Who do I call?

[fings]

Apparently the people who installed our bathroom either didn't use waterproof grouting, or didn't seal it. So we have some sort of mold/mildew in the grouting. We've tried various cleansers, and it's hard to remove and keeps coming back. Neither one of us has seen this before, it's not like we don't clean it, we do, but the problem keeps returning. We've tried vinegar, bleach, lysol tub and shower cleaner, tile-x, no-name brand cleansers, even just detergent and water. The vinegar worked ok, the lysol best of all, but even that hasn't kept it totally at bay. At this point given our lack of time and expertise, I'm ready to pay someone to take care of the problem, which probably means re-grouting the bathroom. (Actually, both bathrooms, even thought the front shower hasn't had this problem due to infrequent use.)

So who do I call to have something like that done? A plumber? A contractor? Someone else?

Thanks,
-Clueless first-time home owner.

Comments

[dragonintherain.livejournal.com]

i've never sealed grout. did they use greenboard or some other water resistant barrier behind the tile? is your bathroom vented at all, where you can turn on a fan to remove humidity?

[fings.livejournal.com]

I have no idea what's behind the tile, it was installed before we bought the place. That bathroom has a window, no fan. The front bathroom has a fan, no window, but as I said, the shower there was not used very often, so we haven't seen the problem there.

Bathroom mold-mildew

[vokaria.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on becoming the "clueless first-time home owner".
If i may suggest, - of course depending on your area of residence,- not to rush into a trial and error - and horror stories ( http://www.hotfrog.com/Companies/Advanced-Restoration-Inc/Mold-Remediation-Horror-Stories-How-to-Avoid-Trouble-205713 ) circle. We had a similar problem, which i resolved in the end by stripping all the grout and sealant, and just resealing everything on my own with a silicone sealer that clearly stated "Cured Sealant is Mold and Mildew Resistant". While before we had to constantly struggle to keep the mold away, it did not make an appearance for about 18 months now. But again, i resealed EVERY joint with the stuff, as in the past doing it just in a few spots
In the current "home improvement market" an idea of saving the time by hiring "a professional" to do a small job like this, most of the time turns out a terrible loss of time and peace. We leave in a basically rural area, where the professionals still carry some left-over farmer-family honesty, and on occasion they will clearly state whether they will take a small job, that is not going to keep them afloat, and rather might endanger their business (then they will tell a story of a homeowner who sued them for not fixing a roof leak, while they clearly agreed just to paint the wall). It is your house, you might as well get intimate with it?..
In any case, i known some people swearing by this spray: http://www.amazon.com/Allersearch-AllerMold-Mildew-Inhibitor-Removal/dp/B0010DN7NI
Might be worth a try, before undertaking anything radical. Then, if the technology is your friend, you might try the solution that another friend of mine is using in his warehouse, which is impossible otherwise to protect against the mold. I think he turns it on about once a week:
http://www.lightyears2.com/air_light.html (The A14G SINGLE + UV GUARD)

[indieb0i.livejournal.com]

I'd suggest taking a look for a local handyman. It's not necessarily a job that a plumber will want to take on because it's probably more time consuming than it's worth. Handymen live off of these small jobs that are too much of a pain for the homeowner, but not big enough to bring in a full contractor.

[dragonintherain.livejournal.com]

in my experience, plumbers don't do grout. (is why i grouted the floor around the toilet all by myself, while the plumbers watched.)

[mizerychick.livejournal.com]

I think my mom had success with Grout Grouch.

[greenquotebook.livejournal.com]

I had a similar problem with the grout in the hall bathroom and found that using a Clorox Bleach Pen did the job.

[1cmf.livejournal.com]

IME: Grout does this. It's a maintenance issue; clean it aggressively on a regular basis to keep it from getting out of hand.

It's possible someone used Latex based grout, which molds up much faster and blacker than other cement or epoxy grout. Stay away from the ready mixed grouts at the big box stores: you can clean and seal this stuff, but all you're doing is pushing the recurance back a bit further.

If you really want to get throw money at the problem, you want to look for a tile specialist: lot of folks specialize in doing tile work: you can find them advertising in tile stores or here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&source=hp&oq=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=tile+setters+jersey+city&fb=1&gl=us&hq=tile+setters&hnear=jersey+city&view=text&ei=GpeNS6-QG8-XtgfXoqDwCA&sa=X&oi=local_group&ct=more-results&resnum=1&ved=0CB0QtQMwAA

Or you could try to get handy: cut the grout out and redo it with quality grout and seal well (if you're not going for epoxy).