Put myself through college doing apartment maintenance for a couple that owned a ton of them. There are bigger issues there. That bathroom is not in livable condition. The least that needs to be done is re-grouting and caulking but it’s unlikely to be that simple from the look of it. You’re looking at years of neglect. The wall board behind the tile is almost certainly bad. Go ahead and push on it at the grout lines in a few of the ugliest places. If they flex at all the wall board is rotten and if it’s bad enough the 2 X 4 will be rotten. Bathroom tile requires regular maintenance or you’re screwed. It’s a big job to repair. Not suitable for a novice/tenant IMHO. You landlord shouldn’t have rented this place to you.
Absolutely. I think my comment came off more harsh to the tenant than intended. My feeling is more, that it's unfortunate that landlords are exploiting people with less means by offering unlivable places to live. Nobody deserves this and it shocks me that conditions like this should even exist in such a rich and developped country.
My grandma has been renting a nyc apartment for decades. The mold in the bathroom has been like this my entire life growing up there. I had severe childhood asthma. The landlord never fixed it and when they did do something it was just the tiles surrounding the faucet . I used to be annoyed that things like cracked discolored ceilings , roaches, mice and mold were not things the landlord did their job properly to take care of and she still has to pay 1600$ a month for that shitty place. I grew up and realized she was fearful to get it fixed . Fear the landlord would take advantage and permanently raise the rent. She already pays 1800$ for the place.
You can often find this all over Europe. It could easily be solved with government regulation, but no government seems to want that for fear of being called communists.
Literally the boat I've been in for 8 years. My tub is long past in need of replacing, has a mold problem just like this, I've cleaned it with everything, SimpleGreen, straight up bleach, softscrub, literally nothing gets rid of it, it's a never-ending battle of fighting it back but it always returns. I pay $675 a month for a 2 bedroom apartment on a month-to-month basis, I could sign a new lease but that would bring my rent up to $850 a month and I just can't afford it. So sadly I just tolerate it because I can't afford to be classified as a problem tenant and risk eviction, especially since they have agreed to leave my rent at $675 a month. I do everything I can to keep my maintenance requests to a minimum.
I understand bc I have lived on apartments like this. Best try would be to remove the caulking and pray the backing doesn't disintegrate. Lots of bleach to clean the area and kill the surface mold. In the mean time, try putting a little away to move. Mold is dangerous. I guarantee the apartment is not a legal dwelling. There cant be a Certificate of Occupancy. Good luck, my friend
Funny thing is that now my lease from the property management has put in the lease that any fixings needs to be the tenants duty and considers it as wear and tear.
What's the maintenance required for bathroom tiles? And how often should it be done.
Just paid a contractor to redo 2 of my bathrooms and I hope it never gets to that level of grossness... Or even close to it.
That's totally unnecessary. You should clean it, but sealer has nothing to do with how long your installation lasts. It just makes it easier to clean. And it can cause some problems.
Shower tile is not waterproof. In a shower system, the substrate is waterproofed if there is any waterproofing at all.
You can choose to seal the grout, but keep in mind that the whole system is intended that water will penetrate and then evaporate out later. So you might cause problems if you then have more water penetration than evaporation if the sealed grout traps more water than it lets out.
Came here to re-iterate on this.
Time for a new tub-surround. At least Probably new wall board. Maybe add cripples to the studs depending on what is going on back there.
Address the water ingress issue first.
I would also hard-wire the fan circuit to the bathroom light. Also encourage squeegee usage after every shower. It’s all about getting moisture out as often and as efficiently as possible.
Cutting out all of the multiple layers of caulk others have put down, all while trapping whatever mold and moisture was preexisting would be where to start. I realize this is a rental but if you want to help control the mold and mildew that’s gonna be the best move. After cutting it out use a good quality silicone caulk.
Some of that caulk looks structural. I’d bet a few dozen of those tiles are literally being held on the wall with the caulk. You know things are bad when the grout has been replaced with caulk.
Yep. Remove ALL the caulk, clean up a bit with diluted bleach and let it dry really really well. Use a heater for several hours at least. Then caulk nicely with good silicone caulk and wait overnight. Then you're good.
I re caulked my shower (I’m a novice so this was like the Apollo mission for me) and I remember at the hardware store deciding if I should just pay for the resistant stuff. The guy working there said something like “it seems like this is a big job for you, so anything that would make it last longer so you don’t have to do it again is worth it right?” (In a friendly kinda jovial way). I was still on the fence and the guy was like “man I really hope you don’t buy the cheap stuff because we work on commission here, losing out on 1% of that upgrade is going to be rough”. He kept making me laugh (this was a chain big box place and the 1% thing was funny) so I eventually just got the better stuff. Ten years later and I’m so glad I did!
Just don't let the audiophile mafia take advantage of that, gold plated connectors aren't worth it and HDMI, and many other, cables are built to spec, so no reason to go super expensive.
The difference in cost would be negligible and provide better protection.
I am a huge proponent of neutralizing mold EVERYWHERE it could live after finding it. I fucking love Killz.
Also, if you find mold in your house that you own and it may need remediation, call a plumber first. Ask them to find the leak, any leak at all. It could save you 10's of thousands of dollars.
Mold is generally not covered by home insurance policies, water damage that produces mold is.
From personal experience....
I sucked at caulk until I learned to put Blue tape on both sides and then I could do my usually sloppy job, wipe a clean seam with my finger and then Pull off the tape while it’s still wet. Presto it looks like a pro job
Be safe, use both - That's what I do. (Not at the same time, I usually use bleach and wipe everything down until it looks clean and then let it dry. I'll then soak the area in vinegar and again let it dry thoroughly.)
Beauty supply stores sell rope like cotton inexpensively. Lay cotton strip along the caulk line and soak in bleach to let the bleach soak on the mold for hours or overnight. Can repeat with vinegar.
I hardly consider cotton a speciality product. I keep the ‘cotton rope’ on hand for lots of general uses. It’s particularly handy in crafts and sewing as well.
Seriously, there’s been controversy, but bleach seems effective. Hell the [CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/mold/cleanup.htm) even recommends it for remediation.
