Korean Job Discussion Forums

[spaceman82]

I've been having a lot of trouble with mold behind the wallpaper in my place. I want to replace the wallpaper but have also heard that there might be some kind of treatment that can be applied to the wall before new wallpaper is put on to help prevent the problem from recurring. Has anyone else heard of that type of treatment? How much would it cost to have someone come in and redo the wallpaper (just for the labor, not including the cost of the actual wallpaper)?

[timhorton]

Homeplus sells 1.5 x 3 m rolls of (cover up) vinyl sticker type wallpaper that seals/covers the mold. It's in the hardware section next to the rolls of wall decals. In the 7000-8000 range. Do not remove the paper on your wall. Just put the sticker/wallpaper right over it. If you want, try using bleach first, let it dry, then apply the sticker - it's like a giant sticker. It's an ok temp. fix. The mold can't eat through the vinyl as easy as paper.

[Lazio]

That depends on the number and size of the rooms to be wallpapered. Every neighborhood has an �interior� type store or better yet a plastic floor/wallpaper store. You can buy the stuff there and they know people who would fix it for you.
I would say a small room will be in the ballpark of 150,000 krw. I mean the labor that is.

[Cacille]

I would not, nor would I ever recommend, EVER, covering over a problem with more wallpaper.
I say this as professional who fixed these types of problems here and there, for the past 5 years before this last year.
And who sold solutions to these problems to customers for 8 years.
I have to say Korea really has a mold problem and if they got over their fascination with wallpaper, they would not have this problem.

Okay, anyway, first thing you need to do is tear down all the wallpaper. All of it that has mold underneath. Which, if it's really loose, and in a dark cool spot like a closet or interior room or Kitchen in general, you probably do have it. Tear it all down.
Then, determine the wall type. Plaster walls? Drywall unpainted? Painted drywall? Plain wood of some sort? Some sort of fiberboard or paneling? MDF? THAT will be the key to determining your next step.

Basically, if it is unpainted, and has mold all over it, your only option is to replace the walls. NO bleach will fix this problem, the mold has attached itself too deeply and there is no chance of it ever being killed. Even if you spray all the spots you see, more will develop because, pretty much, the drywall/wood/fiberboard is infested.
Nice thing is, if you have ANY other wall type besides fiberboard/drywall/plain wood, then you are OK to spray it with bleachwater, wash well, spray again, let dry. (MDF is a different story. If you have MDF with no bulges in it, a REALLY light washing and immediately drying is ok. Really light bleach spraying and immediate dry is ok. Nothing else.)
(If you tear down the wallpaper and have no clue what you have, send me a message and post a picture of it from a few angles and give me as MUCH info as you can say about the look and feel of the wall, for instance rough and textured, little pitts all over, feels smooth or feels like paper, etc.)
Next step, regardless of if you had to replace your walls OR bleach them, is that you paint them. Paint it all. Get any paint you can. Preferably something with a little shine to it. There IS paint in Korea - Interior and Exterior. I've seen it. Hell, I know of two shops in my small town that have paint! There is no excuse for you to not go find a bucket of white whatever, get a brush and a roller, a cheap plastic tray of any sort you can find, and cover every bit of your walls. Easy to do. Cheap? I doubt any bucket of paint will run you more than 70,000 per bucket. That's cheap enough and great "insurance" against further mold.

After THAT...Then cover with whatever wallpaper you wish. You'll never have a problem again and if you do, mold will stick to the wallpaper, not the wall.

[spaceman82]

Thanks, Cacille. I know that just covering over it is not going to fix the problem, and that's why I'm hoping to get some kind of treatment done on it and hire a professional. At the same time, however, I'm just renting this place and don't think the landlord is going to let me do anything too extensive--nor do I want to do anything that's going to cost too much since I don't plan on living there that much longer. I may just mention it to him and let him take care of it--but then I don't think he's going to do anything substantive to fix the problem either.

Thanks also to Lazio and timhorton. 150,000 krw isn't that bad for a room, I guess. Good to know what I'm looking at in terms of price. In regard to the sticker-type wallpaper as a temporary fix for a month or so, however, is the stuff just white in color? I'd like to have something to cover the mold up while I decide what to do and work things out with my landlord.

