going to be your final answer to the mold issue. I don't know where you live, of course, but I'm a huge proponent of having the windows open any time you can... which, here in Cleveland, is maybe 5 months out of the year. (You will have to keep it closed when it's cold outside, when it's raining and the rain might come in the window, and so on.)

Because of the above, I would go the fan route. Depending on what the exterior of the house is, this shouldn't be too difficult to install for a regular DIY'er--but if you haven't done much like this before, I would see what the landlord is willing to do about this one.

Adina,
We have had this problem in our bathroom as well. The key to preventing mold is definitely good ventilation. In most areas it is against code for a rental space to not have either a fan or an opening window installed, I'm not sure about how that affects any older buildings though. Either way, an exhaust fan is like $20 new, probably a much easier solution to push for, or even do yourself if you're trying to maintain a good relationship with the landlord.
As for removing existing mold, do not just paint over the spot. You must remove the spores, i.e. sand the mold off all the affected areas once you have bleached. Then paint over it with a good mold-preventing paint. The glossier the paint, the more it will resist moisture as well.

I would recommend trying to get a fan installed if you can, because there are times that you won't want to open a window. Ventellation going to be the long-term fix, expecially combined with some of the other recomendations on creating mold-resistant surfaces, but while you are figuring out the logistics, a dehumidifier or the cheaper option of the bags of crystals that absorb water will be a big help.

Our bathroom is the same way. Long story short, the wiring is kind of wonky from when the previous owners remodeled, so we don't really have a vent or a window that opens. It's still a great room though.

The solution? They cut a really cute outhouse-style moon & star in the top of the door and we run a small fan in there.

I once rented an apartment where the bathroom had no windows and no fan. We bought a cheap-o fan and used it after showering. Seemed to work.

I second installing a new window, though, or making the existing one work for you.

Personally, that's more work than I'm willing to put forth for a rental.

I live in a humid tropical climate and so many people I know have the problem. I have heard success stories from desperate friends involving hydrogen peroxide, alcohol based hand sanitizer, and plain old bleach. You'll need rubber gloves and a mask, whatever you do.

If you have a shower curtain, get a fabric one that you can wash in oxy cleaner and do it with your weekly laundry and change your liners regularly. Don't keep rugs or towels in the bathroom because when they're damp, mold will spread as well. Clean out the inside of the toilet tank, bowl, and the drains in the sink as well as any air conditioning/heating duct where mold might congregate. Regrout if necessary. A bathroom window which opens is the best solution, if you can. Fans can help, but only once the mold is gone.

Codeislife -

You can get fungicide added to any paint. Ask them to add it in when they mix your paint, whoever is doing it should know how/where/what.

not sure if you found this yet,
but it is against housing code in most cities, and against health code, not to have opening windows, esp in the bathroom. it is required to either have an opening window or a ventilation fan.

did you take this apt/house because the landlord is too lazy to make necessary upgrades? hope you got it cheap!

My only piece of advice is to move.

Likely, the mold is behind the wall growing on the beams, and is just permeating through so you can see it. The only way to really get it is to tear out the wall and go after the beams.

I mean if you want a practice house, just buy a house that is in the same shape as your 'practice' one. I bet it wouldn't be that expensive, depending on where you live. (where i live you can get one for $50K with these same problems...)

The landlord is being so "nice" because youre taking care of a problem that is his legal responsibility.

It has already affected your health, and trying to fix it
will affect your finanances.

save ur health, save ur $..........MOVE!

I have not read through all of the comments, but I have a similar problem. I am considering having a small solar tube skylight installed right above my tub (where the majority of the mold grows) in order to allow the sunlight to help with my growing mold problem.

They are really inexpensive (like $200) and can be installed yourself. Perhaps your landlord would foot the bill?

Just a thought.

I saw on your blog that you had a mirror fitted *over* the window. The lack of light will only add to the mold problem.

In most places, it's illegal to have a bathroom that doesn't have either a functioning window or a ventilation fan. If you have a fan, and it simply isn't doing it's job, upgrade to a higher power model. It'd be easy to swap out, and should cost under $100. If there's not a vent. fan, it will be a pain in the butt to install one. You have to run the exhaust piping through the ceiling, and mess with cutting holes in the roof, and sealing everything off. This is definitely not an amateur job, but if you're pretty handy, it may be something you can undertake. The easier solution is probably the window. Why won't it open? Is it painted shut, or did is it a window that never opened? If it's painted shut, you need to scrap off the old paint. If it's beyond repair, look into a new window. If your landlord is in violation with the lack of window/fan, he/she should pay for it. Good luck.