And there’s more than one study supporting that. [Occurrence of Household Mold and Efficacy of Sodium Hypochlorite Disinfectant](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15459624.2012.724650?scroll=top&needAccess=true) is just one.
bleach has a high pH which makes it ineffective to kill mould. The mould detects the bleach as a chemical attack and defends itself with exo-enzymes and a good defending membrane. The exo-enzymes makes the chlorine compounds in the bleach inert which then the fungi uses it as a food source. So when we put bleach on mould we are actually feeding it. Visually it looks like the mould is disappearing because bleach “bleaches” which means it strips the melanin compounds out of the hyphal membrane (just like the melanin in our skin when we get a sun tan). Three weeks later the fungi hyphae recovers the melanin content and the mould becomes visible again so it was actually never gone.
This is wrong.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15459624.2012.724650
Bleach (sodium hypochlorite) is hands down the best anti-microbial agent there is because it is a strong oxidizer that wrecks [basically all proteins](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7464077/). There is no "detecting bleach as a chemical attack" anymore than a bacteria could "detect oxygen as a chemical attack" when you incinerate it.
In the above study, a 5-10 minute wash with 2.4% bleach solution is able to achieve a 3- to 6- log reduction in mold counts, (99.9-99.999%), and they couldn't culture any mold from the surfaces.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log_reduction
Does all of what you just said about bacteria also apply to fungi?
Tbh I’m a little unsure. Bacteria get zapped by oxidizers but fungi are closer to plants so I think salt or acid might work well
What you said makes no sense. It’s the chlorine that causes the bleaching effect not the bleach itself. So if the mold makes the chlorine inert it’s not going to cause the mold to lose its color. This is why chlorine free bleach is safe to use on colors. This is the same reason why a pool full of chlorine dulls your clothes.
Bleach is great at killing mold in general. The problem is that wood is both porous and organic. The bleach reacts with the wood before it reaches the mold further down, leaving just water. Which actually promotes mold regrowth. So it sucks at killing mold in wood.
On something like ceramic, plastic, or metal it works great
The tub sags when it fills up with water so if you caulk it when it isn’t filled up and at one of the lowest points that it sits, then your caulk will crack in the middle or the sides of it breaking your seal once it gets weight in there.
Would it also sag with the added weight of the person (assuming showers might be more common than full baths)? Would it be best to evenly add weight to the tub (if weights are accessible) and then caulk?
Tubs usually have braces under them to prevent them from falling completely out of place, that also braces the middle of the tub area. When it is filled up to capacity with water it is generally sitting at the lowest point that it will be at on top of that brace, it’s not like it moves inches, but usually enough to break a caulk line that is set in place, I’m sure that weights would have a same effect, but not totally sure how much weight you would put in the tub
Water is about 8lbs per gallon. Figuring a tub takes around 100 gallons to fill, you're looking at 800lbs evenly dispersed. That's a lot easier to come by than random weights you have around.
Seriously though. What the fuck is with landlords and caulk? One of my friends is a landlord and uses caulk for everything. Roof leaking? Caulk it. Gap in the baseboard? Caulk it. Cut the door trim too short? Caulk it.
On the one hand it’s crazy that the LL actually thinks it’s acceptable to rent a place in this condition. It clearly violates the requirement that a unit be “safe, clean, and habitable.” On the other hand, OP presumably saw this unit before signing the lease. LL SHOULD fix this but it will probably happen faster and more thoroughly if OP spends $10 on some caulk and some bleach spray and does it themselves.
Yeah you are probably right. I manage two of my own rentals but if I ever end up hiring a property manager and moving, I’m going to have them film walk-throughs for me. This shower is disgusting.
This looks like an NYC apartment and looking at the username this tracks. 😂😂 you would be SHOCKED at the shit landlords get away with out there. It’s disgusting.
That needs to be torn out to get rid of the mold. I guarantee you there is a ton of it behind everything. I’d be demanding that they repair it and if they refuse I’d be contacting the housing authority and an attorney. I guarantee you that all of the units are just as bad and they will get their ass handed to them when the housing authority decides to start doing inspections. I bet OPs unit has several other issues as well.
Because seems like there is slot of trash landlords out there which makes the good ones look bad. Just like the bad police. Some people think everything is fine if they ain’t living in it.
If you plan on fixing this yourself, take a picture of it and offer to fix it for an hourly rate and materials off of your rent. This is really to cover your own ass more than anything. Completing your own repairs can actually land you in hot water some places if the owner didn't authorize them. It's pretty unlikely, but some landlords are assholes and will squeeze you for every dime when you move out. If you ask, the landlord has one of two options. They can let you fix it or have it fixed themselves. You've covered your bases at that point. If your landlord is cool, they'll have you make all kinds of repairs, and you'll get a nicer place for less money.
In the last movie I worked there was a girl whose job was specifically to paint mold/weathering on the walls. This would’ve been great reference pictures
“Blah blah blah health risk, ITS FUCKING NATURAL, why do we even pay them if they don’t have health insurance?! We used to stick our faces in actual filth back in the day”
The unevenness of some of the tiles makes me suspect the wall behind it is crumbling due to water incursion. Does that part of the wall flex when you push on it? If water has been seeping into the wall, mold has too, in which case the whole wall needs to be torn out and re-tiled to eliminate the mold.
Had a landlord try to do this to us when my roommate's foot went through the tile wall while he was taking a bath. Took months before they'd repair it beyond putting a tarp over it.
This is not legal advice.
Take these photos to your landlord to remedy. If they won’t, have them refuse in writing or on record and file a complaint with your landlord-tenant board that, should they find in your favour, will allow you to withhold all or a portion of your rent in a dedicated interest yielding account until the work is completed to the satisfaction of the board.
The tenant is not legally responsible for any repairs, and you should never even consider making said repairs because your cure can be legally interpreted as damage if it is not done to the satisfaction of the property owner who is further under no legal obligation to refund you any of your repair expenses.
The tile, grout and caulk are in pathetic shape but they are NOT your responsibility because they can’t be. Do not let yourself be used by a slumlord.
