Looking for advice on how to do any of the following projects:
- Removing mold from a bathroom ceiling and repainting it. Did a mixture of bleach & water a few months ago and it hasn't grown since then, but not all of the marks were removed, which I assume will be a problem.
- Painting the walls of the bathroom. There are many layers of paint caked on (1946 apt), which are cracking. It's clearly cracked before, because people have just removed the cracking paint and painted over, leaving hand size or larger "pits" in the wall for lack of a better way to describe it.
- Removing the cracking paint on the bathoom door and repainting. We have only one bathroom, so I'm not excited about the idea of removing it from the hinges to work on it flat, because I suspect my speed is 4-5x an experienced person.
- And for a non-bathroom question, the metal grate in front of the steam heaters all need to be repainted too. This is not a cover over the coils of pipes (that sticks out away from the wall), but rather something in the wall.
Clearly, the theme is old building with cracking paint. Please assume I'm completely incomptent and have no idea how to do anything, because I probably don't. Thanks!
My local code enforcement officer told us about some recent mold remediation classes he had to take. They suggested using detergent to kill the mold, as bleach would cause it to dry out, flake off the top layers, and eventually return. Reference justchristine's post I definitely agree with using Kilz also, used it in my previous place and it did a great job.
My house was built in 1944, so i've been down this road. The best option for me was to replace everything, I used greenboard throughout (even though it's not required). If the ceilings and walls are that damaged, new drywall would probably be just as fast to put up. It would allow you to look around in the spaces for more mold, make an assessment on insulation and electrical wires, and give you a nice clean finished look after spackle, prime, and paint. I'm an IT nerd with no prior homeowner skills. Just recruit some friends and watch lots of youtube. A clutching drywall bit for the powerdrill is about $15 and makes you look like a pro.
The second option would be to scrape all the paint down, clean the surface, spackle it flat and repaint. If you go that route, I think it would be just as much if not more work, and you're still left wondering if the original problem is fixed. Grab a bucket of spackle, some various sized spackle blades, lots of sanding bricks/pads, and watch more youtube videos.
The door just needs to be brought outside, carefully sanded down with a mechanical sander and repainted. There's no rule that says you can't work on it for a while, and put it back up, and take it down again for more work. We have one bathroom here too so I know what you mean. I painted our bathroom door outside on some makeshift sawhorses (bricks lol) topped with towels. Each paint coat dried very quickly in the sun. Paint, dry, flip, repeat x 2.
Repainting the metal shouldn't be too hard either. Your local hardware store can explain it, and it would be helpful to bring a picture with you. It's probably as easy as having the correct type of high heat paint, and prepping the surface beforehand (sanding).
Finally - if there's mold in the bathroom, there's excess moisture. Is there adequate ventilation/fans? Before going through all the work mentioned, you may want to consider a fan install/upgrade too!
At first it's overwhelming, but if you focus on one thing at a time, you'll build your confidence and get through this. I would suggest doing the door and heaters first. Too many things on your plate will distract your focus.