Mold is a very dangerous entity to have in your home. It is important to remove it due to the harm it can cause to your health and the health of your loved ones. With enough knowledge you can locate and identify the possible growth of mold in your home. In hiring PuroClean all of your needs, whatever they may be, will be met on a professional level. The successful remediation of mold can be met by PuroClean. Being IICSC certified, the company ensures a proper removal, disposal, and restoration of mold damage.
What is mold?
Mold can be deadly to some, or could cause serious health problems- but what exactly is mold? What makes it dangerous to our health? How can it be deadly? Mold is classified as a fungi, it’s a key organism in our outside world. It contributes to the breakdown of materials, circulating the natural way of life. But when mold begins to grow inside our homes, in an isolated area, is when it becomes something harmful.
Mold creates microscopic organisms that travel in the air, and settle down on material. The organisms then digest organic material and produce spores, which spread very fast. Just about all materials are vulnerable to mold spores, some more than others. Drywall, carpet, pad, and wood flooring are all excellent subjects to grow and expand on, but mold needs food, or moisture to grow. More likely than not, mold will be the outcome of a water loss, whether it’s big or small.
If mold does end up growing in our home, what makes it dangerous to our health? When mold spores are airborne they are invisible to our eyes, so we cannot possibly see what we are breathing in. With mold spores in our lungs, we can end up with itchy eyes, a running nose, and coughing (just to name a few). In more severe cases, you can develop itching and sensitive rashes. Coughing can also be severe since %8 of the population has asthma, which should be evaluated by a doctor if excessive.
What a Mold Spore looks like
How can mold be deadly? Mold is considered deadly when classified as ‘toxic mold’. There are hundreds of different species of mold, some that are not very harmful at all. But there are some that are harmful and those species of mold are considered to be black mold. Black mold is a toxic mold and if inhaled can cause medical complications, depending on how long, and how much is inhaled.
What causes mold to grow?
Mold can grow from many substances; however, mold is more commonly associated with water damage. The more water, the heavier the damage will be. Also, depending on the material the mold spores sit on play a large role in how fast mold will grow, and what type of mold will grow. Over long periods of time, mold will continuously get worse. If you have a heavy leak of water and are unaware of it, months can go by while mold grows. After a while the mold will produce somewhat of an earthy odor. This is when you will want to consult a restoration company about your home damage.
How can mold be removed?
Once it is established that mold is indeed present in your home, a restoration company will contain the area the mold is growing in, as to not infect the rest of your home, since mold spores travel through the air. The next step would be drying out the excess water present, using machines such as the Rover (a machine which uses the weight of the technician riding it to extract water). The technicians will then use Dehumidifiers and Air Scrubbers equipped with Hepa filters to scrub all of the mold spores in the air, as to not infect any other areas contained. After the drying process is done, the removal of the mold will proceed. Your hired technicians will remove any drywall and flooring infected with mold, and will scrub the inside structure of your wall with wired brushes. Note, the technicians will be wearing full body suits and full face respirators while removing the mold, to protect their health. Scrubbing and sanding will continue until all signs of mold are removed. Your technicians will also use cleaning agents specifically designed to eliminate mold during this process. A restoration company may sometimes use sealant type paint such as KILZ to seal the structure being remediated.
There are many reasons why it is recommended that you hire a restoration company to take care of this tedious task. PuroClean, an IICSC certified company will handle your water loss and home restoration with proper equipment and qualified, trained technicians who know how to handle mold in the safest and most efficient way.
