My parents use their basement for the kitchen and living room. Their main bathroom is also in the basement and I think all the black stuff is mold. The shower curtain is covered in splotches and when I tell my mom she should clean it, she just brushes it off and says “it just comes back anyway”. When I use that bathroom the toilet paper always felt slightly moist.

My dad has watery eyes and itchy skin which I think is caused by the mold. He also has nasal congestion and coughs but he’s a smoker so I’m not sure if it’s because of that or the mold (or both).

The shower wall tiles also have a crack so it’s leaking moisture to the other side of the wall and my mom tells me the drywall and wood on the other side might be getting wet. It does smell funky and I saw some black substance on the wooden trim. (The house is quite old btw, built in the 1920s and the last time it was renovated was probably in the 80s before my parents bought the house in the 90s.) 

Only the bathroom has the mold - the rest of the basement (kitchen and living) looks fine.

My parents have a stubborn mindset so they’ve been pretty much ignoring it and using the bathroom as usual. 

But enough is enough and my sister and I need to do something about it for our parents’ health. We considered gutting the whole bathroom and building it from scratch. Contracting is way too expensive so we’re gonna do it ourselves.

The questions I have are:

1. I’m not crazy - this is mold right?

2. Is there anything we should do in the meantime?

3. Is it salvageable? (E.g. cleaning tips)

4. Any tips or advice on going about gutting the moldy bathroom?

Ugh - I’m just frustrated at my parents’ stubbornness and wondering if my dad’s health issues have been because of this. Would like to hear your thoughts.

I keep telling my parents this is bad. But they won’t listen.