Occupants must leave the house for at least a full day, Mr. Gordon says, and up to 48 hours is recommended. There is little residue after the treatment and a pleasant citrus scent remains. The company markets its service as a cutting-edge solution that ensures a mold-free environment without demolition of mold-infested areas or harsh chemicals.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not recommend routine sampling for molds. You do not need to know the type of mold growing in your home. No matter what type of mold is present, you should remove it. If the area affected is greater than 10 square feet, they suggest consulting the U. It is available online at the EPA website under mold remediation.
If the mold returns quickly or spreads you probably have a water leak or another ongoing moisture problem. Bleach or other disinfectants may be needed on surfaces after mold removal if occupants are thought to be susceptible to fungal infections. Follow the label instructions carefully if you use chemical cleaning agents.
If the mold damage in your home is extensive, there are professional mold remediation specialists both on the Island and on the mainland that can help. Make sure that the contractor has a verifiable track record, check references and be certain that they adhere to guidelines established by the EPA, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists ACGIH , or other professional or government organizations.
Then they become more aware of other potential problems in a home. Another Island brokerage, Sandpiper Realty in Edgartown, includes a fact sheet about mold on its website. She encourages owners to be more proactive, to protect their investments. Be vigilant in keeping your surroundings dry and well maintained and mold will have to find another home.
Sign in. Log into your account. Forgot your password? Password recovery. Recover your password. When we take long hot showers, cook with uncovered pots, dry clothes on an indoor clothesline, or use humidifiers, we also make more moisture for molds to grow.
Storing wet firewood, watering many plants, and storing many vegetables like potatoes and squash can make a mold problem more likely, too. Use protective equipment when working around mold.
The following equipment can help minimize exposure to mold:. After cleaning the affected area as described above wipe down the wall, ceiling or floor again using a mixture of liquid household chlorine bleach and water. When molds get inside materials like carpets and mattresses, they can't be cleaned. Throw them away. You can get rid of molds in bedding, curtains, drapes and clothes by washing or dry cleaning them. Some non-porous materials can be cleaned.
Mold is a natural part of all environments where other oxygen-dependent organisms thrive. Outdoors, mold plays an important role in breaking down cellular matter and allowing it to decay as part of the decomposition process. Typically, fallen trees and dead leaves turn moldy within days, especially where light is limited and air is plentiful.
Indoors, mold acts much the same way. It can colonize within a week and spread immediately. Mold produces various enzymes that allow it to decompose and digest organic foods. When mold multiplies, it creates cells called spores that easily spread. Spores allow mold to quickly reproduce. These tiny spores thrive in warm, wet and low-light conditions where they have a ready food source like wood and sheetrock. Their favorite is cellulose materials. Mold can also culture on non-organic surfaces such as shower curtains, tile, plastic and insulation.
Mold spreads in different ways. Most lightweight mold spores become airborne and float about an environment like your basement or crawlspace. They're driven by currents from crossflow ventilation or forced by contaminated furnace ducts. Heavier spores from mold species like Stachybotrys chartarum, or toxic black mold, rely on physical transfer such as flood waters or installing previously contaminated materials.
Regardless of the technical terms, the main difference is that mold can survive in dark, enclosed areas where mildew needs a certain amount of light to prosper.
Mold is more destructive than mildew and is harder to identify and eradicate. Both mildew and mold respond the same way to treatment, and both can be similarly prevented before they cause structural damage or present a threatening health hazard.
Ask An Expert. Mold needs six elements to grow. An omission of deficiency in any condition will result in mold cultures not being able to take hold or flourish. They will also cause a mold colony to die if one or more elements are removed after mold colonization has been established.
Reducing or removing these elements is the core strategy for preventing mold. Here are the six factors that cause and contribute to a mold outbreak. The first element is the mold spores themselves. This is hard to prevent, as mold microorganisms are prolific and almost universally present throughout the world. Spores are invisible to your naked eye and usually enter your house from the outdoors. Air movement of spores is the most common method for spreading, followed by being introduced through contaminated materials.
Removing mold spores from your home is practically impossible. Keeping conditions under control is the only recourse you have.
