Is this mold?

September 8, 2024 7:58 PM

So far, I'm loving my new place. However, I noticed some faint weird marks on my bedroom wall, and upon further inspection, the marks are darker than the rest of the wall. When I touch them, it still feels hard/not soft or fuzzy. However, it's a bit weird-looking, so would you say it's mold or just paint discoloration?

My sense of smell, unfortunately, hasn't came back, so I can't smell mustiness or anything. However, it feels hard/normal to my touch, and not at all soft or fuzzy. The marks are easy to overlook, unless a light is shining on them.

FWIW, the laundry room is right behind that wall, if that makes any difference.

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Picture two

posted by dubious_dude to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

I think somebody spilled something and it splashed onto the wall.
posted by Juniper Toast at 8:15 PM on September 8 [7 favorites]

Could be something splashed on the wall and not cleaned off when it was painted. When I painted my kitchen, it looked similar and drove me wild until I remembered dropping a bottle of vegetable oil that had splashed. Apparently, there were drops that I had missed cleaning up. I sealed it with Killz and repainted.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:16 PM on September 8 [2 favorites]

I was just dealing with mold in my house and I would bet money that’s not mold. There was probably a dog bed or shoes or something that got drips on the wall occasionally and got missed during the cleaning. Did you see if you could wipe it off with a little water and cleaning spray?

If there was a leak from the laundry causing mold you’d see swelling of the dry wall and bubbling in the paint, maybe just take a look around to investigate and feel satisfied that’s just surficial drips. Glad you’re enjoying your new place!!
posted by cakebatter at 9:26 PM on September 8 [3 favorites]

That's not mold. It looks as though someone was careless when cleaning the floor.
posted by dancinglamb at 10:05 PM on September 8

Not mould/ mold. Which typically "smudges" and if it is an old colony, the substrate (the wall) will also rub away a little.
posted by porpoise at 10:20 PM on September 8

Very generally speaking, fungus grows in a radial pattern i.e. looks like circles. Depending on the species of mould and substrate and how extensive the mould is, you might see something different, but with common black mould species like Aspergillus you would expect to see a circular theme, not irregular splotches like that.
posted by BeeJiddy at 2:58 AM on September 9 [1 favorite]

Yeah, nthing "not mold". It could be something splashed last time someone mopped the floor; but since you also say it shares a wall with the laundry room, you may also want to consider surfactant leaching, which is just what happens when new paint gets exposed to humidity before it's cured completely; some chemical in the paint reacts to the humidity and bleeds out a little. Fortunately it washes off pretty easily.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:37 AM on September 9

to me it looks like they took off the baseboards, refinished the floor, got some of the varathane on the wall in the process, then merrily put the baseboards back without repainting the wall.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 3:36 PM on September 9 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: That would make sense. I believe they replaced carpets in some units with hardwood (or at least hardwood-style floors), so it could be that they did that during the turnover between the previous tenant and me. Those apartments are about 10 years old, so I guess it was time to replace the carpet with hard floors. Personally, I'm relieved because I much prefer hardwood/hardwood-style; less chance of damage.

Thanks! Just wanted to double check before bothering maintenance :) already had a few items that needed fixing, so wanted to take one less thing off the list.
posted by dubious_dude at 6:40 PM on September 9