Calculate The Extent Of The Mold Contamination
Mold may not always grow in one area, so you need to figure out how much contamination you’re really looking at. Calculating the extent of the contamination will impact how you approach mold removal and clean up. The goal of mold removal is to clean up mold growing within the home, and to avoid exposing homeowners to large amounts of mold.
The New York City Department of Health has developed guidelines for cleaning up mold contamination. These guidelines are widely used in the construction industry and recommend six levels of mold removal based on the square footage of the mold and whether or not the mold is located within the home’s HVAC system. Following the NYC DOH’s guidelines, available online, calculate the remediation level needed.
Keep Air Flowing In Your Bathroom
If your moldy area is in the bathroom, it might be a matter of improper air ventilation. Showers create a lot of steam which turns into lingering moisture if the air isnt circulated properly.
Make sure you run the fan during a shower and open the window if possible. If that still isnt enough, you might have to keep the door cracked during the shower.
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How Ungerman Can Help You Mitigate Mold Damage
UNGERMAN is a full-service, IICRC Certified property restoration company that can assess and repair your property damage. Our vast experience will help determine the source of the mold damage and apply the proper solutions to restore your property. We offer our customers a helping hand and the best mitigation methods available with over 40 years of experience.If you have mold, we have the knowledge, experience, and specialized equipment to solve the problem. We conduct our mold remediation services, quickly, efficiently, and thoroughly.
When you have an emergency, we are available to you 24/7/365. We assign a Project Manager at the beginning and they will be your main point of contact throughout the project. In addition, if your situation involves an insurance claim, we work directly for you with your insurance company on your claim. This is what we do every day, whereas this may be the first time you have ever filed a claim.
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Once In The Home Heres What To Expect From A Professional Worth Their Salt:
- Proper safety gear should be worn when dealing with mold. A high quality, high filtration face mask is a must, as are vinyl or neoprene gloves. A full protective suit is recommended when using harsh chemicals and for larger mold remediation projects.
- Mold professionals seal off the work area, often using plastic sheeting, so that mold spores do not become dispersed throughout the home.
- Mold professionals use expensive, professional equipment such as HEPA air scrubbers, HEPA vacuums, commercial-strength dehumidifiers, etc. Regular handymen wont have that stuff.
- After mold is physically removed from its source, the air should be cleaned of airborne mold spores using HEPA air scrubbers and air exchange
- When vacuuming and using air scrubbers for mold remediation, the filters used should be HEPA . Only HEPA filters are designed to capture particles as small as mold spores. Regular filters will not work, and could make the problem worse.
- Mold professionals usually discard moldy porous building materials such as drywall, insulation and baseboards. These materials are relatively inexpensive to replace and difficult to impossible to restore to their previous uncontaminated condition.
- Mold professionals will use an antimicrobial chemical to clean any remaining mold and mold stains after demo.
- Mold professionals often use a sealer or encapsulant to make the treated areas more resistant to water damage and mold, and also to help with odor control.
How Can I Remove Mold
Soap and detergents can remove mold stains but do not actually kill mold, and any mold that is left behind can quickly regrow.
Regular cleaning with a bleach-based products when used as directed can effectively kill mold as well as mildew. You should clean visible mold on nonporous surfaces with an EPA-registered bleach-based product.
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What To Expect From A Mold Remediation: Before During And After
As industry leaders, it is our mission to ensure that our customers are as educated and informed as they want to be about mold-related issues, and that they can find trustworthy information here on our site.
Weve created this Mold Resource page to help customers understand the process and methodologies of our mold assessment and remediation processes, as well as to connect with other relevant resources that we have developed.
What You Need To Know Before Hiring A Mold Remediation Company
By Jennifer First published: . This post may contain affiliate links.
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Chances are you have found this article because you have a mold situation and need to know what to do. Should you hire a mold remediation company or should you attempt to DIY the area in question? If you do hire a company how do you know what to look for?
Lets take a look at mold remediation in general and then discuss where you go from there.
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What Can I Do To Prevent Mold
Mold prevention is something that must be done every day. The most important step is keeping humidity levels low within the home, especially during hot, humid summer days. Wet areas must also be dried right away, such as bathrooms after taking showers, and improving the ventilation throughout the home.
If you have any toilet, shower, or sink leaks, these must be repaired right away to keep the mold at bay.
Learn About The Role Moisture Plays In Mold Growth
Assessing mold growth involves more than just looking at what’s visibly growing on the walls or in a corner. Mold can be an invisible intruder, growing behind and around what you first see. Such devious behavior requires inquisitive thinking.
