OT: MOLD...discouraging news

I have a 30 by 40 foot shop space that I rent, 1200 square feet, in other words.
I have no windows, but a people door and a huge overhead door about 12 feet high and 16 feet wide.
I have been absent from the shop for about 4 weeks.
It has therefore been closed up.
We had a few straight weeks of 90s and high humidity in Eastern Iowa.
Today, I discovered MOLD.
Mold on some books.
Mold on a wooden file cabinet.
Mold on plastic, rubbery picture album covers.
Within all of my tool chest drawers, the wooden handled and rubber surfaces of my hand and power tools are molded.
I can smell the mold in the space.
There is even mold on some of the painted surfaces of two of my tractors.
My wife thinks we can wipe things down with bleach and rinse and be OK.
But, I am concerned.
What about the interior surfaces of my power drills, the insides of the tractors that aren"t reachable?
Do I want to use bleach on the painted surfaces of the tractors, even if I rinse down real well.
I am open to suggestions.
This is my second summer in this shop. Last year, I had no trouble like this.
This came as quite a surprise, but, when thinking about it, it seems logical that this could have happened.
Last summer, I was in the shop a lot more and had the door open a lot more.
Yes, I think the fact that it was closed up was quite bad.
Question is...what to do to try to arrest all of the mold and deal with it.
I"m open to all suggestions.
Thanks, Tom

I would pack up all my stuff and get out of the space. Once mold is started in a space it is hard to completely get rid of. You may be a ble to wipe it off of your tools and tractors, but the simple fact is, if it is as bad as you claim, it has probably infested the walls, etc of the building. This means it will just reoccur. It is also not healthy to be exposed to mold for a prolonged amount of time. Its spores travel through the air, you breathe them in, they get into your lungs, they like the warm moist climate of your lungs and start spreading.

is it mold or mildew? mold is black splotches...mildew is greenish dust looking stuff...where i grew up on West Galveston Island if you didnt keep movin mildew would grow on ya...if it sounds like the latter,just wipe everything with a mild bleach solution and youre done till next humidity storm.

Sounds like you need some ventilation.

Gen

Take another day off and fog the space the fog will penetrate everywhere. Then use the same cleaner, Quat or phenol, and wipe down the affected surfaces.

Hindsight... too bad you didn't have a dehumidifier!

It has been amazingly hot and humid the last month in Eastern Iowa.

You can buy spray tht kills mold at walmart.I've sprayed it on black mold and the next day it was dead and a brown color.It has to have moisture to grow and will probably die by itself if the building is aired out.

When you are not there and have the building closed up, run a fan where it will circulate the air. A 20 inch window fan will make a big difference.

Gene

When we have real hot humid weather the concrete is cooler and causes condensation in the shop. A vapor barrier helps but that should have been put under the concrete.

The mold you have is more than likely not the black mold they have down south. If it is kind of green or white then it is not as harmful. There are several products that you wash things with and it kills the mold. A beach solution works just about as good. If your shop is tight then you can turn the heat up and get everything to dry out. Wash what you can. Then spray the walls with a 5% bleach solution. Shut the shop up tight. Let it stay that way for a few days. Then air it out. The mold should be history.

After this get your self a good de-humidifier. When it gets real hot I use them around the clock in my shop. I found some used commercial ones that you hard plumb in to the drains. I also have a three ton AC unit that I run in the summer too. I take several meds that make the heat dangerous for me. I found that my shop cools easier than it heats. The temperature difference is smaller I guess.

Don't want to sound pessimistic, but our church had a mold problem in the Fellowship Hall several years ago. For liability reasons, we had it professionally remediated. The final bill busted $50,000. Tables, chairs, stored band instruments, sheet music, bibles, hymnals, all had to be pitched. Over 300 2'X4' ceiling tiles had to be pitched and replaced. It started with an uninsulated air conditioning duct dripping condensate on ceiling tiles. But, when you're dealing with an area that will seat over 300 people, and regularly does, you can't afford to take chances.

I was Chairman of a nine member Board of Trustees at the time, and I had to fight with my own board to get it done properly. Everyone wanted to be cheap and shrug it off. My phone rang all hours of the day and night. Once when my phone rang at 10pm, I told my wife to tell them I went to Africa to hunt elephants.

I'm sure your situation is nowhere near as serious, nor as subject to repercussions, but if it was me, I'd at least get a professional opinion. Even your own health is worth a lot.

Here is a case where you can make a building too air tight.

From what I've read, mold will go away if you get the humidity under 40%.

I have a 30x40x10 pole barn concrete floor, no plastic under the floor and have no problems, because I didn't seal it up and insulate it. I live in west centeral Indiana where it's been hot and humid.

I don't care if you have a house or barn. Turn a barn it into living space by insulating it and you better heat and A/c it or you will get mold in some parts of the country. Metal buildings are more likely to get mold than stick or block buildings.
George

Dehumidifier diverting water to a drain hole. Otherwise, the water tub would need to be emptied every second day.

Jay

As long as there is moisture the problem will remain. Wood and masonary surfaces will need a bleach solution. Metal painted sufaces can be cleaned with soap and water.
Lots of good info on line. Mold can kill.