A chronic mold problem in the bathroom is due to water getting and staying where it shouldn't be and not likely entirely because of a ventilation problem, although that certainly doesn't help.

Mold around the window indicates a chronic condensation or water intrusion problem. Is the window leaking? Is the window installed and flashed properly? Is it a single pane window? The temperature difference between the cool glass and the humid bathroom will always cause condensation to some extent, but unless you're using the shower 50x a day, it should dry out enough to not grow mold. My guess is there is something else going on like water intrusion from another source.

In the case of moldy grout, that is ~100% due to an improper tile substrate, aka drywall. Tile mounted on drywall (fairly common) is a HUGE no no and equals moldy grout. If you have moldy grout, I would be willing to bet there is a lack of waterproofing behind the tile and/or it's set on drywall. Cleaning it is nothing more than a cosmetic fix. Simply regrouting WILL NOT solve this problem either. A fix is a complete tear out and redo.

If you have mounted a mirror over the window, you've just made the problem much worse. That traps the moist humid air against that cold window.

don't delay! i lived in an apartment in san francisco that made me really sick...2 sinus infections and bronchitis within 4 months...and now i have really bad allergies as a result. don't screw around.

get ventilation...dehumidifiers are good, as are exhaust fans.

kilz, tea tree oil, bleach (except i hate bleach, so oxygen bleach is sort of helpful), and ventilation will really be what you need.

i thought that mold could grow even if the humidity was under 50%...like all the way down to 43%? but i'm no expert. i just want to be healthy in my home.

good luck.

keep the light on, use a dehumidifier, and wash your shower curtain weekly. Also, hang up your bathmat after use, and get a squeegee with a suction cup hanger to hang in shower, and don't neglect to use it after every shower.

Replacement window is not too expensive, from your photo it looks like that window does not have the option to open. but really, a vent fan works better.

im actually really surprised now that i read your blog... you guys really want to do all this to a rental?? Is there any way to rent-to-own so that once you paint the trim of your house, and do all the cosmetic stuff, AND the necessary repairs you don't have to leave it?

I'm not trying to judge your decisions or circumstances, but as a person who finally got a house after renting for a while, I can't imagine doing all that work for a place that isn't mine, you know?

..but i also see you live in Seattle. I left that city because 1- no job that could support the expense and 2-all the houses are like a half million bux. Good luck!

Don't use bleach! It makes the mold air-borne and can make you very sick.

A very useful alternative to bleach is borax, which is a powder you can find in the laundry aisle at the grocery store. It kills mold without being harmful to you (unless you get it in your eyes). We have used it to clean up our moldy house, which was making my husband sick, and it seems to have helped. Hand in hand with the clean-up, though, must come ventilation or else the problem will recur.

I neglected to mention that you don't use borax in its powder form for this purpose; you mix it with water and then scrub.

We just finally got our landlord to deal with our very serious mold problem (black and powdery white mold in the bedroom, around the front door and in the living room). Basically, what I did was write an email to him using a pleasant, but firm tone, mentioning that although I appreciated his previous efforts to get rid of the mold, it was "legally problematic" as well as a health risk not to address it fully and immediately. Within 5 minutes, he called and said that a mold abatement team would be coming the next day. When they opened the walls, they found 60% water and all kinds of scary stuff throughout the apartment. We had to vacate for the day, but they did a great job--opened the walls and removed all of the mold, re-sheetrocked and even painted (with the color of my choice in the bedroom). Problem solved. You should not be responsible for addressing this issue--it's your landlord's job to ensure a truly habitable home. It sounds like you really like the place, so keep the tone friendly, but do not continue to risk your health by trying to clean up recurring mold yourself. Also, your landlord might be persuaded to hire a professional if you explain that left unchecked, the problem will get even more expensive to fix. Good luck!

If the window is just painted shut, you can use a phillips head screwdriver and a hammer to chip away at the paint a little, then force it open.

also if there's a plug I would turn on a fan after showering as well.

