Mold is everywhere-tiny spores float in the air indoors and out. Mold is a fact of life, but too much exposure can wreak havoc on your immune system. Even a small mold outbreak can spew millions of tiny mold spores throughout your home. As a homeowner you need to identify and address whether you have a mold issue.
1. Visual: Growing colonies of mold can be seen in many instances. Most people are familiar with mold growth on cheese and bread or those "science projects" inside of tupperware containers, that unknowingly moved to the back of the fridge. This mold is usually green or black and furry. Most of these molds can be destroyed by household cleaners.
2. Smell: Molds detected by smell usually lurk in basements or crawl space. Common household molds have a "musty" or "earthy" smell. If you have ever hiked in the woods, you may have smelled the musty odor of organic materials decaying on the forest floor. On these occasions your basement may need to be professionally "dried-out".
3. Excessive outbreak: Although most active mold colonies appear greenish to black (typical of mold growing on bathroom tile grout), the visual appearance of mold colonies growing behind dry-wall takes on very different characteristics. These large mold outbreaks typically result in pinkish to yellowish staining of the wall. These colors are "red flags" because they indicate serious, potentially dangerous moisture accumulations within the gypsum board. At this point you need to call a professional to assess the damage. It may have been caused by a weather event which compromised your roof,
a leaky pipe or even an overspill in a bathtub.
4. Mold Allergy symptoms: There are times that you may not see or smell mold in your home but, are suffering from mold issues anyway, because you upper-respiratory system is going "haywire". Here is a list of the most common mold allergen symptoms: sneezing, runny nose, coughing, post-nasal drip, itching and watery eyes, itchy throat and nose, dark circles under eyes, nose rubbing, swollen and crusty eyes. Sometimes long term or excessive exposure to mold and mildew can lead to more serious issues like Asthma, or worse, lung inflammation Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis with long-term, lasting lung damage.
Once you have determined excessive and/or dangerous mold is present in your home, you will require the assistance of a professional. A mold remediation company is equipped with pressure measurement, and other diagnostic equipment to determine the source(s) of the moisture causing the problem. When choosing a local mold-remediation company and/or home restoration company--you will need to ask specific questions to determine if they are an experienced, legitimate business.
Four questions you need to ask before you hire a mold restoration company:
1. Are your mold techs IICRC certified?
2. How long has your company been doing mold remediation (you want a company who has had a minimum of two years experience-obviously the more experience, the more ongoing training)
3. Do your techs receive on-going yearly training such as IOT (Interactive Occupational Training)? Is the company "up" on the latest technologies-such as cryokentics-dry ice blasting and other forefront mold removal techniques?
4. Do they give free in-home estimates and assessments to determine if there is indeed a mold problem?
No comments:
Post a Comment