Mold in Your Home, Office, or Outbuilding

10/30/2019 (Permalink)

All mold needs in a little moisture and a little time. If you didn't catch it in time, we can help!

Mold in Your Home, Office, or Outbuilding

            Yum! Mold! Blue cheese, brie, gorgonzola, and Roquefort are a few cheeses with delicious inlays of edible mold. And when it comes to a fine charcuterie board, these molds are essential.  However, when it comes to your Evergreen, Wheat Ridge, Golden home, office, or she-shed, mold is the last thing you want to see.   

            Any home or business can quickly become infested with mold when water is introduced to the environment.  Things such as roof leaks, basement floods, plumbing leaks, and other things of this nature can spread mold in as little as 48-72 hours! It is so important to mitigate any water in your home or business at first sight so harmful molds cannot grow and thrive. 

            In this blog, we will discuss what mold is, how it can grow in your home, how to prevent mold from growing, what we can do to help in a mold situation, and more.

The Low Down on Mold

            Mold is a general term for fungi that comes in many forms.  There are countless forms of mold, possibly tens of thousands of differing strains, but no one knows for sure the exact count.  It can grow indoors or outdoors and be black, brown, yellow, pink, or green in color. Often it is fuzzy and can smell quite offal.  Moisture is required for mold to grow actively, and when it does, it damages whatever it may be growing on.  That could mean your carpets, floors, walls, furniture, shower, or other materials.  These items with actively growing mold are being structurally damaged by the growth. 

            Not only is mold detrimental to structures, but to your health as well.  For the sensitive group, mold can cause stuffiness, throat and eye irritation, difficulties breathing, coughing, and skin irritations.  People with mold allergies may have worse symptoms, and those with lung diseases or compromised lungs may be the most effected when exposed to mold. 

Where Does Mold Grow in Your Home?

            First off, a small amount of mold in your everyday life is inescapable.  Tiny microscopic mold spores are present everywhere indoor and outdoor.  You are probably breathing in those tiny itty-bitty spores right now.  Getting rid of all of these spores is impossible.  They are a part of our nature.  So, if a company ever claims to remove all mold from the home, that is a fallacy! A good restoration company knows they just need to remediate the big and harmful molds. 

            So, how do you know if you have mold in your home? You will be able to see it! Often, you can smell it as well as mentioned before. However, it may be hiding, so checking the common areas and the not so common areas for mold will help ensure you are spotting it all. 

• The Shower or Tub: continual use of these areas makes them damp majority of the time. The obvious places to look for mold would be the corners of the showers, ceilings, and walls.  The not so obvious places to look would be on shampoo bottles, washcloths, loofas, the shower curtain, and the shower head.
• Sink and Toilet: the wet nature of these areas makes them prone to mold. Surface areas are the obvious places to check for mold.  The not so obvious are the toothbrush caddies, tank of the toilet, all of the pipes, and behind or underneath the sink.
• The kitchen: water, food, grease, etc. all live in the kitchen which means mold can too. Check in, on, and under the kitchen sink, the refrigerator and pantry, microwave and stove. The not so obvious would be the bottom of your trashcans, wooden cutting boards, window sills, and anywhere food may fall through a crack.
• The Bedroom: ceilings, walls, and window sills, may be the more obvious areas for this room. The not so obvious would be heating and cooling systems and on your mattress!
• Other Places: chimneys and fireplaces, indoor plants, couches, curtains, upholstery, and anywhere where moisture may have been.

Preventing Mold Growth

• Keep humidity to a minimum. It is recommended to keep them no greater than 50% at all times. However, changes in moisture levels and temperatures change throughout the day, so the levels will need to be checked and managed throughout. 

• Ventilate!Makes sure your home and each room has enough ventilation so moisture doesn’t stay. Use exhaust fans and be sure that your dryer is vented outside of your home.

• Fix leaks. Look for leaking on your roof, walls, or plumbing systems.  Without water, mold cannot grow.

• Clean up and dry out homeusing your local SERVPRO franchise after water damage (within 24-48 hours).

• Add mold inhibitorsto paints before painting.

• Remove or replace any carpets or upholstery that have been soakedand cannot be dried in time. Also consider not using carpets in areas with a lot of moisture such as bathrooms. 

What to do When You Have Mold

• Stay out of the affected area.
• Turn off HVAC and fans.
• Call SERVPRO of Golden/ Wheat Ridge/ Evergreen

What Not to do When You Have Mold

• Do not touch or disturb the mold.
• Do not blow air on any surface that contains mold.
• Do not dry the area yourself.
• Do not bleach or disinfect the mold.

SERVPRO of Golden/ Wheat Ridge/ Evergreen Remediation Service

            Our team at SERVPRO of Golden/ Wheat Ridge/ Evergreen has the skills, training, experience, and specialized equipment needed for mold mitigation and remediation. Our techniques are approved by the IICRC (Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification).              

                        Direct Spraying:

                                    We use hand pumps or power sprayers to apply specialized chemicals and disinfectants to the affected areas in your Golden/ Wheat Ridge/ Evergreen, or surrounding homes. This method will wet the area, so we are sure to only use this method on surfaces that cannot be discolored.

                        Wet Fogging:

                                    ULV (ultra low volume) foggers are used to disperse disinfectants and deodorizers to the area.  These foggers create tiny particles that can penetrate into just about anything.  However, this creates additional moisture, so the technicians at your home, office, or she-shed, will remove all furniture and other items that could be damaged by this method. If there are some items that cannot be removed, drapes will be placed over them for protection.

                        Dry Fogging:

                                    This technique, also called thermal fogging, is used when there is mold, but little to no water damage.  This uses solvent based cleaners and deodorants that are heated and pushed through a vaporizer. This process changes the particles into so they are small enough to penetrate almost any surface.  Since there is no moisture added, this is the preferred method we use whenever it is possible. 

                        Ventilation and Air Scrubbing:

                                    As the different methods of cleaning are underway, the rooms and other affected areas must be ventilated.  Our team has high velocity exhaust fans, called box fans, that blow out mold particles.  This is done so that the mold particles that release in the cleaning process are captured and removed. This reduces the amount of time the area needs to be vacant and allows occupants into their homes quicker.

                                    Not only do the walls, ceilings, personal items, or whatever was affected need to be cleaned, but the air does too!  HEPA (high-efficiency particle air) filters are used to aid in the removal of mold spores and its odor from the air.  They work extremely well in the removal of the dirty air and filtering back clean air to the room. 

7 easy steps

            Each mold situation is unique and will require its own specific steps in the remediation process. However, we 7 simple steps for a typical mold damage job.  Here it is below so you may better understand what will take place and when.

• Step 1: Emergency Contact (303) 973-4664
• Step 2: Inspection and Mold Damage Assessment
• Step 3: Mold Containment
• Step 4: Air Filtration
• Step 5: Removing Mold and Mold-Infested Materials
• Step 6: Cleaning Contents and Belongings
• Step 7: Restoration

Why Choose SERVPRO of Golden/ Wheat Ridge/ Evergreen

            SERVPRO is an industry leader in fire restoration. We use advanced equipment and techniques to remediate the damage quickly and efficiently. We are a locally owned and operated family business, so customer care is our number one goal.  We live where we serve!  Heck, we might even be your neighbor. 

            We provide extensive training to our employees and are highly specialized in fire damage restoration putting great emphasis on monitoring and documenting the entire process until completion.

            We are a preferred vendor to many national and local insurance companies making the claims process easy and painless for the homeowner.

            Please give us a call for any of your home restoration needs! (303) 279-8055

Or visit our website at  https://www.SERVPROgoldenwheatridgeevergreen.com