First, understand that behind all mold growth is a water or moisture problem. Second, become a master of moisture know where moisture comes from and how it gets into the home. The ultimate goal of these two steps is for warranty representatives to identify a moisture source and use its location to help locate all mold growth, not just what’s immediately visible.
Mold grows by releasing its reproductive cells into the air. Spores are invisible to the naked eye, and mold can spread and grow anywhere in the home as long as moisture and oxygen are present. Common surfaces that harbor mold growth include drywall, insulation, tile, fabrics, and wood.
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Should I Do This Myself
This job may be too difficult or dangerous for you. It may be best to get help from experienced and qualified professionals if you can. Hire a mold inspection or remediation professional affiliated with or certified by the National Environmental Health Association , the American Industrial Hygiene Association , the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification , or American Council for Accredited Certification to inspect, repair, and restore the damaged parts of your home. Your state also may regulate mold remediation.
Sampling for mold is not usually recommended. Understanding the results can be difficult, and no matter what kind of mold is in your home, you need to clean it up and fix the moisture problem.
Failed Air Sampling After A Mold Remediation
Finally, we get to the matter of a failed mold remediation when found in an air test. Sometimes, our clients will be shocked to see that mold spores are more elevated after the remediation than prior. How can that happen? A number of items can come into play. First, an air scrubber or negative air machine should be used during and after the heavy remediation to remove the excess number of spores that will inevitably be tossed into the air. This almost always occurs with the cutting and removal of moldy surfaces on drywall or wood. Air cleaning should be a basic practice for all remediation companies. Sometimes it is not.
Second, if there is an excess level of spores from the air sample, it may be an indication that the air scrubbers did not run for a long enough period of time. Oftentimes, having the scrubbers running for a few more days is all that is needed to properly clean the air. It can be helpful to move them around so that airflow patterns can reach dead zones such as corners.
Finally, when turning off the air scrubbers, the remediation contractor should cover the inlet to prevent any back pressure burping back spores into the area of containment. Since the spores are what we breathe in, they are of paramount importance in being cleaned.
There are differences of opinion on whether air scrubbers or negative air machines should be run during any air sampling. That is a complex issue that well need to cover in a different blog post.
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How To Get Rid Of Mold
Just as there are many types of mold, there are numerous removal methods. The best option for your situation will depend on what type of mold youre encountering, the surface that its on and the extent to which it has spread.
In some cases, it may be necessary to call an expert when it comes to home mold removal. DIY mold removal is only possible depending on the size and impact the mold has made.
If you choose to handle the mold removal yourself, make sure to don adequate protective gear. The CDC recommends that you wear long pants and a long-sleeve shirt, protective gloves and eyewear, waterproof boots and a mask rated at least N95 or more to protect your nose and mouth. Note that while these masks protect you from small particles like mold, they are not adequate if you are encountering any sort of gases, chemical vapors, asbestos or lead.
The Area Gets Quarantined
The professionals will hang up plastic all over the room thats affected. Theyll cover up all the vents, doors, closets anything that would let mold spores escape.
Inside, theyll lay plastic on the carpets and start getting to work.
The workers typically wear suits that look like hazmat suits because these spores are seriously dangerous. They also wear fancy respirators to keep the spores out of their system.
Theyll use a fan to blow most of the air out of the room and building.
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Is Mold Really That Dangerous
Mold exposure can be dangerous to those who are sensitive to inhaling its spores. For others, it can cause allergy-like symptoms.
The degree of danger of mold exposure can change depending on how sensitive an individual is to its spores, how long the person has been exposed, and the extent of the mold infestation of the property.
To limit the chance that exposed individuals will suffer severe and lasting health effects as a result of exposure to mold, it is best to begin mold remediation as soon as growth is suspected.
Different Types Of Mold
Molds come in many different forms in fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are probably tens of thousands of types of molds, if not more. Molds play an important role in breaking down leaves, plants and trees. While many molds are harmless, harmful types in enclosed places can lead to respiratory distress, manifesting itself in symptoms that include stuffy noses and wheezing. The effects will be more intense for those who are allergic to that mold or have asthma. Molds responsible for breaking down natural materials, like wood and leaves, can damage the structure of your home. Everyone has an aversion to that.
Lets take a look at a few different types of mold that you might commonly encounter in various areas of your home.
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Who Can Be Affected By Mold In Their Home
Children: Little ones are still growing and are more susceptible to the toxicity in fungi.
