I collect spores, molds, and fungus...but I don't want to. Help!

Post date: 2021-01-26 10:59:37

I have a partially finished basement and, while moving out, I've discovered some horrifying blackness. The blackness is on the carpet and on the boxes of some collectible items. When I go into the basement my eyes burn and start to swell in a matter of minutes. I have very bad allergies to mold, mildew and pollen. I don't know my mildews from my molds, or how bad to treat the damaged items. Repair is preferable to replace... Photos and more info inside... Thanks in advance for any help.

I am moving out of my house and am getting things out of the basement that haven't been touched or moved in probably 7 or 8 years.

Starting in 2012 I knew in the area there were black spots which had formed on the carpet (more on that below), and we had a mold inspector come out. He told us we did not have mold, even when I pointed out the black spots. But it's been nearly a decade and I can't remember what he said it was.

Well, in the past 8 years the number of black spots has exploded...under things. (Details on basement moisture below)

On the bottoms of some of the items we are moving, and the carpet underneath, I'm finding black spots, both small and large. And there is a very "musty" smell.

Photos of the carpet and one of the boxes are here:

http://geekpic.net/pm-ML2IQO.html

http://geekpic.net/pm-3H0R1U.html

My questions are:

*Can anyone identify what this substance is?

*Is it possible to get out of the carpet by cleaning, or do I need to have new carpet installed? (We are moving out and don't want to spend more than absolutely necessary to make the house sellable).

*Is it possible to get out of the boxes without damaging them further? If at all possible it is preferable to keep the cardboard boxes as they are specific to the items stored inside.

(Some of the boxes started to tear from moisture...we know those are lost causes)

In case it helps--here's a history of that basement and moisture.

I bought my home about a decade ago. It had a partially finished basement that we didn't use very much, but we used it for storage of collectibles etc. some of which were in their original cardboard boxes for protection.

In 2012 we had an add-on put onto the house. The contractor sucked and, long story short, during a bad rain storm rain went from our roof, through our first floor, and pooled in the basement...both in the finished and unfinished areas.

We removed all wet and damp items from the basement, threw out everything water damaged and repacked what was still dry. In the carpeted areas everything was moved out and fans blew on that area for several days until it felt dry to the touch.

The contractor was liable for all the damage to our house and he paid for much of it.

After the basement was dry I noticed the musty smell and found black spots on the carpet. Suspecting mold, I called out a mold expert so I could have the contractor remediate, but the contractor told us we did NOT have mold on the carpets or in the walls.

About 2 years later we have a sump pump break. It only impacted the unfinished area, but all wet items were removed and disposed of.

Then a year or two after THAT we had the sump pump break AGAIN, but the backup pump worked... During that time I discovered a box was wet on the bottom. Under the box was this black stuff, and the box itself was destroyed (but the items inside were fine, besides the musty smell).

A new, better contractor told us what happened was when the sump pump didn't run as much as needed some water seeped up through the cement into our basement. He said that is normal.

Well, now that we're moving out it seems the water seeped through nearly ALL of the basement, as a lot of the boxes we're moving are showing blackness like in the above images.

Please click Here to read the full story.