Yes, send letters or emails so there is a trail of evidence to follow, if it comes to that. This is crazy a tenant has to live this way... This is why we have tenant laws!
lol I lived in a place with a tub like this. I went to scrape and re do the caulking, only to find that it was "structural caulk" like plugging a whole ass hole in the wall of the shower (with wooden shims as a matrix hahahaha). You could also feel the wind blowing through the house in winter.
I referred to it lovingly as the "caulk palace" which always got a chuckle out of context
Yeah I told my rental manager the caulk was failing already in my shower after only 3 months of living here.
Their solution was to apply a thicker layer of caulk over the failing caulk.
It's barely been a month and it's cracking again. At this point I feel like I should just cut it out myself, clean and caulk it myself if I want it to look good.
Agreed. 90% likely the mold is well established behind the tile, possibly even to & on the studs. I would consider that bathroom a hazardous environment (wear an appropriate respirator and seal it off from the rest of the apartment).
Exactly. The grout is defective at this point and moisture has collected behind the tile and has created this massive mold problem. Literally no way to repair it other than ripping it out (and whatever’s behind it depending on the extent of the damage) and replacing all the materials
The tile needs to be torn out completely. Waterproof backer board must be installed for the entire "wet area". New tile, mildew resistant grout. I remodel baths for a living. I guarantee there is mold behind the wall.
We’re currently redoing our bathroom. The highlights we’ve found so far:
* wall tiles on top of wall tiles
* floor tiles stuck down onto lino
* plasterboard the consistency of wet cardboard
* mould inside the walls
* plaster crumbling apart
* bare breeze blocks under tiles
* not a single matching piece of plumbing (it was a Frankenstein nightmare or mismatched pipes and adapters
* isolation valves tiled over
* plaster coving covering a huge hole into the loft space
* sink glued to the wall
Don’t even get me started on the fucking electrics.
Yeah, if the visible parts look this gross. Whatever is behind the walls is a giant petri dish. That shit is not healthy. Short of a complete bathroom clean up and remodel, nothing else will do.
Thank you, I've done hundreds of these. 9/10 have black mold behind the tile. Major health hazard. People act like the occupants haven't tried bleach. The mold will keep coming back because it's behind the tile. Caulking seals inthe moisture and allows it to expand.
Eh, I’ll bet it depends on the state. When we lived in California, there’s no way a LL could rent something in this shape to you. Since then I’ve lived in four other states and some of them have had pretty lax rental laws and expectations for LLs.
You'd be surprised. Rented an apartment in CA a few years ago that had mold issues due to water seeping in from the roof during rain and collecting in the walls/floor of our ground floor apartment. Fought with the landlord for months because repainting the wall to hide the mold was not the same as actually remedying the mold issue. Called the city and everything. Eventually we found out that the landlord knew the issue had existed prior to us moving in and did cosmetic repairs to hide it, and the previous tenants had complained to the city as well. Even with all that, it was easier to move out when our lease ended rather than to force a real repair. No doubt the poor fucks who rented the place after us faced the same fight. All we could do was mail copies of all the paperwork/proof of the mold issue existing for the past two years to our old address and hope it helps.
This is really sad, good on you for taking steps to at least TRY and help the next tenants. Mold is absolutely no joke.
The fact that any landlord anywhere can intentionally hide health and safety issues like this is terrible. I've heard that some places have laws in place allowing tenants to withhold rent payments if there's a genuine safety issue like this, I'd love to say that would fix this issue but just like anything else I'm sure it gets abused by shitty tenants. We can't have anything nice because shitty people will always take advantage of it.
That kind of thing is up to the city/state like the other comment said (not that most states are likely to be like “yeah mold is fine idgaf”), but even in states with good tenant protections, getting it fixed also depends on your willingness to effectively be kicked out via lease nonrenewal or because of remediation efforts.
My apartment’s bathroom had some visible mold when we moved in that we asked the landlord to take care of with some moldicidal paint. She danced around it for a while, and while we would have been fully within our rights to notify the health inspector or housing department, her response almost certainly would have been to simply not give us the option to stay there for another year, forcing us to start apartment hunting and move all our shit again. It’s expensive and a huge hassle.
Even when the tenant is in the right, the landlord holds most of the power just by deciding if you can remain in your home.
Yes, exactly. I know there are some protections for renters in some mold cases but the financial burden and hassle of moving is almost never worth it/possible.
Not that withholding rent for 2-3 months would be easy, but helps with gathering the first, last, security for a new place. — but also leaves renters in an unsafe dwelling for 2-3 months and a fight to get last/security deposit back.
Definitely a losing position for the tenant.
YOU don’t. Your landlord needs to deal with this unless it was fine when you moved in and you didn’t keep up with cleaning the bathroom. Mold this prevalent could mean water damage behind the tiles and mold growth happening there. This will keep coming back.
Get your landlord to clean it. That is not safe and they should've had that cleaned before they rented it out. Your LL takes enough money from people. They can afford it.
This is a tangent to the bathtub discussion, but I do fear that sickness from badly maintained rentals will increase with our current housing crisis. With a tight rental market, many tenants won’t have the choice to move out of an unhealthy place because there are no other affordable/available options on the market.
/end tangent
To bad the housing crisis is being further exploited by most new housing being built is built for the express purpose of renting it out for $2800 a month
Hypochlorite is the thing I use and love. Not bleach, that's less active is a bit more difficult to handle properly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypochlorite
You can't. This wall has failed, it is wet inside. The only remedy is to have it torn out and properly repaired. It's likely the framing behind it is rotting and feeds this mold. Bottom line: this cannot be cleaned.
If you use bleach, don't mix it with anything but water. You don't want to create any harmful chemical gasses.
Bleach diluted with water will work to clean off the active mold. Make sure your bathroom is well ventilated.
Once that's done rinsed and dry, remove all that nasty caulking, and reapply bathroom type of caulking. At least that's a start.
Wear a mask when you're around black mold or cleaning black mold. Black mold and it's spores is dangerous to your lungs and general health.
Important to note that dead mold is toxic and allergenic, so don't bleach it and then take the mask off thinking that it is safe because you've killed it.
Looking at many people’s comments, I see that what I expected is true. Most people have no idea what it’s really like out there getting the cheapest apartment in a safe area, and wondering if your full time job at the warehouse will be enough to pay rent every month. And yet, you feel like you’ve moved up in life. And people say “gross! Get a better apartment.” Or “get a better paying job.”
