Mold Removal Chicago & Suburbs 773-885-8528

Mold Removal Cautions

Those of you who do mold mitigation know that it’s not something that just anyone can take up at random and hope that things will just magically turn out right.  As master mold removal technicians, we’re trained on safety precautions and the steps required to professionally complete the careful procedure of mold remediation.  But sometimes mistakes are made or bad habits can creep into our methods.  Here are some common errors to watch out for. •    Scattering mold spores – With the generous use of air movers there needs to be caution.  Don’t turn on until all the areas affected by mold have first been contained.  What does that mean?  It means blocking the contamination in so that none of the mold spores can escape into other areas of the home.  Scattered mold spores can wreak havoc upon other porous services.  You could end up with a more widespread cleanup or you may trigger health problems. •    Breathe Proper Apparatus – Before anyone even walks into a mold contaminated structure they need to have proper respiratory protection.  The very least you should be wearing is an N95 with eye protection, yet a half or full face with a HEPA filter is recommended.  This will protect you and any of your laborers assisting you with the mold remediation project.  Also, protective clothing should be worn without a doubt.  If this job is to be done above board and according to EPA and IICRC standards, protective equipment is an absolute must. •    Faulty HEPA filters – Just because a vacuum claims to have a HEPA filter doesn’t mean that it’s doing the job of a true HEPA.  Heck, the vacuum cleaner I use at home has a “HEPA” filter but I sure wouldn’t use it on a mold remediation job.  So make sure your vacuum is one designed for this work.   NOTE:  To be properly doing its job, the filter has to be seated snugly with no air leakage around the sides.  Filters should be changed regularly as well.  Not a good idea to use that same old filter from previous jobs.  It is good to change it after each use. •    Don’t eat, drink or look pretty - Eating, drinking, and using tobacco products and cosmetics where mold remediation is taking place should be avoided to prevent unnecessary contamination and/or ingestion of mold. As you may have noted, this list doesn’t have as much to do with the actual mold cleanup then it does with protecting the health of your techs and customers.  There seems to be plenty of health issues out there that science hasn’t figured out how to avoid yet.  But by taking the needed precautions we can eliminate any undue risks.

Mold Damage Mold Remediation Mold Cleanup 773-885-8528

MOLD REMEDIATION 

 

Mold can digest wood. Even termites cannot properly breakdown wood, they can eat it but they cannot digest it, instead they rely on one celled organisms in their digestive tracts to break it down.
Even the beaver, with a reputation for eating wood cannot readily break it down with its digestive juices.  When a tree dies its wood must follow one of two fates, it either becomes petrified, or it decays, turns into soil and rejoins the cycle of life and death.

Fortunately, mold comes to the rescue and digests the wood, causes it to rot, and helps it turn into soil. If it was not for mold the entire earth would likely be a mile deep in dead trees.

The one thing that prevents wood in our home from this infestation process is the lack of moisture.  Once moisture touches non-living wood, or any of its man-made derivatives: (lumber, paper, cardboard, drywall encasement paper, cellulose insulation, Masonite, Orientated Strand Board, or particle board) then mold takes over and we have mold in the home.

Fungal spores start to attack the moist wood with enzymes, break it down, and absorb it.

The fungal colonies in our water damaged homes go unchallenged in their endeavor to break down, absorb, and assimilate the otherwise un-digestible organic compounds in wood and its derivatives.

In addition to spore production products are produced. With fungal organisms including mold in the home or household molds these waste products consists of microbial volatile organic compounds. These compounds are ignored by most mold testing consultants and by the media. However detection of these compounds thermal desorption tubes, or via my favorite method, with my nose is an important part of every mold investigation.  From the point of view of your health these compounds are an important consideration. Microbial volatile organic compounds are similar to esters, and similar to aldehydes like formaldehyde. Thus when your homes air is contaminated with these fungal waste products your air quality goes down and I have seen first-hand many times how these compounds seem to have a direct correlation to health complaints, even more so than spores. For example if mold growth, and the spores it releases are trapped inside a wall people still have respiratory health problems as long as the odors or volatile organic compounds are escaping into the ambient air.  It is interesting to note that these compounds are also related to alcohols. In some cases when oxygen is in short supply or not present, and when sugar is the food source, the waste product of some forms of fungi is in fact drinking alcohol. 

When we have mold growing in our houses, humans and even pets tend to have a negative reaction to both the allergens in the spores, as well as to the microbial volatile organic compound type waste products released. To make matters worse these growths produce superfine fungal particles, Beta-Glucans, and toxins, in addition dust mites are also often associated with wet fungal environments. We end up living in an invisible, unhealthy, stew of particles and compounds.  We cough, we sneeze, we may even have asthma attacks, and in some cases other reactions may occur.

When this happens in your home the best option is to call a mold remediation specialist who can locate the problem, ascertain the extent of spread, and diagnose the cause. If a mold assessment is not conducted in your home much of the mold problem will often go unnoticed, undocumented. Also the cause may not be fully understood and addressed if you do not have your mold testing consultant diagnose the cause. If the cause is not understood and addressed then you should expect the problem to return.  A non-bias mold removal and remediation protocol should be prepared by that same consultant.