Greetings all,

I had a question for those knowledgeable about mold removal that I don't really know

the answer to. Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated.

The situation was this :

My AC unit which resides above/inside a facade (a false drywall

ceiling, above which the AC unit is placed, with access panels embedded in the drywall)

just recently clogged due to a filter becoming too dirty before its expected 6 month

replacement date. The condensation from the AC dripped on to the drywall, and caused

water to leak through. I shut down the AC for 2 weeks while a repair person took their

time getting out here, and after grotesquely inflating the price of necessary repairs, it

turned out putting a new filter in had the AC running fine, with no further condensation

weeks later. This is the damage the condensation caused :

This repair person however missed/failed to mention that mold had formed along the

surface of the paper covering the sheetrock underneith this facade. Inside I took a picture

of the damaged panel :

Since this could have been discoloration from water alone, I cultivated a sample on agar

in a peitry dish and confirmed mold, however, the mold on the pietry dish was orange.

I called another professional, and they said that they needed to destroy a 6ft x 6ft

portion of the ceiling, that is, a significant portion of it, which would be a huge cost

to the tune of $1000, probably another $1000 to get a separate professional to

rebuild the ceiling.

After considering the matter, I thought to myself, perhaps the mold has not infiltrated

the drywall itself, even though the water has. The mold appeared to form on the

surface of the paper but after peeling up the paper, I didn't see any mold underneith.

The paper also didn't seem to have rotten through with mold. After scrubbing it

thoroughly, it came right off :

I decided to carefully remove the mold with baking soda/vinegar, and spent a lot of

time blow drying the surface to avoid further contamination. I've put a HEPA filter in

this space, and I was considering taking a sample of drywall on the opposite side of

the panel, seeing if that grows mold and if not, just getting someone to fix the drywall.

I would also put petri dishes on the inside of the facade after the HEPA's have done

their thing as a secondary test.

Two problems remain :

- If the drywall is indeed contaminated, it makes more sense to do the expensive

professional route. However if its NOT, is it logical and/or a reasonable bet to get

just a drywall person in? I worry that this could further contaminate the home.

on the other hand I have some doubts that the drywall has been infested with

mold, especially since it was only a few weeks that the AC was off and the

mold formed. The underside does not look contaminated and the drywall

on the non-moldy side has shown no signs yet of growing mold.

- I did several months back have water infiltration from the washing machine,

and part of me worries that the mold formed from a different location and that

that is potentially where it came from. If this is

the case, the mold would re-form on the dishes and I would know that the

expensive professional route is best.

I want to sell my condo ASAP, and I want to be honest about any problems before

doing so, however if this issue is superficial (ie mold formed exclusively due to the

AC water damage and increase in humidity) and I can simply have someone come

in to test the other location to rule out a serious mold problem, is this a valid and

perhaps cost effective means of doing so?

I would really really appreciate any advice you could offer on this.

Thanks

Charlie