I've used several of the above strategies with mixed success, and also do the following. Leave the toilet seat closed as much as possible. Leave the bathroom door open as much as possible. Use just one short shower curtain liner. After showering, leave the shower curtain liner extended until it's dry so that it won't grow mildew. After it's dried, push it completely to one side so that the shower area won't grow mildew. Your situation is a valid health concern. Please post again soon about how you resolved it quickly and safely. Good luck!

When my bathroom fan died, it was replaced with a fan with a more powerful motor, and I have noticed a marked improvement in the amount of time it takes for mildew to re-grow in the shower. (Of course, when I clean more often it helps--if you squeegee the shower after every shower it helps a lot, too.)

You definitely need to move the mirror to the wall, not over the window--you need as much UV light in there as possible!

The sinus infection could just be a result of all the cleaning that a move entails--lots of dust, etc. Don't jump to the worst-case scenario that the mold is the culprit--but do determine if your landlord is legally bound to make the window open or install a fan.

Mold is dangerous. I'd move away. It could affect your health permanently.

If you choose to stay, try to get the mold removed professionally.

Also, the Tea Tree Oil mentioned above has anti-fungal properties. You may want to inhale it yourself to kill the spores you are inhaling, but DON'T TAKE IT INTERNALLY. Just sniff the bottle. Google Tea Tree Oil. It's amazing. It's ten bucks an ounce on Ebay. Diluted with water, it can also be used to kill mold on walls. But remember, mold is an ice burg. What you are seeing is only a fraction of what is really there.

I'd move. Immediately.

My previous post was circumspect because sometimes I'm told I overreact. Frankly, I agree completely with the first and last lines of Team Decor's post. (I'm not challenging the rest of her information, it's just that I'm unfamiliar with it.) Again, later please share with AT how you resolved your situation.

Move. We had this same mold problem in our rental bathroom (with functioning fan, no window). We reported it and the Landlord paid to have it repainted with antimicrobial paint which helped a little for a while. But it didn't fix the problem as mold spores are in the air and you can't get rid of them. Where there is condensation there will be mold growth. The fan didn't seem to make any difference whatsoever. No matter how much I cleaned it didn't make much difference, it was always a temporary fix.

We've moved out and on, but both of us have recurring allergy issues now.

I have a similar problem. Although I do have a window that opens and vents the bathroom, mold (and spores) have been a plague for several months now. I am currently negotiating with the (uncooperative) landlord to rectify the situation. I am currently suffering (for the first time) a fairly uncomfortable lung/chest problem due to this. I won't go into details except to say that I'm working on getting this taken care of.

I will say that the Tea Tree Oil fix is a good one. A short one, but a good one. It's also about daily diligence. Squeegee that tile in the shower immediately, dry out the place as best you can (a fan would be most helpful in your situation at present), keep the decor as basic and minimal as possible for now, leave the door open when you shower if at all possible, and try to clean/wipe things down each day---which is pretty easy to do and takes just a few minutes if you do it daily.

I'm also a little surprised by those who say that moving out is the best option. While I suppose, in theory, this might be a good idea, it is (at least in my case and I'm going to say in other cases) just not feasible either financially or for a myriad of other reasons. A good suggestion, yes. But, at least in my case, something that is just not possible. So I'll need to continue to do what I'm doing: combat the mold/spores as best as I can and fight with my brain dead landlord until the problem is resolved.

don't you guys have window fans? you cut a hole through the glass, install the extraction fan, plug it in and off it goes sucking out the moist air.

Instead of toxic bleach, I use something called MOLDZYME. It smells nasty, but does the trick!

We have a window, but since it's San Fran, and foggy, opening the window doesn't always help. So I've been spraying the moldzyme on every week or so. We also squeegee the walls and shower curtain after each shower.

I use a moisture absorbing product called Damp-Rid in our sunroom, it works with bathrooms too.

Here's a link to a Google book, New York renter's rights, and there's a section on mold.
http://books.google.com/books?id=FoZCo6tMiKsC&lpg=SA9-PA18&ots=SN9yOfHp7I&dq=new%20york%20rental%20bathroom%20ventilation&pg=SA9-PA19#v=onepage&q=new%20york%20rental%20bathroom%20ventilation&f=false

and here's a site I found:

Sec. 27-2065 Light and ventilation of water closet compartments

1. In every water closet compartment, bathroom and general toilet room one of the following requirements for light and ventilation shall be met:

1. There shall be a window opening upon a street, yard, court, partially enclosed balcony or space above a setback, on an offset or recess which may be less than six feet in width. Every such window shall be at least three square feet in area and one-half of its area shall open.

