<p>I stand by my post #11. I bet it’s mold (she’s allergic to Penicillen=she’s allergic to mold)</p>
<p>nysmile - well, I apparently was the last one to make this connection. When I told D that I was thinking about pulling up the carpet in the basement because I suspected she’s allergic to the mold she said, “No kidding, it would make sense, since I’m also allergic to penicillin.” </p>
<p>So, that being said, I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to replace the carpet with some other flooring product, and was not thrilled about what kind of money that would involve. H and I have tiled before, but it’s more of a ‘his’ project than mine, and whatever I do, I want to take responsibility for it.</p>
<p>So I did some quick googling, and am soooo excited that I chanced upon some web sites about decorative concrete painting. The options are literally endless, and it offers an opportunity to create a unique design. And it’s something I can do. I am actually very enthused about it. The only issue I will have to figure out is the stairway from the first floor to the basement, and what to do with that. </p>
<p>Has anyone here done any decorative concrete painting? If I don’t get any bites, I may start another thread.</p>
<p>Have her stay away from Blue Cheese Dressing too—(from experience) :)</p>
<p>So you are thinking of tearing out the carpet which will reveal a concrete floor underneath, and then painting the floor instead of putting down new carpet, or tile, or wood flooring? </p>
<p>I haven’t done it, but have given a lot of thought about what to do with the concrete floor… in my garage. That’s where you will find lots of experience. There are some garage floor paints that are supposed to be decent, but I really prefer the epoxy floors. I have seen several garage floors with epoxy floors that look great and wear like steel. It would make a very interesting basement floor as well.</p>
<p>Well, these aren’t appropriate for garage floors (unless you don’t park your cars in there), but here’s a sampling of some beautiful painted concrete floors:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.modelloconcrete.com/[/url]”>http://www.modelloconcrete.com/</a></p>
<p>Some of these websites have samples of work done on garage floors, though.</p>
<p>And yes, there’s a concrete floor underneath.</p>
<p>So as I understand it you have a carpet pad and carpet on bare concrete and wonder if where mold is coming from. You don’t need to guess. As a minimum you need to discard the pad and carpet and then bleach the floor. I am not sure I would settle for decorative paint. You should be able to coat the floor with a good epoxy system and then use area rugs. Your floor issue may not solve your problem. If you have studs and wallboard there is a strong possibility that the area next to the concrete walls is also infested with mold. You may or may not be able to adequately seal the inner surface. You may need to remove the walls and seal the concrete with an appropriate concrete sealer and/or epoxy. Even then putting up new walls may just again lead to mold growth. Once you do clear the mold you need to continue with dehumidifiers. Check the vendor’s recommendation and air circulation, you may need more than one unit. HEPA filters also help but won’t do the job until the main problems are resolved.</p>
<p>You may need some kind of dehumidification system as well. We have central air which keeps the humidity low in the finished basement and I’m pretty sure it contributes to us not having problems for the last 20 years.</p>
<p>The painted concrete floors are spectacular, but if I were you I would try to check one out in person before going this route. I would be concerned about how hard and cold the floor would be. I echo edad’s suggestion to bleach it well first, and he has some other good ideas, as well. Again, a half-hour telephone consultation with Jeff May could be worthwhile. If you do this, have a pen and pad ready. You will be taking notes as fast as you can write. </p>
<p>We run a dehumidifier in our basement all the time. It is not used except for laundry, but it is finished. We also have a “mold-zapper” - supposed to kill mold spores floating in the air. I have no idea whether this is really effective, but you might want to look into it as a short-term solution:</p>
<p>[Allergy</a> Control Products > Mold Zapper](<a href=“http://www.allergycontrol.com/productdetails/tabid/56/p-2844-mold-zapper.aspx]Allergy”>http://www.allergycontrol.com/productdetails/tabid/56/p-2844-mold-zapper.aspx)</p>
<p>It’s also sold on Amazon, and has three very glowing user reviews, but I am always suspicious that many Amazon reviews are planted.</p>
<p>I love the “tape a plastic tarp over the carpet and seal it” idea. Great investigative plan.</p>
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<p>I agree. And there’s absolutely no way of knowing.</p>
@teriwtt Did you ever find a solution that worked? We are going through something similar and wonder if it is from mineral fiber acoustic ceiling tiles we installed. We have had the carpet already in for a year without issue.
This thread Is from 2009.
Please close This very old thread