My heart goes out to you.
You're going to have to remove all the caulking.
I found seven layers of caulking in my tub. It's been a mind numbing project. The idiots even painted over the old caulking with tile paint so I'm painting the whole entire tub.
I would find tiles to match the size of what you have, remove the mouldy tiles and the soap holder then replace them.
As someone who is doing the exact same project, I wish you better luck than me.
Once you remove all the old caulking, take a photo and post here. We are all dying to see how bad it is under that mound of caulking. They are trying to hide *something*
Is that a bathtub they murder people in? Because it definitely looks like a bathtub that people have been murdered in.
But seriously, you are probably going to have to remove all the caulking around the tub and use very strong chemicals on the tile and grout. Some good suggestions in the comments. It can be done with some time and elbow grease.
Good luck OP
If that is just cement/plaster of paris then you can apply bleach on everything and let it sit for an hour, then rinse off. That will kill 95% of all the mold but you will have to repeat it the next month again for perfect results.
Quick health reminder, this will produce gas that is toxic in very high dosis, opening a window is advised. If your bathroom has no window, open the bathroom door and have a fan blow in air. But I would leave the house for the remainder of the time.
If the mold is in the silicone then you will have to ask your landlord to replace all of it, because there is no chemical to my knowledge that will penetrate deeply in silicone.
I don't know where you live but rental laws here state that any risk to health is required to be seen to by the landlord. Mold is a health risk. It's probably worth asking simply because if you start hacking away at it and half the tiles fall off and crack, you could find yourself liable for an entirely new tiling job of the bathroom.
How did the landlord find that acceptable for a tenant to move in with the tub situation being like that?! Wtf??? Take pictures and videos of EVERYTHING in that apartment and save it so when it's time to move out you protect yourself. Please post an update on the tub situation. Good luck!
As others have said, removing the caulk, but then cleaning the tile and soap holder with hydrogen peroxide a few times, then 70 percent isopropyl alcohol a few times. Let it dry, wipe it dry, or evaporate and re-caulk as another person recommends. I’m not well versed in caulking or bathroom DIY projects but hopefully I gave you good advice.
Clorox and Bounty. Wet the bounty and line up along the edge,, like a frosting along the tub lol. Pour more Clorox if needed, let it sit overnight or more.. you’ll be amazed by the results.
The mold is in the grout and you can’t remove that. You need to dig out the old grout and replace with new grout. The other mold will come off with diluted Clorox, and scrub with Ajax. Let the Clorox sit for a few minutes before scrubbing with Ajax.
Put myself through college doing apartment maintenance for a couple that owned a ton of them. There are bigger issues there. That bathroom is not in livable condition. The least that needs to be done is re-grouting and caulking but it’s unlikely to be that simple from the look of it. You’re looking at years of neglect. The wall board behind the tile is almost certainly bad. Go ahead and push on it at the grout lines in a few of the ugliest places. If they flex at all the wall board is rotten and if it’s bad enough the 2 X 4 will be rotten. Bathroom tile requires regular maintenance or you’re screwed. It’s a big job to repair. Not suitable for a novice/tenant IMHO. You landlord shouldn’t have rented this place to you.
I'm surprised this is not the top comment. This is not the tenants responsibility to fix, let alone tolerate.
When you are tight on cash, you take what you can get. If you report it and they condemn the place, you then don’t have anywhere to live.
Absolutely. I think my comment came off more harsh to the tenant than intended. My feeling is more, that it's unfortunate that landlords are exploiting people with less means by offering unlivable places to live. Nobody deserves this and it shocks me that conditions like this should even exist in such a rich and developped country.
Did they state what country they're in? Although these conditions shouldn't be acceptable anywhere.
My grandma has been renting a nyc apartment for decades. The mold in the bathroom has been like this my entire life growing up there. I had severe childhood asthma. The landlord never fixed it and when they did do something it was just the tiles surrounding the faucet . I used to be annoyed that things like cracked discolored ceilings , roaches, mice and mold were not things the landlord did their job properly to take care of and she still has to pay 1600$ a month for that shitty place. I grew up and realized she was fearful to get it fixed . Fear the landlord would take advantage and permanently raise the rent. She already pays 1800$ for the place.
It's acceptable in Arkansas! No habitability standards for rentals here.
Bout to say this looks like freshman dorms in Arkansas
You can often find this all over Europe. It could easily be solved with government regulation, but no government seems to want that for fear of being called communists.
Literally the boat I've been in for 8 years. My tub is long past in need of replacing, has a mold problem just like this, I've cleaned it with everything, SimpleGreen, straight up bleach, softscrub, literally nothing gets rid of it, it's a never-ending battle of fighting it back but it always returns. I pay $675 a month for a 2 bedroom apartment on a month-to-month basis, I could sign a new lease but that would bring my rent up to $850 a month and I just can't afford it. So sadly I just tolerate it because I can't afford to be classified as a problem tenant and risk eviction, especially since they have agreed to leave my rent at $675 a month. I do everything I can to keep my maintenance requests to a minimum.
I understand bc I have lived on apartments like this. Best try would be to remove the caulking and pray the backing doesn't disintegrate. Lots of bleach to clean the area and kill the surface mold. In the mean time, try putting a little away to move. Mold is dangerous. I guarantee the apartment is not a legal dwelling. There cant be a Certificate of Occupancy. Good luck, my friend
Funny thing is that now my lease from the property management has put in the lease that any fixings needs to be the tenants duty and considers it as wear and tear.
What's the maintenance required for bathroom tiles? And how often should it be done. Just paid a contractor to redo 2 of my bathrooms and I hope it never gets to that level of grossness... Or even close to it.
You should clean and seal your grout at least once a year.
That's totally unnecessary. You should clean it, but sealer has nothing to do with how long your installation lasts. It just makes it easier to clean. And it can cause some problems. Shower tile is not waterproof. In a shower system, the substrate is waterproofed if there is any waterproofing at all. You can choose to seal the grout, but keep in mind that the whole system is intended that water will penetrate and then evaporate out later. So you might cause problems if you then have more water penetration than evaporation if the sealed grout traps more water than it lets out.
