Bathrooms can be very wet and humid places.
Water splashed onto floors,
wet shower walls with closed curtains or glass enclosures,
wet towels hung to dry,
and boys with bad aim,
can account for a lot of humidity in a bathroom. This is especially the case if there is no exhaust fan----or if the fan is not functional or doesn't get used.
These conditions make for a great place to grow a good batch of mold. While some of this will be apparent on grout lines, the corners of the tub and shower, and on walls and ceilings, the condition can be concealed by recent painting, caulking and cleaning----as is common when the house is put on the market.
The inspector wants to know how the bathroom is doing moisture wise. He or she wants to know if a month after the inspection, whether all the painted-over mold going to break through the surface like some creature in a science fiction movie.
There is usually one place that gets overlooked in the quest to eliminate this unsightly condition prior to sale. This is the coldest and wettest place in the bathroom. Even under the best of conditions it can be a good habitat for mold growth. But because of this "naturally conducive" environment it is also a good indicator of the bathroom humidity in general, and would lead the inspector to look more carefully in other areas of the bathroom.
Can you guess where this place is?
It is the underside of the toilet tank.
Bathrooms with poor ventilation or high humidity (due to the many causes discussed) will often have toilet tanks that look like this. How about your toilet tank?
Charles Buell
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Fergit it! I am not stickin' my nose in the toilet tank! That does look like my foreclosures!
I have yet to see mold there!
Barbara, UNDER the tank not IN the tank:)
Courtney, I hope some other inspectors will chime in----I have to say about 50% of all bathrooms have some amount of growth on the underside of the tank----in older housing stock that is.
Mold is everywhere.
All the best and keep on blogging.
Bill
Charles, I am amazed how you get your photos, the angles and all. This one is NOT a pretty sight.
Bill, kind of like Chicken Man, "He's everywhere, he's everywhere"
Gary, thanks. You are right---not pretty (well except for the blue sky:)
Wow, great blog and I love the smiley face inserts!
Cheryl, thanks----I think the messages behind the pictures and smiley face inserts get by most people:)
There's an interesting indicator to look for. I'll keep an eye out when I'm showing listings.
I had to go recheck. I thought you'd put a smiley face in the midst of the mold under the toilet. But now I see!
I was going to guess INSIDE the floor register but seeing there wasn't a prize I will wait. That was one nasty looking potty! cherry (your posts should come with a warning)willis
Brian, thanks for stopping by
Barbara, very funny
Cheryl, I have included "warnings" with some---but this was way too tame for a warning:)
Mold is everywhere you can or can't see, nice catch Charles.
Holy cow that is a nasty photo. When I had apartments, the bathrooms in some of the units would get nasty like that all around the bathtub because NOBODY would bother to clean.
Sean Allen
Gary, this is a favorite place for it.
Sean, based on lots of the comments so far, it seems that many are surprized by the picture, and yet it is so common, in even the most well kept houses around here, that I tend to see it as almost "normal."
Charlie,
Good information. Mold is something people hear about but do not know much about.
Wow Charles, This is the first time that I have seen mold grow under a toilet tank. who wudda thunk...
Charles (bend yourself into a pretzel to get a picture) Buell, you are dedicated!
PS: If this IS mold, you have to wonder what the food source is ... on porcelain?
Mold needs water... AND a food source to grow.
Steve, you see this condition too don't you?
Kevin, I think there is no shortage of food for this stuff on bathroom surfaces. The bottom of the tank is not usually very well "finished" and very rough----enough to get it started and then it will also have its decaying self to feed on. It is not like Rot that actually "eats" the wood----mold is merely an "inhabiting" fungus.
Michael, I am beginning to think this is a NW phenomenon:)
Charlie,
Yes I see that fairly often. Not unusual here.
Charles, I really think that this must be related to your being in a "high humidity environment"? The only time I have ever seen this is when there is some other problem, such as a slight leak, or some other reason that humidity is high in a particular house.
I think you can look under a lot of toilet tanks around here before you would see this.
Charlie - Hang on...I'm going to run and get a mirror because I can't see myself getting down on the floor to look at the underside of my toilet. I am really glad your not coming to inspect one of MY listings. geeze! You don't stop at nothing!
Kevin, love to see these regional differences.
Carol, I sure enjoy the mental images I have of people running all over their homes after reading my blogs:)
OK, I never thought of that one. Please excuse me. I'm leaving now to go check my bathroom...
Margaret, report back what you find:) There will be prize for anyone that can supply a picture of their own toilet that looks like the one I posted:)
Charlie: Is that part of your check sheet? I think I am getting sick just by looking at the photo. Maybe you should wear a respirator to work!
Do you mean do I usually look in this area? Those connections often leak so I am always checking this area.
Thats good stuff. It is like the window sills in sleeping rooms here. I think skin cells, cotton fibers, pet dander...etc... all kinds of good microbial stuff to feed our little black friend.