2. If the water closet compartment, bathroom or general toilet room is either located on the top story or is underneath the bottom of a lawful shaft or court, it may be lighted and ventilated by a skylight in the roof. Such skylight shall contain three square feet of glazed area and shall open.

3. There shall be a system of mechanical ventilation, approved for construction and arrangement by the department. In a multiple dwelling such system of ventilation shall be maintained and operated continuously to provide at least four changes per hour of the air volume of each water closet, bathroom or general toilet room daily from six o'clock in the morning until midnight in all residential parts of a dwelling and from seven o'clock in the morning until seven o'clock at night in any nonresidental parts of a dwelling. In a private dwelling the approved system of mechanical ventilation may be switch-operated.

2. Nothing in this section shall require any change to be made in the lighting or ventilation of water closets, bathrooms, or general toilet rooms in any portion of any old law tenement or any converted dwelling if such lighting or ventilation was lawful on July first, nineteen hundred sixty-one and in one or two family dwellings if such lighting or ventilation was lawful on August second, nineteen hundred sixty-seven.

http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/hmc/sub3/art2.html#27-2065

Clean the mold off with bleach or whatever, then rinse and allow to dry. Apply a strong solution of borax and water to the surfaces where mold grows but that won't be directly hit by water every day (like shower tiles are) - you want to leave behind little borax crystals if possible. I had a bathroom that was constantly getting mold on the ceiling. Had to clean it once a month. After doing this I didn't see a speck of mold for 2 years. And the other big advantages to borax are that it doesn't smell and is a natural mineral salt.

"When we first moved in a couple weeks ago and noticed the problem, the landlord brought in cleaning folks to take care of it, they did — and now the mold is back only 2 weeks later" that tells me the mold problem is quite extensive, and would venture a guess that there is a water leak feeding the mold growth. There is no way to tell weather or not the mold in your house is toxic or benign, but from the sound of it, given your health problems, it could be toxic black mold which is very dangerous. Most states have laws on the books to protect renters from having to live in mold infested houses. So do a search for [your state] renters rights mold and you should find the info you need.

I didn't read all the posts, but here's what I'd do. Call the building inspector's office and ask what the code is for a rental unit with regard to ventilation in the bathroom. Chances are good that your bathroom is in violation. (I would ask the building inspector in a generic way, like you are considering creating a rental apartment, not like you are trying to get your landlord in trouble. Yet.)

If the bathroom is a violation of code, I'd go to the the landlord and tell him that (a) you heard that code is "such and such" and (b) that the mold problem is literally making you sick. Then tell him you will be happy to take care of fixing the problem IF YOU CAN DEDUCT THE COST FROM YOUR RENT. (It's his property, after all, and his responsibility to have it fixed. This way you can be in control of the fix, but not financially in the hole. You could pay up to half if you felt like being nice, but I'd suggest spreading the rent deduction over a couple of months first.)

If he del\clines to take care of the problem for you, I'd move. And report the dude to the town. Mold allergies and ongoing exposure can have a long term effect that is not worth a cute apartment.

Congratulations on finding an apartment that the landlord is gracious enough to let you experiment with. I learned a great deal about carpentry, plumbing, electrical and the general skill set required for proactive home ownership in a similar situation. All of the calls to punish this good deed with legal and financial measures ignore the fact that the person could easily fix those things, get more rent and not allow any tenant improvements. If the property was perfect, you would have no opportunity to learn anything.

I had eight rental properties at one time - I now have two rented to friends. The income was good, but ultimately not worth dealing with the "gotcha" attitude of renters more willing to be litigious and argumentative than to explore solutions when problems inevitably arose.

Cooperation and collaboration get things done. Anger and attack often results in more damage than solution.

Beware any solutions (or horror stories about problems) that start with "I read" or "I heard". First hand experience counts for so much more when time and money are in limited supply. Bleach works. Ask anyone who lived in South Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina/Rita.

Bleach will remove the visible mould but not kill the spores. Clove oil will do both without the toxic fumes. Replace the window with one that opens and install an extraction fan. Problem solved. :0)

I have the same problem with mold. So what i just do is spray bleach on my bathroom wall and scrub then spray again then i let it sit for a couple of hours. But this kind of mold that i have it grows into a small light tan plant ( looks like a small light tan coral that grows in the ocean? Its really disgusting)