[Lazio]

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

I'm going through this right now. My landlady is a doll, but she and her husband just stripped and bleach scrubbed the really bad spot, and wiped over the not-so-bad spot with bleach, then put new paper over it. Our lease is up in March, so after we renew, we'll just pay and have the whole apartment's worth of paper stripped, the wall treated with mold-retardant paper, and redone. It's not a permanent fix, but it should last a year or two, which is how long we intend to stay. I'll just be vigilant and make sure to keep the furniture away from the offending wall (I hadn't known this, hence the newly-discovered problem) and move it every week to give it a light misting with the anti-mold spray. I also got a dehumidifier today, and will keep the windows open a teeny bit, to allow a bit of air to circulate and keep the windows from dripping water from condensation. I'll just keep the ondol cranked up full time and a space heater on when we're home, so the dog doesn't get too cold. It'll be an expensive winter, when it comes to the electric bill, but whatever. The apartment is nice otherwise. If I didn't love where I live, I'd just move, but many of my older Korean friends told me that this is going to be a problem nearly everywhere, so just deal with it and not to waste money on moving. Oh well...

[Cacille]

Depends on the town you live in, Lazio. Many of the apartment buildings in my town are drywall walls. Sure, concrete is under that, but the mold is on the drywall or wallpaper or something. Also, do you happen to have bare-concrete walls in your apartment? Standard, grey, block or poured concrete? Doubtful. You have something over it. And THAT is what has the mold on it, not the concrete.

Now, if mold is on bare concrete walls, see procedure for non-drywall walls. Bleach and water, scrub, let dry. Bleach and water again, let dry.
Only change is that I recommend finding a primer and priming the concrete before painting it. However, I will specify right not that I have NOT seen primer here yet, just paint. I haven't exactly walked into a paint shop though so they might have it.

(For those of you who say "well if you haven't been in a paint shop, how do you know what Korea has?" my answer: Cause I can tell the smell of paint in a being-painted shop from 30 feet away. I've seen close to 10 shops being painted now, and one apartment building. I saw that they had the same tools and materials that I used back home.)

[timhorton]

I have lived in numerous types (house, officetel, one-room, small apt, big modern apt) and they all have concrete walls. When done properly, the paper is not placed directly on the concrete. There is a thicker barrier type paper between the concrete and outer paper. It has to be treated NOT torn down. I'd say treat the area with bleach, dry, then paint over the area, cover with new paper.

[Weigookin74]

[Cacille]

I AM in Korea, weigooken74. In fact, I'm sitting right in front of my computer which backs up a plastered wall in an OLDER 5-apartment home. Last weekend I was in a NEWER apartment building with plastered walls all over the place. Another two teachers live in another OLDER building with drywall walls.
Just two weeks ago in the city of Daegu, I passed two places being constructed which were either drywall or newly plastered walls.
Two shops are being reconstructed down the street from me, and I know one was painted cause I could see, and smell it. Therefore it had to have some sort of paintable surface - once again, plaster or drywall or a few exceptions such as paneling or properly sanded/primed wood.
Perhaps it is a difference in our towns, or city vs town. Regardless, I am giving advice from 1. My experiences from being trained by professionals and doing the job for over 5 years and 2. What I've seen in Korea so far.

I agree that the moisture in Korea is a problem and that the construction can cause issues. However what I've recommended being done so far is ways to fix the issue so that way mold cannot continue to grow, and if it does, it can be easily cleaned off.

And sorry if I've misunderstood your post or something, I just wanna make sure it is understood that I do have at least a slight clue as to what is in Korea...given that I've been here 9 months now....and like to go visit the contractor shops in my town from time to time... They really don't know what to make of me, a woman who likes tools and likes to look at home improvement stuff.

[fustiancorduroy]

...

[Cacille]

Some people are getting hung up on one word of mine: Drywall.
Let me mention that I've been mentioning MANY types of wallboard here and differing ways to take care of problems regardless of what people have. Like when I said "either drywall or newly plastered walls". Newly plastered walls can have concrete under them. Mine are like that. Drywall does exist in Korea. So does wood paneling (I have three restaurants within 3 blocks completely covered with the stuff). What harm is there in me mentioning all the different types so that one day in the future when people are trying to find solutions, they have all the options available.


By the way, I even forgot one. Tile.
Tile is supremely easy to clean mold off of if it is sealed tile, but the grout is a different story - it is almost never sealed. Just do the same for every other type of thing, but watch out, bleach CAN stain the color in the grout (even white grout). Best to not let bleach water dry on that, just wash, scrub, rinse.
If you have unsealed tile that is terribly dirty, heaven help you. If you find a solution to clean it real well, let me know what you used, will you? I have such dirty tile in my front entryway, I can't stand it.