Hi! As a recent homeowner I've been struggling to find some basic info on DIY stuff. I have some questions about mold and insulation in my basement.

Here are essentially the worst two mold areas:

https://preview.redd.it/aq829xeh1eyg1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f462899994921df96ecda4c2413af463e5b6a783

https://preview.redd.it/5ghwkweh1eyg1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51156039ca9cf6c8c9ead07cf09f2daa5a496afc

A few other rafters are similar to the above.

My questions are:

How serious is this mold, and can I DIY a remediation? Our house inspector recommended some companies that quoted us at thousands. This seems like a pretty manageable situation though, and our inspector even hinted that I could DIY the rafters by scraping them with a wire brush and sucking that up with a vacuum. Does that sound like the right approach?

How much will this insulation actually do, and can I dispose of it in my regular trash? It is below what used to be the main bedroom, but we now use it as an office.…