Bleach and water, scrub brush elbow grease. rinse and make sure it dries good.

Thanks! I figured clorox would do the trick. Do you have any idea what proportions the solution should be? 50%water/50%bleach?

thanks.

1/4 bleach to 3/4 water. Then use box fans to help dry the space for several days; basements are hard to dry out, so give it extra time.

Even ten percent bleach to 90 percent water is good for sanitizing/killing germs viruses and odors.

Thanks everyone. I'll fill the old spray bottle tomorrow with the mixture and kill the black stuff.

Once you've washed with the bleach solution the bigger issue is drying the air and a dehumidifier is NOT the way to do it. As michelle said, use fans and keep the air moving - that's the most critical part. If you're in a climate where you'd be using an air conditioner, make sure it's on - that pulls moisture out of the air far more effectively than a dehumidifier.

I've spent the entire weekend doing the same thing in my niece's basement and we'll have fans running for days before we move anything back.

Thanks for the info dlm2000. I just finished scrubbing the walls and have a big fan on the area. The AC is on too so should do the trick. It looks much better in there and even smells better :)

Thanks all!

Once it's dry, use a clean garden sprayer to coat the entire area with No More Mildew. We've used it with good results. After all you've done, it's worth it, just to make really sure.

Here is a link that might be useful: No More Mildew

I agree, a fan is the best way because it keeps the air moving which keeps the mold spores from landing and multiplying to cause the icky black patches. Use a bleach and water solution, doesn't really matter proportions, bleach will kill all, then use fans to dry. Once completely dry, think about painting your basement with a glossy anti-fungal paint. It costs a little more than regular paint, but if your basement floods again, you won't have the mold problem again. Plus, the paint will brighten up any basement.

agreed with michelle's reply. 1/4 bleach to 3/4 water. Then use box fans to help dry the space for several days; basements are hard to dry out, so give it extra time.

Since this thread is from 2008, let's hope the basement is dry. They have had five years to "give it extra time."

I know this is an old post but someone may benefit from my experience. We had a water problem in our basement twice at our last home. Both times the restore was perfect. We used the agent our insurance recommended and they were great. They started out by lifting all of the wet carpet and removing the pad. Then they set up hug fans in the area and let them run24/7 for several days. After that they replaced the pad with new and put the carpet down again. The second time they found places where the carpet was damaged in a way that the insurance paid to replace it and the pad. We had no mold or any problems with the way it was handled. We only had to pay the deductible. I think the fans were the most important thing they did.

Thanks for sharing this. Had a similar situation happen to me and its wonderful when there is information like this available for people to read.

You are welcome. I love sharing and giving.

We had a problem,my hubby was told not to use bleach it kills it on surface but it will come back,He got a product at lowes,it was a yellow bottle,dont know the name .its just for this.would you be able to power wash?we did our stone down there once looks great,put the cleaner in power washer.Maybe vacumn excess with wet,dry vac

The people I used didn't use any chemical as I remember. I am really sensitive to chems and would have remembered. They just made sure the concrete under the carpet was dry and installed new pad.