How Do You Clean Mold on the Ceiling?

I agree with the other posts except if that drywall, or plaster, is still wet you may not be successful.

My dad would keep calling me over to fix his ceiling and until we fixed the leak it kept bleeding through and at one point the drywall gave out.

I hope it works just be careful so you don't end up with a mess.

We first sprayed Bleach on it. Once it was dry, we used "Killz"(Primer) and then painted it.

this is one of the times when bleach is your friend. bleach the spot and give 'er the once over with a mold-resistent primer.
but then of course immediately get the entire attic and ceilings throughout the house checked and treated.
mold. meh.
khairete
S.

I wouldn't try to fix it until the leak itself is fixed.

The water will still come in and what if it leaks while your guests are there?

The area needs to be completely dry after spraying some bleach or chlorine (be careful with either of these) and then you can prime and paint it.

If it has been leaking like this for sometime you should replace the drywall in that area and make sure there is no mold in the attic or space above it.

What Laurie said. You can get mildew-resistant stuff put in your paint, as well. It works, and is especially good for bathrooms and places where there is a lot of moisture.

Clean it with bleach water or mold killer. Then let it dry. Seal it with Kilz, a small can will make a cover up area. Then paint the ceiling the matching color.

When you get the ceiling repaired you really need to go inside the ceiling and tear out the insulation and sheet rock and even have a professional replace some wood if needed. Mold grows and every time the roof is hot or moisture gets in the attic you will feed the mold and it will grow.

So you must go in and remove it.

We had a similar problem. After checking that there wasn't a leak (thankfully) and that it hadn't spread, we did a 50/50 of bleach and water and let it dry completely.

Then we did two coats of Kilz (completely dry in between coats) and finally a coat of ceiling paint.

That was almost three years again and the mold has not bled through or returned. (We are also much more concious about keeping the vent fan going and air circulating while we are showering. It helps!)

Good luck! Have fun with your guests!

If you're concerned about people's health, please don't use bleach! It's far worse for you (while applying) and for them (in the air) than the mold is, gross as the mold may be. Chlorine is horrible for you and for the environment when it goes down the drain when you dump the cleaning solution or use it in a washing machine. The "clean smell" the commercials tell you about is not clean at all.

In the very VERY short run, you can pain Kilz over it and then touch up with regular ceiling paint if you have the can for the original paint job.

However, over time, the mold will bleed through the Kilz especially since it's really a big problem from above. I would do this repair just until your guests leave. If it's really hot in the attic, you may be able to do some of the work in the fall when things cool down a little. Or, the contractor can come on a cloudy day, early in the morning before the heat hits.

Since the water has come through from the attic, the only option long term is to do mold removal from above, which probably means replacing that section of the ceiling. When you have the roof fixed to seal the leak, the contractor should inspect the insulation (which probably got soaked as well) and the joists/studs in that corner. That is, the wood that the ceiling his sitting on (sheetrock or whatever is used there) also got wet, and the water probably ran along the beams/joists and the mold is in the part you can't see. In the heat of the summer, that mold is going to grow. You may not have to replace that much of it, and insulation overall is not terribly expensive if you only have to do a small section, but don't mess around with it. The contractor should also inspect the rest of the space above the bedroom (attic walls, etc.).

do NOT use bleach. period. even if you use it the mold will eventually return, i say this from experience. (basement ceiling and walls, they sprayed the whole thing with bleach and 2 years later the mold came back, i even got a few mushrooms growing after the bleach spray)
Concrobium, mold control. it eliminates, kills and prevents its return. we used it in the attic 3 years ago and no mold came back. (but this product does not work if you have bleached the surface so please don't use bleach.)
the concrobium can be found at Lowes and menards

Vinegar has always been my go-to solution for mold. After you get rid of that, you need to paint with a stain covering primer like Zinsser or Kilz and then regular paint. If you skip the primer, the spot will still show.

This isn't a solution to the mold problem and is just temporary, but we had similar issue in a flat we lived in. The landlord just used a mildew remover (strong) product for bathrooms. Of course the mold came back and it didn't fix anything, but it did look better ... (we moved shortly afterwards).

Gamma's advice is bang on - about checking that mold hasn't spread. It can be nasty but I am guessing you'll be checking into all that when you do your bigger fix. Good plan :)

Good luck!