DIY mold remediation?

[Samantha Hiscock]

I bought a nasty little duplex this week with a ton of potential, and a ton of mold in the basement. The property has been flooded and not properly dealt with. At this point, the power has been off for over a year and no attempts to manage the moisture (even with a regular dehumidifier) have taken place in atleast 3 years. There is no standing water in the basement right now. I called a mold remediation company to come do an estimate, 11k. It seems outrageous. My husband did some googling and has decided that he wants to buy an abrasive blaster and soda blast the basement. Apparently baking soda kills the mold and cleans the stains. The YouTube videos make it look insanely easy. Obviously we need to deal with the moisture first and have rented a commercial dehumidifier to remove the excess moisture prior to starting any work. 

Does anyone have any experience with soda blasting mold? Is my husband completely crazy? Will this work or are we wasting time and money? 

[Ron Flatt]

I have not had a problem in basements, (we do not have many here in Central Texas).  However Bathrooms are notorious for having problems with mold.  

Yes I do my own remediation.  I remove all sheet rock, in the room.  I treat wood behind drywall with (do not have name) product from either Home Depot or Lowe's.  I replace any insulation and replace drywall with Green Rock.  I make sure all water leaks, (fresh and drain water).  I put a vent fan that automatically comes on when the light is on.  

I have one unit that had a reoccurence after this.  I visited the duplex late one evening to ask if I could check out the problem.  I went to the bathroom, and it was steam filled.  They were fixing to take a shower, but was letting the shower run on full hot to warm up bathroom.  BINGO- I found the problem.  I informed renter he would need to run a dehumidifier to stop the mold.  I gave him some cleaner and told him, I would check back in 3 months to see if it was stopped.  I came back, I do not know if he is using the dehumidifier but the mold was gone, I did send in Maintenance man to repaint around top of shower.