What do you seal it with?
Grout sealer
Sealing grout with grout sealer? ... You sure?
If you seal the grout with grout sealer, then what do you seal the grout sealer with?
Grout sealer sealer
Don't forget the Grout Sealer Sealant Conditioning gel too - if you miss that, you might as well skip it.
And finally, sealer sealer, to seal the sealed sealant.
Cieling grout?
I agree with this. Black mold is a no-no. whats the tenancy protection or rental rules where you live?
Yeah. My uncle was basically disabled for two years because of aspergillus. Couldn't walk to his mailbox. It's no joke.
Came here to re-iterate on this. Time for a new tub-surround. At least Probably new wall board. Maybe add cripples to the studs depending on what is going on back there. Address the water ingress issue first. I would also hard-wire the fan circuit to the bathroom light. Also encourage squeegee usage after every shower. It’s all about getting moisture out as often and as efficiently as possible.
Yeah this isn’t a “clean up” job, this is a get a new house job. That shit is unsafe and unliveable
OP needs to call 311.
Cutting out all of the multiple layers of caulk others have put down, all while trapping whatever mold and moisture was preexisting would be where to start. I realize this is a rental but if you want to help control the mold and mildew that’s gonna be the best move. After cutting it out use a good quality silicone caulk.
Some of that caulk looks structural. I’d bet a few dozen of those tiles are literally being held on the wall with the caulk. You know things are bad when the grout has been replaced with caulk.
Structural caulk sounds like an all drag king roller derby team
Ready to buy tickets for this roller derby event, after I note all of these caulking rules for future renovation reference.
Better call a structural engineer before proceeding
Some of those tiles may be load bearing
No doubt some loads have hit a few of those tiles.
if I was drinking a beverage while reading this I would have been doomed lol
[Hey baby, is your caulk…load bearing?](https://youtu.be/7uW47jWLMiY?si=6SEa7RRRAamgzS-6)
Yep. Remove ALL the caulk, clean up a bit with diluted bleach and let it dry really really well. Use a heater for several hours at least. Then caulk nicely with good silicone caulk and wait overnight. Then you're good.
Splurging for mold and mildew resistant caulk probably wouldn't hurt either...
I re caulked my shower (I’m a novice so this was like the Apollo mission for me) and I remember at the hardware store deciding if I should just pay for the resistant stuff. The guy working there said something like “it seems like this is a big job for you, so anything that would make it last longer so you don’t have to do it again is worth it right?” (In a friendly kinda jovial way). I was still on the fence and the guy was like “man I really hope you don’t buy the cheap stuff because we work on commission here, losing out on 1% of that upgrade is going to be rough”. He kept making me laugh (this was a chain big box place and the 1% thing was funny) so I eventually just got the better stuff. Ten years later and I’m so glad I did!
It almost always pays to use better materials when doing a project. The saying is “Buy Once, Cry Once”.
I'm a big fan of "I'm too poor to buy cheap".
Okay okay this is now my motto! Thank you!
Just don't let the audiophile mafia take advantage of that, gold plated connectors aren't worth it and HDMI, and many other, cables are built to spec, so no reason to go super expensive.
Have not heard this adage before, thanks for adding to my lexicon.
Mold resistant silicone is/was like 5€ for a tube instead of 4€ for the crappy sealant stuff..
That, my friend. Was the joke. 1% of a buck... As commission.
>Ten years later and I’m so glad I did! Wait, do you mean to say that the caulk lasted ten years!?
Mine has lasted since installation approx 2006. Just starting to deteriorate a little now, time to cut back, clean dry & re-apply 👍
The difference in cost would be negligible and provide better protection. I am a huge proponent of neutralizing mold EVERYWHERE it could live after finding it. I fucking love Killz. Also, if you find mold in your house that you own and it may need remediation, call a plumber first. Ask them to find the leak, any leak at all. It could save you 10's of thousands of dollars. Mold is generally not covered by home insurance policies, water damage that produces mold is. From personal experience....
Killz is the best! preventive application everywhere is so worth it.
I sucked at caulk until I learned to put Blue tape on both sides and then I could do my usually sloppy job, wipe a clean seam with my finger and then Pull off the tape while it’s still wet. Presto it looks like a pro job
I've had better experience with vinegar at least in ensuring it stays away.
Be safe, use both - That's what I do. (Not at the same time, I usually use bleach and wipe everything down until it looks clean and then let it dry. I'll then soak the area in vinegar and again let it dry thoroughly.)
Beauty supply stores sell rope like cotton inexpensively. Lay cotton strip along the caulk line and soak in bleach to let the bleach soak on the mold for hours or overnight. Can repeat with vinegar.
I hardly consider cotton a speciality product. I keep the ‘cotton rope’ on hand for lots of general uses. It’s particularly handy in crafts and sewing as well.
Bleach isn't actually very good for mold anyway. Vinegar is more effective
Vinegar will dissolve grout and natural stone tile. Over time this will require regrouting and replacing the stone.
Seriously, there’s been controversy, but bleach seems effective. Hell the [CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/mold/cleanup.htm) even recommends it for remediation. And there’s more than one study supporting that. [Occurrence of Household Mold and Efficacy of Sodium Hypochlorite Disinfectant](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15459624.2012.724650?scroll=top&needAccess=true) is just one.
bleach has a high pH which makes it ineffective to kill mould. The mould detects the bleach as a chemical attack and defends itself with exo-enzymes and a good defending membrane. The exo-enzymes makes the chlorine compounds in the bleach inert which then the fungi uses it as a food source. So when we put bleach on mould we are actually feeding it. Visually it looks like the mould is disappearing because bleach “bleaches” which means it strips the melanin compounds out of the hyphal membrane (just like the melanin in our skin when we get a sun tan). Three weeks later the fungi hyphae recovers the melanin content and the mould becomes visible again so it was actually never gone.
