Is it mold?

[landlady]

My basement is small but leads into a crawl space which goes the length of my building which is an old row house. It has always been very dry with no moisture problems. Recently I had a leak in a pipe. The problem is that it was hot water leaking and although it was below the house and leaked into the ground, the steam went up and the floor joists absorbed the moisture for days. Now that it's fixed the wood has been drying nicely but most of it is covered with something that I think is mold. It's white spots and blotches....powdery like talc. It's very dry and rubs off easily with a rag. I've been reading up on the internet and thought maybe it's efflourescent or lyme deposit. Does anyone have an idea?

Any information would be greatly appreciated

[richard]

landlady,

Efflorescence is typically found on a concrete basement wall or floor as it's derived from minerals in the concrete, mortar, or soil that dissolve in water and remain behind when the water evaporates.

What you're describing could be mold but you would need a mold expert to find out for sure, and I am not.

If you're interested in a system to encapsulate your crawl space (http://www.basementsystems.com/crawlspace/), which brings the benefits of creating a healtier space, gaining storage space, improving energy savings, and more, you can take a look at our CleanSpace (http://www.basementsystems.com/crawlspace/crawlspace_products/crawlspace_vapor_barrier.php) crawl space encapsulation system and the SmartDrain, which would alert you to an interior plumbing leak as you experienced.

-Richard

[landlady]

Richard......thank you so much for your reply.

I will definitely look into CleanSpace, as I have a very long crawl space.

[richard]

You're very welcome. I know you'll be very satisfied with the CleanSpace product -- it really turns a negative into a positive.

-Richard