Mold Damage? Knowing who to hire can be the key to your health.

2/10/2020 (Permalink)

Water damage can cause mold to grow in your home or business.

Understanding Mold

Mold is considered a kind of fungus, which can grow anywhere under the right conditions. Spores can be found both outside and inside the home, in the air.

Mold only needs three common ingredients to grow:

1. Average temperatures
2. Moisture
3. Nutrients.

It can grow inside the home on surfaces and furnishings. With a bit of mitigation, future issues can be avoided. 

Microbial growth may be harder to detect. Mold and mildew can usually be seen easily, and may be gotten rid of easily as well, so home and business owners may not be aware that any fungus is growing. In order to save money, home and business owners may want to do a mold cleanup themselves, but it may be better to call in an environmental hygienist and mold cleanup team to help.

How can a Professional help

When the problem is addressed, an environmental hygienist can make sure that a home or business stays free from these types of problems, even microbial growth. An environmental hygienist or industrial hygienist is a qualified individual who can make sure that a home or business keeps up an acceptable level of air quality, water quality, clean and safe garbage disposal, and food protection, causing mitigation for further issues. Environmental hygienists can show a business or home owner what to do, mitigating a re-occurrence of issues. Environmental hygienists can make business owners and home owners aware of risks if they choose to do the mold cleanup themselves, as well as what symptoms to watch out for.

When removing fungus, mildew, and microbial growth from a building, safety is key. Always wear protective equipment: rubber gloves, outer clothing, goggles, and an N95 or N100 respirator when removing mold. Remove all furnishings and items that are mold-free from the room that is being cleaned. Block off the work area being cleaned with plastic sheeting, to avoid having the mold spread, and cover air supply and return vents as well. Owners should rent an air scrubber to use in the area to be cleaned, mitigating the problem, and help in mold cleanup.

Materials that are wet should be dry first to prevent the spread of further growth and mildew. It will take approximately 24 to 48 hours, after using wet/dry vacuums, fans, and dehumidifiers. Porous materials with should be bagged and thrown away, while non-porous materials can be cleaned but only if they are sound, structurally in mold cleanup. Non-porous surfaces can be cleaned with a brush, hot water, and cleaning products, even diluted bleach. Cleaning material needs to be collected once the owner is through, and areas are to be rinsed with clean water, and dried completely to prevent further growth of mold, mildew, fungus, and microbial growth, causing further mold cleanup. Learning what the causes are of these issues are, further issues can be avoided.

SERVPRO of Lake Charles, LA. has Highly Trained Mold Remediation Technicians and the equipment necessary to Treat Mold Damage in your homes and businesses.