It's mould. But if you ventilate the area properly it wouldn't develop in the first place. The order should be: set up proper ventilation (windows, fans, vents, etc.), remove ALL of the old caulking, douse the entire area in vinegar and scrub, douse in vinegar again, leave to dry, reapply new caulk. If the mould reappears then repeat from the ventilation stage.
Open windows after a shower and wait until the air in the room is no longer humid before closing it. The number of times I come across people of colour who don't open the windows after they shower then complain about mould problems is insane.
I have a vent but nobody ever told me what it was for. I just assumed it was there to make the bathroom less foggy after a shower. I don't understand why just leaving the door open after a shower is not enough to let the humidity escape. Not like its some super enclosed area.
Honestly, the best approach is to get a squeegee and remove as much water from the walls after you shower, give it a rinse to remove soap then quickly squeegee without hitting the silicone or breaking it's seal.
Don't leave bottles and stuff on the ledge to hold water and wtv else you need to do to keep it from staying wet between uses. Use an rtv silicone btw. If you want to be really anal, I do a spray down with 1:10 bleach in water in my shower every month and I've never needed to replace the silicone because of mold.
>Honestly, the best approach is to get a squeegee and remove as much water from the walls after you shower, give it a rinse to remove soap then quickly squeegee without hitting the silicone or breaking it's seal.
>No effective airflow >Humid air slowly flows back into house or slowly seeps into permeable areas of the bathroom >Mould grows
Open a fricking window Black person.
I once lived in a flat with hippies that had an internal shower on the bottom floor of 3 floors. It had an air vent about maybe 6x6cm. The entire ceiling was covered in gigantic water droplets and you would be showered in water every time you closed the door.
rather than open a window and let in a ton of pollen and shit (plus, here in kentucky the outside air might be just as moist), I have a nice big dehumidifier with a built-in pump that I keep set relatively low, keeps my bathroom bone-dry and especially my towels dry out much faster and stay fresh longer
(the white tube is from the dehumidifier obviously, I just let it run into the tub but one day will plumb it to the outside or even get something added at the central HVAC level
what's the electricity use per day?
doesn't it get hot?
i don't think I even notice it on my electricity bill. it runs for like an hour or two per day.
How does it transfer the water? Mine is like this but the bucket height doesn't reach the top of tub, I don't see how it would siphon out?
it has a built-in pump that starts running when its reservoir gets full, the water just gets pumped out that white tube and goes down the tub drain. In theory you can run this through a hole in your wall or something and have it just dump outside, or if it's convenient into the drain behind your washing machine (not workable here).
>doesn't it get hot?
if there's one place in the house i don't mind being warm and dry, it's my bathroom. tile floor, so it usually deels chilly in here anyway, and it'd be clammy too if the dehumidifier weren't running.
When caulk turns black the mold is in the material. Cut it out with a box cutter and a few box cutter blades. Then use a scrub pad and some bleach to get out the rest. After it's dry lay a new bead of kitchen and bath caulk.
no, when he says it's "in the material" he means that it's in the caulk itself. cut out the caulk, scrub, and replace. but you need to WAIT until it's completely bone fricking dry before putting the new caulk in or you'll just get mold again.
unless you're being extremely careful and gentle, don''t jump straight to metal razor blades, as these can scratch your tub. work your way up through stiffer plastic scrapers first.
caulk is meant to be inspected regularly and replaced every decade or so,
people never do this and then cry that they got water damage and a lot more mold from small amounts of water leaking behind the shower/tub/tiles for years.
youtube builders swear by sashco products and they do seem extremely good. I have personally used a lot of bug stretch and the exact color match caulk. their stuff is usually sold at lowes, among other places. CleanSeal looks like their product for bathrooms, I have a shower re-caulk coming soon so I think I'll be checking it out.
It's mould. But if you ventilate the area properly it wouldn't develop in the first place. The order should be: set up proper ventilation (windows, fans, vents, etc.), remove ALL of the old caulking, douse the entire area in vinegar and scrub, douse in vinegar again, leave to dry, reapply new caulk. If the mould reappears then repeat from the ventilation stage.
