Be Careful Where You Use Wall
Wall-to-wall carpeting has been used by many homeowners to enhance the overall look of their living space. However, while it is an affordable flooring option and makes your home cozier, it can aggravate allergies and cause more serious respiratory diseases.
As weve mentioned, your carpet is a breeding ground for mold and mildew. It is also vulnerable to stains, moisture and dampness, and the accumulation of dust, bugs, dirt, and bacteria.
This is why you should make sure not to place carpets all over your home. Avoid carpeting in areas prone to high moisture like your kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room. Also, experts suggest avoiding putting carpets in rooms used by people with asthma as they may exacerbate the condition.
First What Causes Black Mold
Before learning how to get rid of black mold, it is necessary to understand why it appears on your fabrics. Basically, mold could grow on almost all surfaces or substances in your home, as long as moisture exists. In addition, some other important factors for the growth of black mold include nutrients, light, and temperature.
Since carpets fabric has the ability to keep moisture like a sponge, its common for bacteria to exist. Another reason is the buildup of dust in high-traffic areas, which provides mold with a sufficient amount of nutrients to exist and grow.
Create A Bleach Mixture
If the black mold growth in your home is small enough for you to treat alone, a simple mixture of bleach and water can help. Add one cup of bleach to one gallon of water and apply it to the moldy spots. You can also find commercial black mold removal products.
Soak a paper towel in the cleaner and press it over the mold growth to dampen the area. Then start scrubbing. Avoid spraying moldy areas, since the droplets will collide with the mold spores and launch them throughout the room, making them easier to breathe in and harder to eradicate.
Be sure to dry the area thoroughly when youre done.
Do NOT mix bleach with ammonia. This combination can create toxic fumes that are far more dangerous than any mold youre trying to clean.
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What To Do If You Find Mold
It’s pretty easy to determine if you’ve got a mold problem in your home, because you will usually see or smell it. There’s generally no need to do any kind of testing or sampling, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. And you typically don’t need to hire someone to remove it, either, unless you’ve got a significant area covered in mold say, larger than 10 square feet . For typical infestations, here’s what to do.
How To Stop Mold In Carpet From Water Damage
Remove The Water Right Away The first and most important step to stop mold in carpet from water damage is to remove the excess water from the carpet immediately. Using a wet-dry vacuum will help you effectively remove water from the area.
What to use to remove mold and mildew from home?
Mold and mildew is a common side effect of water damage that will cause a musty odor to fill your home. Use undiluted white vinegar to kill the mold and remove the odor.
How do you get rid of mold in a holding tank?
Keep air flowing by running fans and opening windows. Turn on a dehumidifier to extract the moisture faster. Be sure to check the holding tank, because it will fill with water and need to be emptied. This water will also contain mold spores. You will not want to leave it sitting for long.
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Call A Professional Mold Remediation Specialist
Carpet cleaning companies will tell you that they can clean your carpets remove mold without taking up the carpets, but they really cant. You see, mold grows inside of its food sources. Since mold grows inside the food source , you have to remove the affected carpet, pads, wood, drywall, etc. Only after you remove the affected materials and thoroughly clean the area will the mold be truly gone or remediated. The moisture also has to be gone in order to fix the problem. If moisture is reintroduced after cleaning, the mold can come back.
Black Mold Removal And Cleaning
Mold remediation in stores, offices, or schools is best left to professionals. This also applies to household mold exceeding 10 square feet.
The contractors you choose should have insurance and licenses from organizations like the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification .
Homeowners can handle cleaning about 10 square feet of black mold on their own.3 If the patch is small enough, a combination of bleach, water, scrubbing, and ventilation should do the trick.
Before treating mold on your own, prioritize ventilation and protective gear.
Removing black mold is a tough and dirty job. If you or anyone in your family is sensitive to mold allergies, has respiratory or immune issues, trust the professionals.
Find a contractor in your area to get started.
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How To Test For Mold In Carpets
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Mold grows abundantly in areas where humidity is high. Plumbing leaks that deposit small amounts of water on or under carpet provide a fertile growing medium for mold and mildew. Mold and mildew are unsightly but even more importantly are dangerous to your health. The spores can become airborne which makes them easy to breathe they can cause allergic reactions or even trigger asthma attacks. Other molds simply settle on surfaces and grow in colonies. Determining whether there is mold in carpet is fairly easy.
