Mildew under caulk

[Melisse Fowler]

Normal mildew I can handle with a bottle of diluted bleach. However this mildew is underneath the caulk at the edges of my tub. Are there any suggestions as to how I should treat this. Can I kill it without having to remove present grout? The house is on a slab with a crawl space and there is direct outside air and moisture in contact with the tub edges. Maybe some kind of sealer? I want to avoid crawling under the house. Please, advise.

[JT]

Melisse, the question is where is the moisture coming
from. If it is from the tub due to poorly applied or
deteriorated caulk, then killing the mold, drying
out the area, and recaulking (use a caulk with a
mildewcide) should work. If, on the other hand, the
moisture is comming from the crawlspace, you will
have to solve that problem. Techniques for this are
similar maintaining a dry basement (check out article
in last issue of Fine Homebuilding (Aug?)) except
that the additional mesaure of sealing the crawl-
space ground with poly (Tu-Tuf is best) may be
undertaken.
When the moisture is gone so will the mold and
mildew, not before. Good luck.

[Author]

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