Peices of rubber mat that were cut off and removed.
What is this white stuff on the flooring mat?
by
Karen
+11
My apartment flooded in June and my landlord took off the vinyl floor boards, cut away some of the rubber mat underneath, put down a new mat in some areas, and put the same boards back down on top. We started having mold problems and he said it was strange that the floor was reading as wet with a moisture meter. He tested it like 5 more times with a bunch of vendors and two days ago (four months after they cleaned up from the initial flood) he took off all the floor boards and rubber mat and finally threw it all out. There were no precautions taken for mold and I was in the unit while he did this. He then put down a different type of floor directly on the concrete without cleaning it or anything. It still has the same base board this is stained and warped from the flood. Is this mold and was this done properly??
Right after they pulled the first board off.
Close up of one of the rubber mats.
Concrete floor they put the new flooring down on.
This is what the rubber mat looked like when they first put it down.
Underside of the vinyl floor board.
I would be concerned about mold or maybe glue. Good luck!
Mold generally grows on organic material. Rubber is not organic. I would assume the concrete is breaking down from the flooding or it was not allowed to completely dry out. It looks more like efflorescence from the concrete. The moisture in the concrete reacts with the salts in it and cause it to surface. The concrete should have been allowed to air dry and any efflorescence washed off with a vinegar/water mixture.
The vinegar kills the mold spores, that is what should have happened to be sure there is no mold there.
From your pictures (thank you for all of them) it looks like wet glue and wet concrete contamination bringing out the minerals in it (efflorescence).
I would be concerned about the floor not being treated for the possibility of mold, but this looks like the minerals in the concrete breaking down.
FIY: Rubber is an organic material and mold will grow on it. As it is porous, mold will root deep into it.
Call a mold remediation company. They do safety checks and can tell you if there is an issue in your apartment.
From what I understand, there's not supposed to be glue with a "floating floor"
It appears to be mold to me. I had an office that flooded and I complained to my boss about it. When they pulled up the carpet, it looked similar and that's what it was. You need to push him to fix this because that was definitely not the right way to do it.
If you have questions I would contact the health department. If they can't help they should be able to steer you in the right direction.
If your air tested positive for toxic mold, you should have been removed from the property until the mold was properly remediated. Since I still suffer from the effects of mold exposure at work 20 years later, I wouldn't take it lightly. Move if you can. Have the air tested before you move to determine the level of your exposure, and hold the landlord liable for trying to remove toxic mold on his own.
The old floor coming up
Time to call a pro in to look at this.