Where kitchen mold hides
Short answer: the most common kitchen mold spots are inside the sink base cabinet, under and behind the dishwasher, behind the refrigerator where the ice maker line runs, and under flooring near these appliances.
- Sink base cabinet: loose drain slip nuts, a failing garbage disposal or worn supply lines
- Dishwasher: a leaking door gasket, drain hose or supply connection soaking the subfloor
- Refrigerator: ice maker and water dispenser lines that drip behind the unit
- Range hood and walls: cooking moisture with no exhaust to the outdoors
- Exterior walls: condensation behind cabinets on cold walls in winter
Warning signs in the kitchen
- A swollen, stained or soft cabinet floor under the sink
- Musty smell when you open lower cabinets
- Laminate or vinyl flooring that lifts, bubbles or darkens near the dishwasher
- Hardwood cupping in front of the sink or fridge
- Water stains on the ceiling of a room below the kitchen, or mold in the crawl space beneath it
How kitchen mold is removed
Kitchen work often means pulling an appliance or a cabinet to reach the wet area. Our team will typically measure moisture to map the damage, set up containment to protect food areas, remove damaged materials such as the cabinet floor, drywall behind the cabinets or sections of flooring and underlayment, clean and dry the framing and subfloor, and coordinate with you on the plumbing repair. Cabinets that are only lightly affected can sometimes be cleaned and kept; particleboard that has swollen usually has to be replaced.
Kitchen leaks frequently reach the floor system below. In homes over a crawl space, it is worth checking underneath too, which is covered on our crawl space mold removal page.
After the leak: act within a day or two
The EPA advises drying wet materials within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth. If you just discovered a dishwasher or sink leak, shut off the water, remove what you can from the cabinet and call. Fast drying can prevent a small leak from becoming a mold project; our water damage and mold cleanup page explains why. For the bigger picture of how we handle mold cleanup in Caldwell, start on our homepage.
