A personal story on mould remediation

Three years ago my husband and I bought a cute little 1950’s house in Hamilton. From the home inspection I knew there were some issues I was going to have to deal with – mainly the electrical in the finished basement. This didn’t detour us from making the purchase. Having a family in construction, I knew I was in good hands.

The electrician visited us within the first few months and said we just needed to pull down the ceiling so he could see all of the wiring and make all necessary fixes. We decided this would be a great project to start in the spring.

We went through our first full year with things as they were. The first few months were fantastic. No issues. Suddenly we started to smell a funny odour in the basement. It smelled old and musty like my grandparents basement when I was growing up. I didn’t think too much about it. Then our drains started to smell. “Well that’s not normal”, we thought. Our basement carpet started to smell and the musty odour never left even when the air was dry. “What is going on?”

The bottom of one of my walls

On day in late summer we had a small flood in our basement. The restoration company came in and pulled up the baseboards and carpet to slide fans under and dry up the water. At that point we found a small amount of mould along one block wall support post. The wood was right against the cement and then paneling put right on top of that. With my knowledge of mould, I knew this was bad news. Wood should never touch cement as cement pulls water through and will go into the wood. The wood was rotted and I could see black spots all the way up the wall. I instantly panicked and called my father.

Let’s take a step back. Mouldoff is a family company. MY family. My brother and his best friend are the owners. My father is the General Manager, a Certified Indoor Environmentalist, and the founder of Mouldoff. My younger brother is one of the carpenter’s. I have grown up in the construction world. Since I was very small my father has run his own successful and trusted restoration company and has been educating and certifying himself in different building, disaster restoration and environmental fields. So I should know better than to panic right? Wrong. Regardless of what you know, when it happens to you, naturally you panic.

The outcome of my father’s visit was simple. Yes its mould and yes it needs to be dealt with. So we made plans to renovate.

I invited a friend over to pull down some walls. It’s just paneling so it should be easy. We popped off a few panels, pulled down the insulation, and took off the ceiling. And there it was – black spots everywhere. We decided to call it a day and have the professionals come in.

The next morning I talked to my brother and asked him for some help. Of course, without hesitation, in went the crew to investigate my situation. Knowing that I was going to demolish the space anyway, they pulled down the rest of the walls and swab tested the black spots. To my relief most of it was just dirt and not mould. Only a few spots of mould in small enough areas that I could handle it myself. Thank goodness.

I got to work cleaning and remediating following the plan left for me. Thankfully I already had all of the personal protective equipment I needed as I sometimes tag along on inspections and remediation projects to see what happens.

What I learned: Mould inspections are important. No matter how much you think you know about mould, there is always more to learn. Not all black spots are mould and you can save a lot of money by spending the money and time to have a proper mould inspection.

More to come as my project continues

Lisa Carter

Mouldoff.com

Water damage and mold

Water damage can come from many different sources. Flooding, burst pipes, roof leaks, high humidity are just a few of them. Regardless of how the damage occurred, water damage can cause significant devastation in your household or workplace. Immediate attention is necessary to control mold growth.

Mold needs three things to grow, Water, Heat and a Food source. Because we are surrounded by food sources for mold and mold loves the temperatures we enjoy we must control the moisture in our homes or workplaces.

The most important action in any water damage situation is speed.

There are many factors to be concerned about when you have water damage in your building including the source of water, what it has come in contact with, if there are any contaminants in the water, housing finishes, materials (building or contents) affected, hidden moisture, high humidity, and so on. It may be a great time to seek professional help. Mouldoff professionals are trained to seek out the cause of the water damage and help assess the level of damage and develop a restoration plan to dry the building structure out to protect against mould growth. 

General guidelines used for cleaning up water damage:

• Wear personal protective equipment: eye protection, gloves, boots, and appropriate respiratory protection where necessary.
• Locate the source of the water leak and take corrective measures as necessary.
• Remove any excess water.
• Use controlled conditions that prevent spreading of any contaminants to other areas of the building.
• Dry wet materials when possible.
• Strip out and dispose of unsalvageable contents and building materials.

 

Water Damage Certifications:

IICRC (Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification)

·   ASD - Applied Structural Drying Technician

·   CDS - Commercial Drying Specialist

·   WRT - Water Damage Restoration Technician

·   MWR - Master Water Restorer

RIA (Restoration Industry Association)

·   WLS - Water Loss Specialist

NAMM (National Association for Moisture Management)

·   CEMP - Certified Environmental Mold Remediator

·   CMMP - Certified Moisture Management Professional

ACAC (The American Council for Accredited Certification)

·   CIE – Certified Indoor Environmentalist