cleaning mold from a safe?

[Hamma Slamma]

So I had a flood in my basement about 4 weeks ago. About 1' of water came through the sewer. MY gun safe is in the basement and even though it's water proof I didn't seal the bottom so the water got all in. My AR got all rusty just from the humidity even though only the palstic butt stock got wet but I digress. I left the safe open a few days to air out and when it felt dry I closed it up and a few days later decided to check on my babies and saw mold conolies growing the and the smell was horrid. So I pulled all the guns and everything out. I removed the shelves with the mold colonies, I can show pics it's gross, I let it air out some more about 2 weeks with the door open. Well I have kids so not having the guns locked up is very dumb, I thought it was dry closed it up for a few days and today I opened it again and the stench is back. I'm going to have to do something to kill this mold and am not sure what.

On the walls and etc in the basement I sprayed a fungicide which smells like pinesol and it worked great! But I am hesistant to spray that into the gun safe and am looking for alternatives first.

Anyone else every have this problem? What'd you do to fix it?

[warpspeed]

I think the fungicide would be a good start. Why would you not want to spray it inside the safe ?

I'd probably follow with an incandescent light bulb for some extra heat to drive the water out.

[Hamma Slamma]

I think the fungicide would be a good start. Why would you not want to spray it inside the safe ?

I'd probably follow with an incandescent light bulb for some extra heat to drive the water out.

I didn't want the guns stanking like pine-sol (that's what the fungicide smells like). I guess that's better than smelling like rott gutt. Good tip on the bulb. May just leave it in there for months. Good guns need to shine!

Right now I have the safe wide open with a fan blowing right into it. I figure it hasn't got enough air movement to fully dry. Probably get out the sprayer tomorrow and give it a good spray down.

[chirpy]

Bleach water will kill mold but I'm not sure if the smell will be a problem. You can probably get a de-humidifier designed specifically for safes if you do a little checking.

FWIW

Richard

[Graham Smith]

A mixture of 1 part bleach to 5 parts water will usually do the trick. Wear rubber gloves and a face mask while cleaning. Rinse thoroughly and then use a heat lamp to dry it out.

Or just call ServPro and let the insurance pay.

[AlamoShooter]

I think the base of the problem is what is in side the safe . inside my Canon safe is plain old 5/8 firecode sheetrock that the felt is glued to.

I think you will have to remove the liner to get the watter out . Wet sheetrock acts like a spong keeping the water inside for some time.

you can buy tubs of material at Home Depot that obsorb moistur = they are in 1gal tubs

or

Strip it to the metal and buy new sheet rock

[Hamma Slamma]

I want to stay away from bleach because the interior is carpeted and I'm not sure what the bleach will do to the carpet. Being a roofing contractor I come up against mold in attics quite frequently and my studying has shown not to use bleach water because the water can cause more harm than good. Mold needs 3 things to survive, warmth, moisture and organic material to feed.

I wouldn't call a company like serve pro ever, that's a topic for a whole other thread. Anyways Insurance gave me the maximum which didn't cover nearly half the cost. We decided not to use the insurance check for anything in the basement, but to installa valve system to prevent this kind of backup from happening again.

Alamao it's not sheet rock, but is some kind of press board in mine with tha carpet glued to it. The last thign I want to do is reline the whole darned thing,b ut I suppose if the fungicide doesn't work that's I'll have to do.

[B_Ayers]

OK, I do water restoration for a living.

Yes you do have a fungi problem in the safe.

1) I would use an professional strength anti microbial or fungicide....check with you local janitorial supply or a carpet cleaning supply house.

2) Spray the inside of the safe with anti bacteria solution, very heavy. I would spray & let stand about an hour then re spray.

3) Let stand for approx 2-4hr. this will allow the solution to penetrate the carpet and any fire linings inside the safe.

4) You need to setup a very small containment area on the safe ( with door open). 6 mil plastic over the door opening will work just fine.

5) get a couple of hair dryers and start blowing hot air into the safe with a small opening @ the top of your containment to let the hot humid air out of the safe.

6) The temp inside the safe needs to be At LEAST 120-130 degrees Min. - this will help kill any bacteria inside the safe. it can not grow or live about 120 degrees.

7) This will take a couple of days @ a min.

Stay away from the bleach...it will kill the color of the liner inside the safe. Most Commercial Biocides are color safe for materials.

If you want more info. PM me and I will give you my phone number and we can talk more.

Brad AYers