Category: Mold

Mold can be sneaky. It is a fungus that can be found inside and outside. Mold spreads and reproduces by making spores. When mold spores are released, they can be carried by air or water to new locations.  Mold thrives in moist conditions caused by floods, slow leaks, a broken pike or high humidity within your home in Prince William County, VA.

Warning Signs of Mold in Home

If you have dark spots on your ceiling, floors, or walls, this is usually a sign of mold in homes in Prince William County, VA. Musty odors and mildew are often signs that mold may be growing in your home. If members of your household have respiratory and allergy symptoms such as sneezing, coughing, trouble breathing and wheezing can be an indicator of mold growth as well.

Challenges of Mold in Home

• Mold can affect your family’s health and the physical structure of your home.
• Mold and mildew grow best in warm, humid and damp conditions.
• Mold may not be visible because it can grow under floors and in your walls.
• It only takes two days for any wet materials to be affected by mold, yet not be visible.
• Home remedies like bleach can cause even more problems.
• Only a professional mold remediation company in Prince William County, VA, can identify the source and resolve the issue.

A professional mold remediation company is experienced and has been trained in mold remediation for the proper procedures to safely handle mold infestation within homes and businesses.

Principles for Mold Remediation

• A professional mold remediation will follow safety and health precautions for themselves and occupants through a combination of practices and controls for protection from exposure.
• A post-cleanup should be done by a professional independent environmental expert to document the project was successful.
• Control mold before it spreads through the air by eliminating mold at the source of contamination.
• Mold must be physically removed from the structure.
• Moisture problems must be located and identified and corrected and controlled to prevent future contamination or recontamination.

Professional mold technicians understand the importance of a quick response in Prince William County, VA, so that mold remediation doesn’t escalate into further costs by delaying the restoration. These professionals will apply the proper techniques required to return your home to a safe environment for you and your family.

If you have a mold problem in your home in Northern, VA you will need to hire a mold company who can first detect what the problem is, do a thorough inspection, and then suggest a plan of action to get rid of the mold in your home. Selecting mold companies for your mold inspection should be your first step.

You should use the same process in finding a mold company in Northern, VA to do the initial inspection or the remediation just as you would in selecting a general contractor, plumber or an electrical contractor. How do you do that?

Word of Mouth

A good referral by a friend, neighbor, coworker, or family member will give you a place to start. Generally speaking, these people are not going to give you a referral that is not worthy of doing an outstanding job in their line of business.

Getting Quotes

Call some of your local mold companies and inquire over the phone about how much a mold inspection would cost. If they give you a price that includes a mandatory number of samples, that should be a RED FLAG.

Without the mold companies coming to your home in Northern, VA, it would be impossible for them to know how big a home you have, what the exact problem is in your home, or exactly how many samples they will have to collect during the inspection.

Make sure the mold companies you interview are using a separate laboratory which will be analyzing the samples collected from your home in Northern, VA.

Separate Mold Companies Who Do the Inspection and the Remediation

Hiring mold companies to do the initial inspection and the remediation could be a conflict of interest. To protect yourself, it is wise to have two separate mold companies so that the mold remediation company will not make the job larger that what it actually entails.

A certified and licensed mold inspector will assure you this doesn’t happen if he knows he will not be doing the remediation afterwards. Unless you know of mold companies that you have been referred to that do both, and they are someone without a doubt you can trust, the recommendation is that you use two separate mold companies to perform each job for your Northern, VA home.

Questions to Ask Mold Companies

• What certifications do you have for mold inspections and/or mold remediation?
• How many years of experience have you had performing mold inspections and/or mold remediations?
• Can they give you a written report as to the analysis findings of the inspection and explain the results to you in layman’s terms?
• Can they give you a written quote as to the damages and the plan of remediation? What all needs to be done to prevent further mold in your home?
• Are they insured and can they provide you proof?
• Is the mold inspector qualified to do a post-remedial testing?

Envirotex Environmental Service is a company who has been in the Northern, VA area since 2000. Our goal is to provide our customers with quality work at a cost effective price, keeping you and your family safe at all times above anything else.

We specialize in mold inspections, removal and remediation, asbestos abatement, and meth lab and clandestine drug lab cleanup. If you have any questions, please feel free to call us and we will be happy to help you with your environmental needs.

