I came downstairs late one night, walked into the kitchen, and heard a quiet little “drip…drip…drip.” Poked around until I found a good-sized puddle at the bottom of the cabinet housing the sink. A metal fitting connecting the Pex running from the hot water tap was the culprint, I tightened it back up and the drip stopped.
After mopping up the puddle I called it good and went to bed. A couple weeks later I started getting very faint whiffs of mold/mildew in the kitchen, so I cut out the bottom of the cabinet to see if it was still wet (the drainpipe goes down through a cutout in the bottom of the cabinet, through another cutout in plywood subfloor, and then down into a slab). Things looked dry and I didn’t see anything like mildew, so I figured the source was elsewhere. But later I cut out the plywood subfloor underneath the cabinet and sure enough, got a good moldy odor, saw black stains on the bottom of the plywood, and found it was still damp (plywood is fastened to 1x sleepers over the slab). I cut out all the subfloor I could beneath the cabinet and cut out the sleepers, too, which were quite damp and basically black on the bottoms where they rested on the slab.
Here’s a view of ground zero after I cut out the bottom:
Here’s a closer view:
This shows where my cutout ends on the side of the cabinet–things were very damp back in that area and I’m sure mildew is still on the underside of the visible subfloor there:
I held the camera inside the cabinet and aimed it out, so you’re looking from inside out the front of the cabinet at the wood flooring that covers the kitchen. I have a bad feeling the sleepers underneath that flooring and probably the underside of some of the flooring itself has mildew.
I kept the cabinet open for a couple weeks, stuck a hot lamp under there to dry things out, and even got my heat gun (basically a high-watt hair dryer) out to blow hot dry air underneath the flooring that extends out beyond the cabinet.
What I’m wondering is can I do anything more to make sure this problem is resolved short of ripping out cabinets to get at the subflooring that I can’t now access? And ripping up the kitchen floor? I’m quite sure there’s still some mildew under there–I can smell it if I get my nose right down in the bottom of the cabinet.
Should I remove the sheetrock behind the undersink cabinet, too, up as high as the mildew went?
I’ve thought about getting a diluted bleach solution out, but just not sure how to attach things, given that I can’t easily get underneath the flooring without tearing apart the whole kitchen.
am really wishing I had torn out the bottom of the cabinet right off the bat and dried things out! Hindsight.
Any suggestions or observations would be greatly appreciated
Replies
Mequiticook: I've been in the building business for more than 40 years and I've seen alot of mold during this time. Don't get to excited about this small problem. There is probably more under the floor than what you can see. Most homeowner never get in a crawl space or an attic to see these molds. Your shower to tub area gets mold and most people don't get to worried about it. There is mold in the drain in your sink but it's not going to hurt if you don't have an allergy. Mold is all around us but the trial lawyers found a new source of revenue. Just spray some bleach on the problem and go and enjoy life. Today could be your last day so why get all upset over a minor problem. And again there is mold in ALL homes most people have not found it yet. Best regards, Dale Buchanan
Edited 11/23/2006 8:45 am ET by Harborman