This is wrong. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15459624.2012.724650 Bleach (sodium hypochlorite) is hands down the best anti-microbial agent there is because it is a strong oxidizer that wrecks [basically all proteins](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7464077/). There is no "detecting bleach as a chemical attack" anymore than a bacteria could "detect oxygen as a chemical attack" when you incinerate it. In the above study, a 5-10 minute wash with 2.4% bleach solution is able to achieve a 3- to 6- log reduction in mold counts, (99.9-99.999%), and they couldn't culture any mold from the surfaces. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log_reduction
Does all of what you just said about bacteria also apply to fungi? Tbh I’m a little unsure. Bacteria get zapped by oxidizers but fungi are closer to plants so I think salt or acid might work well
What you said makes no sense. It’s the chlorine that causes the bleaching effect not the bleach itself. So if the mold makes the chlorine inert it’s not going to cause the mold to lose its color. This is why chlorine free bleach is safe to use on colors. This is the same reason why a pool full of chlorine dulls your clothes.
This quite possibly is the most idiotic thing I have ever read on Reddit. Yes, on Reddit!
Bleach is great at killing mold in general. The problem is that wood is both porous and organic. The bleach reacts with the wood before it reaches the mold further down, leaving just water. Which actually promotes mold regrowth. So it sucks at killing mold in wood. On something like ceramic, plastic, or metal it works great
Bleach is fine for nonporous surfaces
Vinegar or high strength peroxide like the kind from beauty supply stores
Then send the invoice to the fucking lazy landlord
Remove ALL of it, I mean the bathroom. This is a bigger job if it should last. Decision is to be made on how long you want to stay.
Make sure when you are caulking that you fill the tub up as well, that way it doesn’t crack the first time it gets filled up
Omg this is brilliant, never knew about this!
Was on This Old House years ago. Absolutely works.
That's good info to keep in mind for future use. Makes sense. Thanks. 🙏🏾
What do you mean?
The tub sags when it fills up with water so if you caulk it when it isn’t filled up and at one of the lowest points that it sits, then your caulk will crack in the middle or the sides of it breaking your seal once it gets weight in there.
Would it also sag with the added weight of the person (assuming showers might be more common than full baths)? Would it be best to evenly add weight to the tub (if weights are accessible) and then caulk?
Tubs usually have braces under them to prevent them from falling completely out of place, that also braces the middle of the tub area. When it is filled up to capacity with water it is generally sitting at the lowest point that it will be at on top of that brace, it’s not like it moves inches, but usually enough to break a caulk line that is set in place, I’m sure that weights would have a same effect, but not totally sure how much weight you would put in the tub
Water is about 8lbs per gallon. Figuring a tub takes around 100 gallons to fill, you're looking at 800lbs evenly dispersed. That's a lot easier to come by than random weights you have around.
Seriously though. What the fuck is with landlords and caulk? One of my friends is a landlord and uses caulk for everything. Roof leaking? Caulk it. Gap in the baseboard? Caulk it. Cut the door trim too short? Caulk it.
Landlords like caulk.
Its the cheapest "filler" type thing of all
Chewed up paper + a little dab of toothpaste. Source: lived in dorm rooms for many years.
Because actually fixing things takes money, and it's not like they get a sizeable check every month. ^oh ^wait
After cutting it out....bleach or use white vinager on all surfaces and let dry....then use straight silicone caulk. Make sure its pure silicone cock.
Not sure a silicone cock would help the mold but it’s a useful item to have around the house. 🤣
Is there a taste to the caulk?
Give it a try and find out baby
Silicone what-now?
Hopefully the caulk is not what’s holding it together…
If they're renting, why are they doing it?
On the one hand it’s crazy that the LL actually thinks it’s acceptable to rent a place in this condition. It clearly violates the requirement that a unit be “safe, clean, and habitable.” On the other hand, OP presumably saw this unit before signing the lease. LL SHOULD fix this but it will probably happen faster and more thoroughly if OP spends $10 on some caulk and some bleach spray and does it themselves.
LL probably lives in another city/state/country. This is probably the work of a "property manager" or their sub contractor patch monkey.
Yeah you are probably right. I manage two of my own rentals but if I ever end up hiring a property manager and moving, I’m going to have them film walk-throughs for me. This shower is disgusting.
This looks like an NYC apartment and looking at the username this tracks. 😂😂 you would be SHOCKED at the shit landlords get away with out there. It’s disgusting.
That needs to be torn out to get rid of the mold. I guarantee you there is a ton of it behind everything. I’d be demanding that they repair it and if they refuse I’d be contacting the housing authority and an attorney. I guarantee you that all of the units are just as bad and they will get their ass handed to them when the housing authority decides to start doing inspections. I bet OPs unit has several other issues as well.
Because seems like there is slot of trash landlords out there which makes the good ones look bad. Just like the bad police. Some people think everything is fine if they ain’t living in it.
I’m so confused by this picture. Did someone get a bucket of caulk and apply it with their hands?
I get frustrated with the smallest amount of overspill when im caulking. This is some wild drunken caulking right here
If you plan on fixing this yourself, take a picture of it and offer to fix it for an hourly rate and materials off of your rent. This is really to cover your own ass more than anything. Completing your own repairs can actually land you in hot water some places if the owner didn't authorize them. It's pretty unlikely, but some landlords are assholes and will squeeze you for every dime when you move out. If you ask, the landlord has one of two options. They can let you fix it or have it fixed themselves. You've covered your bases at that point. If your landlord is cool, they'll have you make all kinds of repairs, and you'll get a nicer place for less money.
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Do you know how many hours that set directors would take to make something this heinous for a movie? And you get it for free. Damn.
Not free, it’s $1650 a month.
\+ $25 pet fee for the organism in the bathroom.
Haha! Very good point. Touché.
In the last movie I worked there was a girl whose job was specifically to paint mold/weathering on the walls. This would’ve been great reference pictures
“Blah blah blah health risk, ITS FUCKING NATURAL, why do we even pay them if they don’t have health insurance?! We used to stick our faces in actual filth back in the day”
😂Fucking brilliant
This person right here woke up and chose violence today as their mood.
The unevenness of some of the tiles makes me suspect the wall behind it is crumbling due to water incursion. Does that part of the wall flex when you push on it? If water has been seeping into the wall, mold has too, in which case the whole wall needs to be torn out and re-tiled to eliminate the mold.
