With its porous nature, drywall is one of black mold’s favorite surfaces on which to grow. It’s common to see mold on walls in moist, warm areas with poor ventilation, such as bathrooms and basements, but mold can grow anywhere in the right conditions.

When you see mold on your drywall, you likely have one of these two problems:

1. A water leak from your pipes, bathroom, HVAC unit in your attic, or your roof.
2. The house is improperly ventilated and is too humid, allowing surface mold to grow. Modern houses were not made to be without running HVAC systems and when a house sits without air control of some kind, mold tends to start growing.

First, you’ll need to locate and fix the source of the moisture. If you’re having a difficult time finding the source, click here for tips for locating the moisture source.

When the drywall is already painted or primed (aka sealed), and the moisture is from ventilation issues, the mold is most likely on the surface and can be wiped down with an appropriate MOLD CLEANER.

With unsealed drywall, your best solution is to remove all the potentially affected drywall and insulation. Before you begin the removal process, please read our Mold Removal page for tips to avoid infecting other areas of your house.

Once you have the proper safety gear and the infected area is sealed off, use a box cutter to score and remove any contaminated drywall (also known as sheetrock or gypsum board). Place all affected drywall and insulation in bags and seal the bags for removal.

With the drywall removed, you can now see if the mold has affected the other side of the wall and/or the wood framing. Remove the drywall on the other side if it is affected, and dispose of any contaminated materials in sealed bags.

To treat any affected wood framing, spray and soak the affected wood with a MOLD CLEANER and scrub with a brush. Then wipe clean with disposable towels. Place the used towels in a bag and seal for disposal.

Once the wood frame has dried entirely, replace the insulation and drywall, and tape the seams. There are many DIY videos for drywall repair online, but installing drywall requires a lot of precision, so it’s usually best to leave it to a professional.