With summer well into the season in Haymarket, VA and high humidity, you should have a mold treatment plan for your home. Mold is a fungus that breeds in moisture. If you don’t have the proper ventilation in your home, you are taking a chance of mold growth. Other things like leaky pipes that have gone unnoticed for more than 48 hours can also contribute to mold growth.

Mold thrives on moisture, and its food source are things such as wood, drywall, carpet, insulation, furniture, clothing, paper and food. When these conditions exist in your Haymarket, VA home, it can ruin the structure of your home, get into your HVAC system, put out a musty smell into the home and can cause health issues for you and your family. You should have a mold treatment plan for your home in Haymarket, VA to prevent mold from growing or rid mold if it has already started.

 Preventive Treatment for Mold Growth

A way to thwart off musty mold smells and the fuzzy, slimy fungus from growing in your home in Haymarket, VA and prevent health issues include these preventive mold treatments:

• Invest in a dehumidifier. Run it in extremely humid conditions or in damp areas of your home.
• Replace mildewy shower curtains or wash them often, so mildew does not grow.
• Keep clothes and other fabrics dry and do not let them pile up next to walls.
• Clean out air conditioning drip pans regularly, so mold doesn’t grow.
• If you spill something, clean it up right away.
• Repair any leaks in your plumbing, checking under kitchen and bathroom sinks and your washing machine.
• Air out your house. Let the sunshine in.
• When cooking or showering, open doors or windows or run an exhaust fan to get rid of the moisture in the air.
• Install a better ventilation system in your home or repair your present one if it isn’t performing well.

Home Mold Treatment Products

• Vinegar is a cheap mold treatment to kill mold. Clean your home with plain white vinegar from top to bottom to ward off mold. If you see mold, spray undiluted on the area, let it sit for a while and then wipe away the vinegar and mold. Repeat as needed.
• Tree Tea Oil is a natural fungicide and can eliminate mold from your home plus the smell will fill your home with a pleasant medicinal scent. Add ten drops to a spray bottle of water and spray on the mold. Let sit and wipe it and the mold away.
• Vodka, the cheap kind, can put your mold in a drunken stupor. Fill a spray bottle and spritz the moldy area, let it sit for a while and then wipe the mold away.

By simply taking extra precautions and having a mold treatment plan, you should be able to get a grip on mold growth in your Haymarket, VA home. Envirotex is an environmental services company serving the Northern Virginia area who is licensed and certified in for all your mold treatment needs in Haymarket, VA. If you have any questions, need a mold inspection or mold removal, give the experts at Envirotex a call.

Before contacting the professionals about home mold removal in Northern, VA, you should first find the source of the mold to prevent it from coming back. Once you address the moisture problem, you should then have home mold removal performed by a certified, mold removal environmental specialist.

Where Does Home Mold Grow?

Mold often grows in dark areas of your home that have high humidity, typically found in attics, basements, ceilings, crawlspaces, behind drywall, in windows and under sinks.

• Attic Mold—Mold can be found in attics coming from a leaky roof or no proper ventilation. Depending on the damage, materials may just need to be cleaned or possibly replaced. Any roof leaks, shingle flashing or ventilation issues must be fixed to prevent the mold from growing back. Then the mold would need to be removed properly by a certified mold professional. If left untreated, mold will continue to grow and can spread to other areas, contaminate stored items in the attic, and lower your property value.
• Basement Mold—Some basements tend to be damp especially in rainy seasons. Depending on how well your basement is sealed, you may have to reseal your basement and possibly put in a drain to defer the water away from the outside of the house. If materials inside such as insulation, sheetrock, cardboard boxes, wall studs or paneling are infected, you would need to properly remove the mold by completely removing the infected material or cleaning and sealing the area with a mold inhibitor so it will not reappear.
• Surface Mold—If you have an unfinished basement which is used for storage where there is little or no activity, mold growing is not necessarily producing airborne spores. If the surface that the mold is growing on is damp, mold spores will not become airborne as easily. Sometimes in sample testing, this does not show elevated mold spores although mold is visible. For the safety of your family you would still need to find the source of the moisture and fix the problem so that once your home mold removal is done, it will not grow back.

Not taking care of mold problems in your Northern, VA home  can cause the problem to manifest into a bigger mold problem costing you more money later and potential health problems. Envirotex, a Northern, VA Company experienced in environmental services, would be glad to help you with home mold removal. We have been servicing the environmental needs of homeowners and business in the Northern, VA area since 2000.