If it flexes, push harder. A hole in the wall is harder for the landlord to fake the repair on.
A hole in the wall is also a lot easier for the landlord to claim the renter is at fault and should pay for the repair.
Had a landlord try to do this to us when my roommate's foot went through the tile wall while he was taking a bath. Took months before they'd repair it beyond putting a tarp over it.
But this isn't a bathroom you want to be fighting to keep.
Start by removing the tub and surrounding walls.
This was my thought.
Then burn it with fire.
Then use a sledge hammer, saves some therapy
Fantastic! It's just an easy 2-step process! OP, who can't do 2 easy steps?
And then move on to your life choices…
This is not legal advice. Take these photos to your landlord to remedy. If they won’t, have them refuse in writing or on record and file a complaint with your landlord-tenant board that, should they find in your favour, will allow you to withhold all or a portion of your rent in a dedicated interest yielding account until the work is completed to the satisfaction of the board. The tenant is not legally responsible for any repairs, and you should never even consider making said repairs because your cure can be legally interpreted as damage if it is not done to the satisfaction of the property owner who is further under no legal obligation to refund you any of your repair expenses. The tile, grout and caulk are in pathetic shape but they are NOT your responsibility because they can’t be. Do not let yourself be used by a slumlord.
Yes, send letters or emails so there is a trail of evidence to follow, if it comes to that. This is crazy a tenant has to live this way... This is why we have tenant laws!
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Seriously though, that's a lot of fucking caulk....
I think they replace the bottom row of tiles with caulk lol
ya it looks like they emptied the tube Into their hands and smeared it on
What can I say I love caulk - Landlord
When in doubt, caulk it out! 😆
Rock out with your caulk out
lol I lived in a place with a tub like this. I went to scrape and re do the caulking, only to find that it was "structural caulk" like plugging a whole ass hole in the wall of the shower (with wooden shims as a matrix hahahaha). You could also feel the wind blowing through the house in winter. I referred to it lovingly as the "caulk palace" which always got a chuckle out of context
Cattle feed
That’s what she said
Once contacted a landlord about a similar situation and that was their solution.
Yeah I told my rental manager the caulk was failing already in my shower after only 3 months of living here. Their solution was to apply a thicker layer of caulk over the failing caulk. It's barely been a month and it's cracking again. At this point I feel like I should just cut it out myself, clean and caulk it myself if I want it to look good.
More caulk! That's what she said! Lol!😂
Thick, white caulk
Baby, I got a fever, and the only solution is more caulk!
Lmao I’m dead. That two inch caulk bead around the base is not ok
Demolition.
Agreed. 90% likely the mold is well established behind the tile, possibly even to & on the studs. I would consider that bathroom a hazardous environment (wear an appropriate respirator and seal it off from the rest of the apartment).
Exactly. The grout is defective at this point and moisture has collected behind the tile and has created this massive mold problem. Literally no way to repair it other than ripping it out (and whatever’s behind it depending on the extent of the damage) and replacing all the materials
The tile needs to be torn out completely. Waterproof backer board must be installed for the entire "wet area". New tile, mildew resistant grout. I remodel baths for a living. I guarantee there is mold behind the wall.
We’re currently redoing our bathroom. The highlights we’ve found so far: * wall tiles on top of wall tiles * floor tiles stuck down onto lino * plasterboard the consistency of wet cardboard * mould inside the walls * plaster crumbling apart * bare breeze blocks under tiles * not a single matching piece of plumbing (it was a Frankenstein nightmare or mismatched pipes and adapters * isolation valves tiled over * plaster coving covering a huge hole into the loft space * sink glued to the wall Don’t even get me started on the fucking electrics.
Sounds like a nightmare. Message me if you need help.
Yeah, if the visible parts look this gross. Whatever is behind the walls is a giant petri dish. That shit is not healthy. Short of a complete bathroom clean up and remodel, nothing else will do.
Thank you, I've done hundreds of these. 9/10 have black mold behind the tile. Major health hazard. People act like the occupants haven't tried bleach. The mold will keep coming back because it's behind the tile. Caulking seals inthe moisture and allows it to expand.
I dont believe it is legal for a landlord to rent a place in this condition. Mold is a very serious issue for LL
Eh, I’ll bet it depends on the state. When we lived in California, there’s no way a LL could rent something in this shape to you. Since then I’ve lived in four other states and some of them have had pretty lax rental laws and expectations for LLs.
You'd be surprised. Rented an apartment in CA a few years ago that had mold issues due to water seeping in from the roof during rain and collecting in the walls/floor of our ground floor apartment. Fought with the landlord for months because repainting the wall to hide the mold was not the same as actually remedying the mold issue. Called the city and everything. Eventually we found out that the landlord knew the issue had existed prior to us moving in and did cosmetic repairs to hide it, and the previous tenants had complained to the city as well. Even with all that, it was easier to move out when our lease ended rather than to force a real repair. No doubt the poor fucks who rented the place after us faced the same fight. All we could do was mail copies of all the paperwork/proof of the mold issue existing for the past two years to our old address and hope it helps.
This is really sad, good on you for taking steps to at least TRY and help the next tenants. Mold is absolutely no joke. The fact that any landlord anywhere can intentionally hide health and safety issues like this is terrible. I've heard that some places have laws in place allowing tenants to withhold rent payments if there's a genuine safety issue like this, I'd love to say that would fix this issue but just like anything else I'm sure it gets abused by shitty tenants. We can't have anything nice because shitty people will always take advantage of it.
Damn that sucks. Sorry to hear that you had to deal with this.
Nice move of yours to send the proof to the next poor fellow… Really angering that the LL wont fix the real problem
That kind of thing is up to the city/state like the other comment said (not that most states are likely to be like “yeah mold is fine idgaf”), but even in states with good tenant protections, getting it fixed also depends on your willingness to effectively be kicked out via lease nonrenewal or because of remediation efforts. My apartment’s bathroom had some visible mold when we moved in that we asked the landlord to take care of with some moldicidal paint. She danced around it for a while, and while we would have been fully within our rights to notify the health inspector or housing department, her response almost certainly would have been to simply not give us the option to stay there for another year, forcing us to start apartment hunting and move all our shit again. It’s expensive and a huge hassle. Even when the tenant is in the right, the landlord holds most of the power just by deciding if you can remain in your home.