The Best Black Mold Carpet Cleaners
If you are looking for a cleaner that can handle black mold, then here are a few consider.
1. Sunny & Honey Carpet Miracle This option will clean and deodorize the rug and its pet friendly too.
2. Zep Clear Shell This cleaner actually destroys the moldy issue and also prevents and inhibits it in the future creating a shell over and under the flooring. Plus, its designed for textiles specifically.
3. McCulloch MC1275 This is a professional quality steam cleaner and it can remove all types of germs and bacteria including the issue we are discussing. In addition, it will get under the flooring for a deep clean.
4. PurSteam Worlds Best Steamer This is an excellent option if you need to spot clean as it is a handheld steamer that can remove the problem and still get steam under the flooring for a deeper clean. The handheld style makes it easy to carry too.
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Testing For Black Mold
The most common areas include basements, crawlspaces, bathrooms, and kitchens. Sight and smell can be a good indication of whether or not you have a black mold problem.
Of course, the most obvious indication is if you see black.
The best option and safest option in Dr. Sponaugles opinion is to call a professional mold testing company that will take samples of the air quality in your home. Theyll be able to identify what type of mold you have and then recommend the next steps. Its better to be safe and find out if you have no mold than to live unknowingly in a black mold-infested home before its too late.
How Can You Tell If You Have Mold Under Your Floor
When you suspect you might have mold, you may be wondering how you can tell. There are a few ways you can tell, and we will be going over them in bullet points:
- Odor smell: If you have mold under your hardwood floor or tile, you can experience a musty odor throughout your home. This is due to the mold itself releasing gasses that can smell quite unpleasant. Many homeowners have described this smell to be earthly, dirty socks, rotten wood, or meaty.
- Visible water stains: A big give away that you indeed do have mold under them. Mildew is caused by liquids that sit for too long before cleaning and can cause your floors to have a spongy texture when you walk over these spots.
- Carefully pulling up the planks: The most prominent way of knowing that you have mold growing under your flooring is to carefully pull up the hardwood planks or tile that you suspect to have mold underneath. Pulling the planks can be done by yourself, or you can call specific cleaners in your area to come out and check for you.
- Get a mold test detector: They can help identify the mold you have and how many mold spores you have in the air.
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Dry The Water Damaged Area And Stop Any Leaks
In general, mold cannot grow without a moisture source present. Therefore, the pro you hire should take the time to find the root source in your property using a moisture meter like the one found here. Once a moisture source is detected, it will need to be properly shut off to prevent the mold from coming back.
Fans and Dehumidifiers
Once a moisture source is taken care of, it is time for your professional to dry the water damage that is present. They do this by using fans and dehumidifiers to dry the area to an ideal level of moisture.
Where Does Microsoiling Come From
As mentioned, every structure has some degree and type of microsoiling. The most common types of microsoiling are caused by carbon deposits from:
- Burning candles
- Burning logs in a traditional fireplace
- Vehicle exhaust from outside air introduced to indoor air
- Any type of flame combustion
These microsoils mix with the indoor air and become pressurized and depressurized. This now-contaminated air always seeks equilibrium, meaning it seeks to find the path of least resistance, which is oftentimes right there where the carpet meets the baseboard. As the air travels across the carpet at the baseboard, the microsoiling is deposited on the carpet fibers which builds up and becomes more noticeable over time.
In other words filtration soiling doesnt just happen overnight. It slowly accumulates and causes gray and then black lines to occur on the carpet at the edge of the baseboard.
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How Dirty Carpets Affect Your Health
In 1980, the World Health Organization coined the term Sick Building Syndrome to refer to the unhealthy environmental factors in the workplace that undoubtedly affect the health of employees.
According to Dr. Berry Michael, Deputy Director of the Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office, soiled and filthy carpets are one of the main perpetrators of SBS, contributing to indoor air pollution and threatening the health of workers.
Rugs and carpets trap allergens and are home to microorganisms that can release harmful fumes into the air you breathe. They accumulate bacteria colonies, chemical irritants, and microorganisms like mold that can cause both short-term and long-term health effects.
Once these pathogens are inhaled, they can lead to the development of the following health issues:
Cleaning The Mold Yourself
We looked at the prices, and you may be thinking, that is just too expensive for me! If you wish to remove mold from wood yourself, there are many tools you need before starting, so make sure you have the following:
- Gloves
- Dehumidifier
STEP 1: Clothes & Shoes
The first thing you should do is place your clean pair of shoes outside of the room you will be cleaning. Having clean clothes prevents mold particles from sticking to your boots while moving furniture and walking in and out of the infested room or area. Make sure you have the extra pair of clothing to protect your home further as well.
