So you think you have a mold problem in your Nashville, Tennessee home or business. Now what? In this article we answer two very common questions we get about mold removal from Nashville customers:
What exactly are the steps to properly remove mold?
Do I need to hire a professional? (Hint: in many cases, no!)
Let’s tackle the first issue and discuss the step-by-step process of mold remediation in Nashville.
Nashville Mold Removal Step by Step Process
Step 1: Assessment and Inspection
The first step in mold remediation is to conduct a thorough assessment of the impacted area and determine the extent of the mold issue and the source of the water problem. All mold is caused by a water or humidity issue so it is essential to identify the water problem and fix it or the mold will likely eventually return.
Do I Need a Mold Inspection or Mold Testing?
In terms of assessing the overall mold problem, do you need to pay for mold inspection or mold testing? In most cases, the answer is no, you do NOT need to pay for a mold inspection or mold test when there is an obvious mold problem.
You might be wondering, though, “Why? Don’t I need to know what type of mold I have in order to remove it?” Actually, no, you do not need to know what type of mold you have to properly remove it because the step by step process outlined in this article of mold removal is the same regardless of the type of mold you have.
Step 2: Containment
The next step is to contain the affected area, typically with plastic sheeting, to prevent the mold from spreading to other parts of your Nashville home or building.
Step 3: Clean Air with HEPA air scrubbers
In this step, we want to clean the mold spores in the air using HEPA air scrubbers.
A HEPA air scrubber is a piece of equipment used in mold remediation, construction, and other industries to improve indoor air quality by removing harmful particles from the air. HEPA stands for High-Efficiency Particulate Air, which means that the air scrubber uses a special filter that is capable of capturing particles as small as 0.3 microns in diameter with an efficiency of 99.97%.
HEPA air scrubbers work by drawing in contaminated air from the surrounding area and passing it through a series of filters. The first stage filter is usually a pre-filter, which captures larger particles such as dust and debris. The second stage filter is the HEPA filter, which captures smaller particles such as mold spores, pollen, and bacteria. The filtered air is then released back into the environment.
HEPA air scrubbers can be used in conjunction with negative air machines to create negative pressure in a containment area, preventing mold spores and other contaminants from spreading to other parts of a building during mold remediation or construction projects.
Step 4: Removal
Once the area is contained, now we begin the actual mold removal process. This step involves doing a combination of selective demo of impacted building materials and HEPA vacuuming the contaminated area. It is important that the demo be done in a controlled fashion here (i.e. the opposite of a wrecking ball approach) in order to prevent stirring up and kicking around additional mold spores as much as possible.
Step 5: Cleaning
After selective demo and vacuuming, the next step is to clean the affected areas with mold chemicals. There are many types of mold chemicals and we typically use ones that are hospital grade. But if you have a small mold issue like everyday shower mold, a simple everyday product like Clorox Cleanup will suffice.
Step 6: Final HEPA Vacuuming & Cleaning of Work Area
This step involves HEPA vacuuming one more time and performing an antimicrobial wipe down on the work area or anywhere mold spores might have settled. It also means taking down containment and cleaning up the work area.
This last also involves ensuring the area is completely dry and the water issue is fixed. If you do not fix the water issue, the mold can and likely will return.
Step 7: Restoration
Once the mold remediation or removal is completed and the water problem has been fixed, the final step is restoration. This involves repairing any damage caused by the mold and restoring the affected area to its pre-damaged condition. Restoration may include replacing drywall, flooring, or other building materials that were damaged by the mold.
Do I need to hire a professional? (Hint: in many cases, no!)
So now that you know the step by step process for mold removal in your Nashville home or business, the next question is: Do you need to hire a professional to do the mold remediation?
The answer is: “It depends.” First, examine the steps above and assess how comfortable you are with performing them and how handy you are. Also, you need to take into account the size of the mold problem. A large flooded basement is likely to be far more challenging to do on your own than a small everyday mold issue around your windows or bathroom tile. Also, the location of the mold should be taken into account as some areas pose far more of a safety risk (e.g. Attics) than others.
Conclusion
Mold removal is science but not rocket science. The steps are fairly easy to understand, but of course execution of these steps can be more challenging, depending on the situation. As to whether you should perform the mold remediation on your own, that is going to depend on factors such as your skill set, the size of the mold problem, where it’s located, etc.
If you have any questions about any of the information discussed here, please do not hesitate to contact our Nashville location.