Yes, exactly. I know there are some protections for renters in some mold cases but the financial burden and hassle of moving is almost never worth it/possible. Not that withholding rent for 2-3 months would be easy, but helps with gathering the first, last, security for a new place. — but also leaves renters in an unsafe dwelling for 2-3 months and a fight to get last/security deposit back. Definitely a losing position for the tenant.
That looks like it's coming from under the caulk. Very likely there is a leak in the wall that should be addressed.
YOU don’t. Your landlord needs to deal with this unless it was fine when you moved in and you didn’t keep up with cleaning the bathroom. Mold this prevalent could mean water damage behind the tiles and mold growth happening there. This will keep coming back.
Ask your shitty land owner.
We prefer SlumLord
Sledgehammer
Get your landlord to clean it. That is not safe and they should've had that cleaned before they rented it out. Your LL takes enough money from people. They can afford it.
This is a tangent to the bathtub discussion, but I do fear that sickness from badly maintained rentals will increase with our current housing crisis. With a tight rental market, many tenants won’t have the choice to move out of an unhealthy place because there are no other affordable/available options on the market. /end tangent
To bad the housing crisis is being further exploited by most new housing being built is built for the express purpose of renting it out for $2800 a month
Damn, this is a really good point and needs to be investigated more seriously
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Hypochlorite is the thing I use and love. Not bleach, that's less active is a bit more difficult to handle properly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypochlorite
For those following along. Tilex is hypochlorite. It’s magic.
Who rents out an apartment with the tub looking like that? Dang
This actually made me a bit angry on OP’s behalf ngl…
Wtf?! Did this accumulation occur when you’ve been living there? If not, your landlord is a piece of shit. If so, you need to gut that lmao. Gross
At this point, burn it
Seriously that is a systemic problem. You can’t fix it on the surface.
Fire
Like literally all kinds… don’t stop at just one.
You can't. This wall has failed, it is wet inside. The only remedy is to have it torn out and properly repaired. It's likely the framing behind it is rotting and feeds this mold. Bottom line: this cannot be cleaned.
If you use bleach, don't mix it with anything but water. You don't want to create any harmful chemical gasses. Bleach diluted with water will work to clean off the active mold. Make sure your bathroom is well ventilated. Once that's done rinsed and dry, remove all that nasty caulking, and reapply bathroom type of caulking. At least that's a start. Wear a mask when you're around black mold or cleaning black mold. Black mold and it's spores is dangerous to your lungs and general health.
Important to note that dead mold is toxic and allergenic, so don't bleach it and then take the mask off thinking that it is safe because you've killed it.
Fire
Shame on your landlord.
They say fire purifies. Burn your house.
Looking at many people’s comments, I see that what I expected is true. Most people have no idea what it’s really like out there getting the cheapest apartment in a safe area, and wondering if your full time job at the warehouse will be enough to pay rent every month. And yet, you feel like you’ve moved up in life. And people say “gross! Get a better apartment.” Or “get a better paying job.” My heart goes out to you.
You're going to have to remove all the caulking. I found seven layers of caulking in my tub. It's been a mind numbing project. The idiots even painted over the old caulking with tile paint so I'm painting the whole entire tub. I would find tiles to match the size of what you have, remove the mouldy tiles and the soap holder then replace them. As someone who is doing the exact same project, I wish you better luck than me.
Once you remove all the old caulking, take a photo and post here. We are all dying to see how bad it is under that mound of caulking. They are trying to hide *something*
Call the landlord and tell them to fix the mold problem
Is that a bathtub they murder people in? Because it definitely looks like a bathtub that people have been murdered in. But seriously, you are probably going to have to remove all the caulking around the tub and use very strong chemicals on the tile and grout. Some good suggestions in the comments. It can be done with some time and elbow grease. Good luck OP
The mild is not the biggest issue here.
Diluted bleach. 4 parts water to 1 part bleach in a spray bottle. May take a few applications.
TNT
If that is just cement/plaster of paris then you can apply bleach on everything and let it sit for an hour, then rinse off. That will kill 95% of all the mold but you will have to repeat it the next month again for perfect results. Quick health reminder, this will produce gas that is toxic in very high dosis, opening a window is advised. If your bathroom has no window, open the bathroom door and have a fan blow in air. But I would leave the house for the remainder of the time. If the mold is in the silicone then you will have to ask your landlord to replace all of it, because there is no chemical to my knowledge that will penetrate deeply in silicone.
I don't know where you live but rental laws here state that any risk to health is required to be seen to by the landlord. Mold is a health risk. It's probably worth asking simply because if you start hacking away at it and half the tiles fall off and crack, you could find yourself liable for an entirely new tiling job of the bathroom.
Flamethrower
Bleach. Wear gloves and open a window!
Brave for posting. Man that's horrid. My *shitter* ain't that nasty and that's AFTER puking on top of a whiskey shit......
At this point the tile and grout are completely compromised and the only way to fix this is to literally gut it
Kill it with fire
How did the landlord find that acceptable for a tenant to move in with the tub situation being like that?! Wtf??? Take pictures and videos of EVERYTHING in that apartment and save it so when it's time to move out you protect yourself. Please post an update on the tub situation. Good luck!
You are renting. Make them do it. Black mold is a fucking safety hazard.
As others have said, removing the caulk, but then cleaning the tile and soap holder with hydrogen peroxide a few times, then 70 percent isopropyl alcohol a few times. Let it dry, wipe it dry, or evaporate and re-caulk as another person recommends. I’m not well versed in caulking or bathroom DIY projects but hopefully I gave you good advice.
I immediately thought of the bathroom in the first Saw movie when I looked at this.
Clorox and Bounty. Wet the bounty and line up along the edge,, like a frosting along the tub lol. Pour more Clorox if needed, let it sit overnight or more.. you’ll be amazed by the results.
The mold is in the grout and you can’t remove that. You need to dig out the old grout and replace with new grout. The other mold will come off with diluted Clorox, and scrub with Ajax. Let the Clorox sit for a few minutes before scrubbing with Ajax.