Open windows after a shower and wait until the air in the room is no longer humid before closing it. The number of times I come across people of colour who don't open the windows after they shower then complain about mould problems is insane.
Diluted bleach >vinegar. Obviously don't be dumb and mix them.
>the forbidden crystal recipe
I have a vent but nobody ever told me what it was for. I just assumed it was there to make the bathroom less foggy after a shower. I don't understand why just leaving the door open after a shower is not enough to let the humidity escape. Not like its some super enclosed area.
Honestly, the best approach is to get a squeegee and remove as much water from the walls after you shower, give it a rinse to remove soap then quickly squeegee without hitting the silicone or breaking it's seal.
Don't leave bottles and stuff on the ledge to hold water and wtv else you need to do to keep it from staying wet between uses. Use an rtv silicone btw. If you want to be really anal, I do a spray down with 1:10 bleach in water in my shower every month and I've never needed to replace the silicone because of mold.
>Honestly, the best approach is to get a squeegee and remove as much water from the walls after you shower, give it a rinse to remove soap then quickly squeegee without hitting the silicone or breaking it's seal.
>No effective airflow
>Humid air slowly flows back into house or slowly seeps into permeable areas of the bathroom
>Mould grows
Open a fricking window Black person.
I once lived in a flat with hippies that had an internal shower on the bottom floor of 3 floors. It had an air vent about maybe 6x6cm. The entire ceiling was covered in gigantic water droplets and you would be showered in water every time you closed the door.
rather than open a window and let in a ton of pollen and shit (plus, here in kentucky the outside air might be just as moist), I have a nice big dehumidifier with a built-in pump that I keep set relatively low, keeps my bathroom bone-dry and especially my towels dry out much faster and stay fresh longer
(the white tube is from the dehumidifier obviously, I just let it run into the tub but one day will plumb it to the outside or even get something added at the central HVAC level
>dehumidifier in the bath room
Jesus.
strong argument. it's been amazing to have.
And frick the environment, amirite?
lmao what?
i don't think I even notice it on my electricity bill. it runs for like an hour or two per day.
it has a built-in pump that starts running when its reservoir gets full, the water just gets pumped out that white tube and goes down the tub drain. In theory you can run this through a hole in your wall or something and have it just dump outside, or if it's convenient into the drain behind your washing machine (not workable here).
How does it transfer the water? Mine is like this but the bucket height doesn't reach the top of tub, I don't see how it would siphon out?
>with a built-in pump
?
what's the electricity use per day?
doesn't it get hot?
>doesn't it get hot?
if there's one place in the house i don't mind being warm and dry, it's my bathroom. tile floor, so it usually deels chilly in here anyway, and it'd be clammy too if the dehumidifier weren't running.
fair enough, I have a bad experience with an airbnb in Malta that had a huge dehumidifier on and the air was still moist, moldy and suffocating hot
I do the dehumidifier too, so my towels don't rot. It's funny because it never seemed like a problem until the last two cities I've lived in.
When caulk turns black the mold is in the material. Cut it out with a box cutter and a few box cutter blades. Then use a scrub pad and some bleach to get out the rest. After it's dry lay a new bead of kitchen and bath caulk.
I have black (and orange) mold on the caulking between this two-piece shower. Does that mean I'd have to replace the entire thing?
no, when he says it's "in the material" he means that it's in the caulk itself. cut out the caulk, scrub, and replace. but you need to WAIT until it's completely bone fricking dry before putting the new caulk in or you'll just get mold again.
unless you're being extremely careful and gentle, don''t jump straight to metal razor blades, as these can scratch your tub. work your way up through stiffer plastic scrapers first.
caulk is meant to be inspected regularly and replaced every decade or so,
people never do this and then cry that they got water damage and a lot more mold from small amounts of water leaking behind the shower/tub/tiles for years.
Do you caulk your molding?
What's the absolute best S tier gradeA caulk for around tubs?
youtube builders swear by sashco products and they do seem extremely good. I have personally used a lot of bug stretch and the exact color match caulk. their stuff is usually sold at lowes, among other places. CleanSeal looks like their product for bathrooms, I have a shower re-caulk coming soon so I think I'll be checking it out.
ur mum has some black caulk IYKWIM