[Thrawn]

Lately my water has begun to smell musty, and I'm getting mold buildup in the toilet and on the shower curtain. I can clean everything, and wash the shower curtain, but the very next day it smells again. After a week it gets so bad I can't go in the bathroom until I wash everything again. It has to be something in the water not the drains because I take a shower and afterwards the clean towel I dry off with smells musty.

A while back the T&P drain outside broke off and it was dripping inside the siding. I finally got around opening up the siding today and fixing that, and of course there was a good bit of mold there, but it was limited to a small area. I suspect mold has been entering my water supply through that drain, but I've read that it's not possible. I don't see what else it could be though. Any thoughts?

 

[joecaption]

Going to need way more info.
What T & P drain, what's it for?
City or well water?
What type well?
Does the bathroom have an exhaust vent to the outside?

 

[Thrawn]

Going to need way more info.
What T & P drain, what's it for?
City or well water?
What type well?
Does the bathroom have an exhaust vent to the outside?

City water. The temperature and pressure relief valve on the water heater. Yes, the bathrooms both have exhaust vents going outside that are on during all showers and stay on afterwards until all moisture is gone.

 

[jeffmattero76]

My first thought woyld be to call the city and have them test the water. Or you could take a sample and take it to a lab for testing. Do both hot and cold smell?

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[jeffmattero76]

Second question... Is the t&p valve still leaking? You ststed you fixed the siding area but said nothing sbout the leak. That valve should not be dripping water.

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[jimn]

I am going to take a wild guess here that the cleaning is just covering up the mold smell. If you are getting mold build up that quickly on surfaces then there must a monumental source of mold spores. Mold can and will penetrate pity's surfaces like wood and drywall. I am thinking that water leak has caused a lot more damage behind the walls than you think. There could be other water leaks as well around caulking, toilet flange etc. Repairing a water leak whether is plumbing, roof, Windows, caulking failure etc should be a top priority fix. Treat like an emergency. Water in enclosed areas in structures can cause significant damage .

 

[Thrawn]

Second question... Is the t&p valve still leaking? You ststed you fixed the siding area but said nothing sbout the leak. That valve should not be dripping water.

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Just the hot water smells as far as I can tell. I fixed the pipe from the t&p valve so that it's draining to the outside and not inside the wall, but it's still dripping. I put a new t&p valve in a year ago because it was dripping water, but that didn't stop it.

 

[Thrawn]

I am going to take a wild guess here that the cleaning is just covering up the mold smell. If you are getting mold build up that quickly on surfaces then there must a monumental source of mold spores. Mold can and will penetrate pity's surfaces like wood and drywall. I am thinking that water leak has caused a lot more damage behind the walls than you think. There could be other water leaks as well around caulking, toilet flange etc. Repairing a water leak whether is plumbing, roof, Windows, caulking failure etc should be a top priority fix. Treat like an emergency. Water in enclosed areas in structures can cause significant damage .

I still have to take down the sheetrock this weekend in the garage where the mold is. Perhaps I will find that it is worse on the inside than the outside.

 

[jeffmattero76]

Just the hot water smells as far as I can tell. I fixed the pipe from the t&p valve so that it's draining to the outside and not inside the wall, but it's still dripping. I put a new t&p valve in a year ago because it was dripping water, but that didn't stop it.

What temperature is you water heater set to? It seems odd to me that it would continue to have a leak after being changed unless the temp was set very high. Not an expert but logic tells me that if water can pass out of the valve, mold spores could pass in thru the valve. However, i would think that the heat of the water would kill those spores especially if set above 120 degrees.

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[Thrawn]

What temperature is you water heater set to? It seems odd to me that it would continue to have a leak after being changed unless the temp was set very high. Not an expert but logic tells me that if water can pass out of the valve, mold spores could pass in thru the valve. However, i would think that the heat of the water would kill those spores especially if set above 120 degrees.

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It's set at 120. Yeah, that stumped me too unless the new t&p valve I got was bad. After everything is cleaned up I'm going to turn the water heater up to 140 or so for a day, and hope that kills anything that's inside. I didn't get a chance to take down the drywall this weekend. I'll post pics of it when I do.

 

[Ghostmaker]

Make sure you wear a surgical mask when opening that wall. Some mold spores love to live in your lungs. Chlorine bleach and water mix in a spray bottle is a good mold killer.

 

[Thrawn]

Make sure you wear a surgical mask when opening that wall. Some mold spores love to live in your lungs. Chlorine bleach and water mix in a spray bottle is a good mold killer.

Thank you, Ghostmaker. I will do that. I finally found my wallboard knife today. I was about to go buy a new one.