Local guide / Salt Lake City, UT

Mold After Water Damage in Salt Lake City: What to Do

A musty smell weeks after a leak usually means something never fully dried. How big a problem it is, what you can handle yourself, and when to bring in help.

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Snow on the Wasatch Mountains above the Salt Lake Valley in winter

Photo: Wasatch Mountains from South Jordan, Utah by Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0

Why mold shows up even in a dry climate

Quick answer

People are often surprised to find mold in Utah, where the air outside is so dry. What mold needs is moisture right where it grows, and a leak that soaked the back of a wall or the pad under a carpet gives it exactly that.

The EPA puts it simply: the key to mold control is moisture control. Its guidance is to dry water-damaged areas and items within 24 to 48 hours. In most cases mold will not grow if things are dry in that window. Past that point, the odds change.

Where hidden mold hides

Quick answer

If the house smells moldy but you cannot see any, the EPA lists the usual places to suspect: the back side of drywall, wallpaper or paneling, the top side of ceiling tiles, the underside of carpet and pad, inside walls around leaking or sweating pipes, behind furniture where condensation forms, inside ductwork, and above ceilings after a roof leak.

Be careful poking around. The EPA warns that pulling off wallpaper with mold behind it can release a large burst of spores. If you think the mold is hidden, the agency suggests hiring an experienced professional.

Mold or wet walls after a leak in Salt Lake City? Call to reach a local restoration company.

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Small patch or a job for pros

Quick answer

The EPA draws a line at about 10 square feet, roughly a 3 foot by 3 foot patch. Smaller than that, most people can clean it themselves. Bigger than that, or if there was a lot of water damage, the EPA points to its professional remediation guidelines.

Two other cases call for a professional no matter the size. If the water came from sewage or other contaminated water, bring in someone experienced with contaminated water damage. And if you think the heating and cooling system has mold in it, the EPA says not to run it, because it can spread mold through the whole house.

If you clean it yourself

Quick answer

The EPA's basic steps:

Fix the leak first. Clean mold without fixing the water problem and it will most likely come back.
Scrub mold off hard surfaces with detergent and water, then dry them completely.
Throw out porous materials like ceiling tiles and carpet if they have gone moldy. Mold gets into the gaps and is hard or impossible to remove.
Do not paint or caulk over mold. Clean and dry first, because paint over mold tends to peel.
Wear an N-95 respirator, long gloves and goggles without vent holes.

Go easy on the bleach. The EPA does not recommend biocides like chlorine bleach as a routine part of mold cleanup, and dead mold can still cause allergic reactions, so it has to be removed. If you do use bleach, never mix it with anything containing ammonia.

Renters in Salt Lake County

Quick answer

Report leaks and moisture problems to your landlord or property manager right away and in writing. The EPA suggests contacting local or state health or housing authorities if a persistent water problem is not fixed.

Know what the county can do before you call. The Salt Lake County Health Department says it cannot respond to mold complaints unless the mold comes from an active water leak that the occupant did not cause. It does take reports of active roof or plumbing leaks, floods and sewer problems. So report the leak itself, not just the mold.

Keeping it from coming back

Quick answer

The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60 percent, ideally between 30 and 50 percent. A cheap humidity meter from a hardware store tells you where you stand. Run the bathroom fan when you shower, vent the dryer outside, keep gutters clean and make sure the ground slopes away from the foundation.

Testing is usually not needed. The EPA says that if you can see mold, sampling is generally unnecessary, and there are no federal limits to compare results against anyway. Spend the money on finding and fixing the moisture source.

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