Elderly: As people age, their bodies break down and their immune systems deteriorate, which makes it difficult to fight mold toxicity.
People with compromised immune systems: This could be a result of a disease or condition, or even poor health due to lifestyle choices.
Individuals with existing respiratory conditions, such as allergies or asthma
Pets: Yes, even your family dog could be negatively affected by mold in your house.
What To Do If You Breathe In Mold
Of any problem around the house, mold can be one of the most tedious to deal with. Its stubborn, it spreads easily and, without the right knowledge or professional help, it can be difficult to get rid of. On top of all of this, many homeowners live in perpetual fear of mold due to the effects it may have on their health. Over the years, mold has developed a reputation for being toxic, causing chronic diseases and even causing death in some people.
The fact of the matter is, theres a lot more to mold than you might imagine and a lot of misinformation surrounding it. If youre worried about mold growing in your home and what might happen if you and your loved ones breathe it in, this helpful guide can provide you with insight on what youre dealing with, what steps you should take and how to tell if your exposure to mold has become dangerous.
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Answer: Usually You Do Not
If you can already see it, you usually do NOT need to spend money on pre-testing mold. Plain and simple: you just need to remove it. Since no visible mold growth belongs in a healthy home and all mold should be removed the same way, there is usually no need to identify what types and concentrations of mold you have via testing.
If a so-called mold professional insists that you need to spend hundreds of dollars on pre-testing when mold is already visible, our advice is to be very wary because its often a waste of money.
The only time we recommend pre-testing when there is visible mold is when you need hard proof for a negotiation. For example, if you are buying a house that has some mold, its probably a good idea to get it tested/confirmed so you can negotiate the price down with the seller.
Will You Be Bothered By The Noise
During the remediation process negative air machines can cause considerable noise throughout ones property.
In containment chambers, negative air machines will need to be running almost constantly, as well as dehumidifiers and other professional equipment. This can cause considerable noise throughout the property and can disrupt sleep for some.
It may be possible to turn these machines off at night but maybe not for large cases. Make sure to ask your mold remediation technician before turning them off yourself.
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Mold Remediation Protects Your Family
You want to take care of mold problems as soon as possible as if you wait too long, it might be a very costly process.
Whatever the cost, it is worth the time and effort to protect your family.
Worried about mold in your Orlando, Fl home? Contact Elite Mold Services today to schedule a mold inspection.
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Mold Removal With Bleach
Bleach can kill virtually every species of indoor mold that it comes into contact with, along with its spores, leaving a surface sanitized and resistant to future mold growth.
Unfortunately, however, Unfortunately, however, using bleach is only effective if the mold is growing on non-porous materials such as tiles, bathtubs, glass and countertops. Bleach cannot penetrate into porous materials and so it does not come into contact with mold growing beneath the surface of materials such as wood and drywall. Using bleach on these materials will kill the mold above the surface but the roots within the material will remain and the mold will soon return
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What Do You Need To Know About Mold Remediation
The Process of Mold Remediation Containment and Ventilation. The first step, and arguably the most important, is setting up containment and ventilation. Cleaning and Disinfection. Cleaning and disinfecting is the next step and this is the stage that includes the actual remediation and disposal of infected materials. Fix the Mold Source. Encapsulate the Mold.
Two: Air Out Musty Materials
Once humidity is under control, next youll want to get rid of the embedded musty odors. Just like cigarette smoking can lead to odors getting embedded in porous materials and still be detectable after the smoker is gone, the same can happen with mold even after the moisture issue has been fixed. Here, fresh air is your friend. Have the windows open in the affected space as much as possible. If you have musty contents , spread them out outside on a warm day to help them air out. Carpeting can trap these musty odors as well, and it would be recommended to have it removed in affected areas where youre noticing an odor. If the outdoor air is very humid, then opening windows can create other moisture problems so ventilating the space needs some thought and planning.
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Dirt And Dust Equals A Failed Remediation
Another indication of a failed remediation would be a work area that is dusty or dirty. Mold spores are part of normal dust, so if there is a lot of dust in the area remediated, you can expect to find many spores. Furthermore, certain molds can feed on dust and dirt as a nutrient. We recommend having what we call a White Glove Test. If you can move your finger across a surface in the area of containment and pick up dirt or dust, this would likely be a fail in my view. The plastic sheets that constitute the containment will be taken down soon and the remediation company should not be leaving the client with a dirty space. Clean the work area of these particles using a HEPA vacuum.
