social

Can Mold Grow Under Laminate Flooring on a Concrete Foundation?

I have a mildew smell in the small garage apartment next to our house. It is overpowering after being closed up. This apartment was constructed inside a new metal barn/garage over concrete floor. It has laminate flooring, dry wall, a kitchenette, shower, and bathroom. Garage opening was closed up and large window placed in new wall with metal siding on exterior.

Advertisement

I have had the heating unit and plumbing checked. Now looking for leak between outside wall and siding. I had a water leak under ground at water line connection to apartment last year.

My question: Anyone ever heard of mold growing under a laminate floor or up through concrete floor? We are exasperated.

By Katherine from Jamestown, TN

Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!

 

Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 102 Feedbacks
November 20, 20092 found this helpful
Best Answer

We had laminate flooring in our basement bathroom. The floor underneath it is concrete. We had a leaky toilet and the smell was awful! We tore up the laminate to discover the whole underside was moldy.

Advertisement

Bleached the concrete, replaced the laminate with ceramic tile, and put in a new toilet; no more smell. So yes, it can grow mold!

 
November 21, 20091 found this helpful
Best Answer

We had vinyl flooring over a concrete slab, a slab which cracked all the time because it wasn't poured as thick as code required; so moisture came up through the cracks in the slab and caused the vinyl flooring to mildew. So it does happen. (We replaced the vinyl with ceramic tile since tile is supposed to "breathe" so the moisture will evaporate and not cause problems; so far seems to be working.)

 
November 21, 20090 found this helpful
Best Answer

Concrete is porous by nature. If it isn't plasticrete, or sealed really well in some way, it will grow mold. Being porous it absorbs moisture and it has air, all you need is to add is mold spores and there you have it.

 
November 23, 20090 found this helpful
Best Answer

Mold will grow where ever there is moisture. We have a concrete slab with a vinyl floor. We decided to tear it up and go with ceramic tiles. We did find mold. The installer painted the floor with some red suff to prevent any mold.

Advertisement

The smell is gone and so is the mold. The only way to get rid of the mold and smell is to find it and clean it up otherwise it will grow and grow.

 
January 25, 20100 found this helpful
Best Answer

Yes, I just tore up flooring over a concrete slab. It was installed without a vapor barrier and had a musty smell. The joints on the laminate were starting to peak and buckle slightly. I was about 15 months old. There was white mold on the joints, which you could not see without removal.

 
Anonymous
December 19, 20180 found this helpful

I installed laminate over terrazzo with a vapit barrier. Im allergic to mold, got quite ill. Smelled mold so had the house checked and had to rip out the entire household of flooring.

Advertisement

The whole house had to undergo mold remediation, not fun. My insurance company said it would not cover again if i used anything but tile over the terrazzo.

 
Anonymous
November 10, 20150 found this helpful
Best Answer

Just pulled up a laminate floor in a basement bedroom because we suspected mold under the laminate floor cause the edges were a bit curled. The mold was there and seems it had been there from some time ago from the previous owner. Since the mold was dried, we wiped up the powdery black residue and my contractor sealed the floor with quick set. We felt this was a good alternative to any wet products to clean up the powdery black residue since wetting mold can reactivity it. We are now glueing down another new laminate floor.

 
February 10, 20170 found this helpful
Best Answer

Yes, I am dealing with this as I type. I have a concrete floor that had vinyl on it. Two years ago I took up the vinyl and scraped most of the glue. I let it dry well and then put down 6 ml plastic, then padding, then new laminate. I just this week took up the laminate to replace a damaged portion and what did I find?

Advertisement

Several large patches of black mold. It was only on the patches where there had been glue. So apparently the moisture got under the plastic and fed on the glue.

 

Silver Feedback Medal for All Time! 290 Feedbacks
November 19, 20090 found this helpful

Damp areas can cause mold growth. Do a search on Google and see what you can come up with.

 
March 21, 20140 found this helpful

Can mold grow in six days under laminate/felt back flooring on concrete where water has risen through floor seams in Spring thaw? I need to know.

 

Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!

 
In This Page
< Previous
Categories
Home and Garden Home Improvement AdviceNovember 19, 2009
Pages
More
🍀
St. Patrick's Ideas!
💘
Valentine's Ideas!
🎂
Birthday Ideas!
Facebook
Pinterest
YouTube
Instagram
Categories
Better LivingBudget & FinanceBusiness and LegalComputersConsumer AdviceCoronavirusCraftsEducationEntertainmentFood and RecipesHealth & BeautyHolidays and PartiesHome and GardenMake Your OwnOrganizingParentingPetsPhotosTravel and RecreationWeddings
Published by ThriftyFun.
Desktop Page | View Mobile
Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
Generated 2024-02-05 16:00:52 in 3 secs. ⛅️️
© 1997-2024 by Cumuli, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.thriftyfun.com/Can-Mold-Grow-Under-Laminate-Flooring-on-a-Concrete-Foundation.html