However, where the next five elements occur, you can be sure mold spores are there, just waiting for optimum conditions to form. Without moisture, mold cannot possibly thrive. Water is the key to all life, and mold is no exception. There is no specific water content or humidity threshold where mold cannot survive.
It depends on a blend of all elements. The longer wet conditions exist, the more chance there is for mold to begin its growth.
Most mold in homes starts in hidden places. The common cause of dampness is a minor plumbing leak under a bathroom or kitchen sink that goes unnoticed or unattended. Mold also takes foot inside walls due to escapement from water lines, drain-waste and ventilation plumbing pipes that have cracked or separated.
Dampness can also happen from condensation where plumbing lines are chilled, and a high-humidity environment makes them sweat. Bathrooms are notorious for containing active mold growth. Shower curtains and door tracks are other locations where mold begins. Moisture is the primary element necessary for mold to exist. If you remove sources of moisture, you can win your fight against mold.
Because mold is a lifeform, it needs food to survive and reproduce. Food sources outdoors are limitless where vegetation and other organic materials abound. In forests, you can find mold everywhere from under old logs to the trunks of trees. You can find it in the soil and the grass. Mold is even present on rocks. Your house is a different story. Mold takes hold on all sorts of things around your home. It can feed on insulation in your attic or walls, and it can feed on the back of gypsum sheetrock.
Mold eats at the surface of clothes and luggage. It consumes residue left on smooth tile surfaces and microscopic materials trapped inside porous flooring like carpets. And it loves damp cardboard, newspapers and fabrics. Mold also gets food from the air. There are countless airborne particles mold can feed on, such as dust and pollens. Mold can also grow in dust, paints, wallpaper, insulation, drywall, carpet, fabric, and upholstery.
The most common indoor molds are Cladosporium , Penicillium , and Aspergillus. We do not have precise information about how often different molds are found in buildings and homes. Mold is found both indoors and outdoors. Mold can enter your home through open doorways, windows, vents, and heating and air conditioning systems.
Mold in the air outside can also attach itself to clothing, shoes, and pets can and be carried indoors. When mold spores drop on places where there is excessive moisture, such as where leakage may have occurred in roofs, pipes, walls, plant pots, or where there has been flooding, they will grow. Many building materials provide suitable nutrients that encourage mold to grow. Wet cellulose materials, including paper and paper products, cardboard, ceiling tiles, wood, and wood products, are particularly conducive for the growth of some molds.
Other materials such as dust, paints, wallpaper, insulation materials, drywall, carpet, fabric, and upholstery, commonly support mold growth. Exposure to damp and moldy environments may cause a variety of health effects, or none at all. Some people are sensitive to molds. For these people, exposure to molds can lead to symptoms such as stuffy nose, wheezing, and red or itchy eyes, or skin.
Some people, such as those with allergies to molds or with asthma , may have more intense reactions. Severe reactions may occur among workers exposed to large amounts of molds in occupational settings, such as farmers working around moldy hay.
Severe reactions may include fever and shortness of breath. In the Institute of Medicine IOM found there was sufficient evidence to link indoor exposure to mold with upper respiratory tract symptoms, cough, and wheeze in otherwise healthy people; with asthma symptoms in people with asthma; and with hypersensitivity pneumonitis in individuals susceptible to that immune-mediated condition. Other recent studies have suggested a potential link of early mold exposure to development of asthma in some children, particularly among children who may be genetically susceptible to asthma development, and that selected interventions that improve housing conditions can reduce morbidity from asthma and respiratory allergies.
A link between other adverse health effects, such as acute idiopathic pulmonary hemorrhage among infants , memory loss, or lethargy, and molds, including the mold Stachybotrys chartarum has not been proven. Further studies are needed to find out what causes acute idiopathic hemorrhage and other adverse health effects.
There is no blood test for mold. Some physicians can do allergy testing for possible allergies to mold, but no clinically proven tests can pinpoint when or where a particular mold exposure took place. People with allergies may be more sensitive to molds. People with immune suppression or underlying lung disease are more susceptible to fungal infections. Individuals with chronic respiratory disease e.
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