Looking for Mold Removal Methods

Mold can be a serious problem to people's health and often they don’t even realize it! The dangers of mold started to become known, but people seem to have stopped worrying about it. Mold can cause serious medical problems and can be sitting there hiding in your home making you breathe it in.

Getting rid of mold is an absolute must in this day and age. You can get rid of mold on your own, or for major issues you can hire a professional instead. Mold infestations don’t mean you need to tear down your house and start again. Minor issues can be handled fairly reasonably.

Prevention

The key to mold control is prevention. If issues arise, then there’s no choice but to have it removed. However if you prevent it, you’re free from any of those issues. Here are some of the steps to keep mold from becoming a problem.

• Dry Wetness - Any area that becomes wet is likely to potentially become a breeding ground for mold. High humidity areas are the true breeding grounds for mold. By cleaning up excess water, you’re helping to keep the humidity down.
• Ventilate - Once again, you want to make sure that you are keeping moisture out by making sure the ventilation system in your house is good.
• Measure your Humidity - Did you know you can measure the levels of humidity in your home? It’s true. If things become too humid, then you can use a dehumidifier instead.

Remediation

If it turns out that your preventative measures were not enough, then it’s time for remediation. There are several steps to mold remediation. Following these steps is important to allow you to dispose of mold safely.

1. Fix the Underlying Water Issue - There’s little point in getting rid of the mold if it’s just going to come back again. Whether it’s a plumbing problem, foundation leak or other issue, fixing that first is key to getting your mold under control.
2. Isolation - You need to make sure that you keep the contaminated area completely separate from the rest of your home. If it becomes airborne and spread, it’s going to be far worse.
3. Stop the dust - If you allow the mold dust to come up and spread, you’ll just be doing remediation again.
4. Remove the Spread - You need to take anything covered in mold out of the area. However that’s not all. You also need to remove porous materials in the area, else the mold is hiding inside. If you’re not sure what is considered a porous material, you can check with the EPA website.
5. Seal the Spread - Any item that has been removed needs to go in a thick plastic bag. Once all items are in there, the bag needs to be washed and disinfected, but after that, it can be thrown out normally.
6. Clean - You will need to clean up all of the area in the affected region. You need to clean and disinfect the entire area. There are multiple contamination levels, so your thoroughness will depend on that.
7. Check, Dry, Repair - You will have to go through the entire area to make sure there is no dust or potential contaminants left. After that is finished, you can dry the area, and fix anything you had to remove.

Removal

Mold removal and mold remediation are often used quite interchangeably. Full mold removal however is an impossibility. Unless it’s a vacuum sealed “clean room” there is just always going to be some mold. However natural levels are not dangerous and don’t concentrate. When you hear companies promising 100% mold removal, you might want to check to see what they mean. If they mean proper remediation techniques, that’s fantastic. If they do not, then they may be a bad company to choose.