STEP 2: Remove Furniture From The Room
Next is to remove any furnishings that have come in contact with the mold. Items such as rugs, throw pillows, or maybe even some small side tables or cabinets. You want to take these items and seal them into garbage bags any way you can and immediately remove them from your resilience.
You should throw away items that can be easily replaced unless they were of importance to you. Other things like clothes and rugs should be placed outside in the sun until you finish cleaning your residence.
STEP 3: Sealing The Room
Now you need to seal the room off from the rest of your house. Do this by hanging a sheet of plastic or tarp over the entrance and securing it with duct tape or hammer and nails.
STEP 4: Pull Off Trimming & Floor Boards
Start at the edge of the room and work your way towards the opposite corner.
STEP 5: Remove The Mold
STEP 6: Vacuuming
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Can Mold Grow Under Vinyl Flooring
Vinyl flooring is trendy, so this is an excellent question to ask. As many homeowners might already know, vinyl plank floors are incredibly durable, and they can easily withstand temperature and water. However, one of the main questions that remain is if mold can grow UNDER the planks.
The tricky thing about mold is that it can pretty much grow anywhere that has the right conditions. As for vinyl flooring, although it is resistant to moisture, mold can still grow around the edges where the floor meets the wall or in between the cracks if liquids are allowed to stagnate and sit for long periods before cleaning. Mildew can also happen if there are liquids on the concrete underneath the vinyl when it is installed.
If you believe you have mold under or around your vinyl floors, look for black growth coming from the edges of the planks, as well as discoloration or bubbling of the material. It would be best if you also inspected for water stains or other signs of water damage frequently, especially around high-humid areas in your home, like around the toilet or sinks in the kitchen or bathroom.
How Does Professional Mold Remediation Work
So what do you do if youre dealing with more than just the average spot of shower mold?
For more serious mold problems, the mold removal process needs to be thorough and intensive to get rid of the infestation for good. Usually the process can be broken down into 5 distinct steps that will remove the indoor mold from your home entirely.
Mold remediation specialists understand how mold spreads and where it grows. They know what steps to take to stop the mold from returning. When you hire a professional, this is usually how it will go:
Inspection
Many mold remediation companies will offer free visual inspections to help identify if you have a mold problem and the extent of it. This may take some time. Mold likes to grow out of sight and in dark areas, so it usually takes serious effort to find it all. This is also the time that any sustained water damage or moisture issues can be addressed and fixed.
Containment
Containing the mold is an especially important step. The contaminated areas will need to be contained to stop any chance of it spreading. Thats because mold reproduces by releasing airborne spores that travel through your home quickly and easily. Theres no point in trying to kill mold in one area only to find that it sprouts up again in another, unless you want to play a real life game of Whack-A-Mold.
Removal
Cleaning the Air
Lab Testing and Results
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What Is Black Mold Made Of
To put itsimply, black mold is a living organism that is microscopic. Onemold spore is so small that it is not visible to the naked eye, which means that it may be in your home and you won’t even know it. If you can visibly see that there is amold problem, then mold has probably been present for quite awhilebecause it has grown and spread to an area large enough to be visible.
Mold usually grows on porous types of materials such as drywall, wood, carpet, and fabrics. Mold must have the right types of conditions to grow. Usually, some type of water damage needed to occur and the area stayed wet for a long enough period of time . People who live in humid environments are more likely to have a mold problem, because mold thrives in more humid areas.
How Do You Choose A Toxic Black Mold Removal Company
Youre ready to get some professional help but how do you know who to hire? Have you ever had mold removed from your home or office? Do you know what to ask mold removal companies? What do they really do?
As a mold removal company, we know what you should expect and what the industry standards should be. Some of our competitors offer free mold inspections. Which basically means that the inspector shows up and hands over a price to fix a symptom, without truly knowing the nature of the problem. The primary reason that we charge for our mold inspections is the time and resources that go into each one.
If you think you have a mold problem, youre far better off with a thorough inspection like ours. Especially if you live outside our service area, check out our post: How to Choose the Best Black Mold Removal Company. We let you know what you should expect and what the industry standards should be. If the company you interview doesnt know the answer to the questions in our article, you dont want to hire them!
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