Black mold in Virginia Beach, VA is a serious problem and a genuine health hazard to you and anyone living in your house. Worse, black mold is markedly different from other common home hazards in a couple of insidious ways. In this article, we’ll tell you more about mold in general, black mold in particular, and what you can do about it.
Envirotex is a licensed mold contractor experienced with black mold in Virginia Beach, VA. We offer:
First, let’s talk about what sets black mold in Virginia Beach, VA apart from other common home hazards. If you live in an older home, the two big things to watch out for besides mold are lead paint and asbestos.
Where lead paint is concerned, sellers are legally obligated to disclose its presence, but there’s a rather large catch involved there. They have to know about it in the first place. Most older homes have changed hands numerous times, and if the person you purchased your current home from wasn’t informed about the presence of lead paint by whomever they purchased it from, they’ve got no way of knowing and thus, nothing to tell you.
The simple truth is that no matter how much testing you do before you buy an older home and no matter how many experts you employ, you’re only getting a tiny window of an old house’s history. Who knows what secrets it may hold, or what hazards?
All that to say that maybe the person you bought your current house from knew about any lead paint that may be present, and perhaps they didn’t. Even if they knew about the presence of some lead paint, say, on your front porch, they may not be aware of lead paint in other areas, including any outbuildings you may have on your property. Testing is the only way to know for sure.
Things are a bit different where asbestos is concerned. Although asbestos is far deadlier than lead paint, sellers have no legal requirement to tell you if the home you’re buying contains asbestos or not. Again, the only way to know for sure is to have your home and any outbuildings on your property tested.
The big difference between these two things and mold, though, is the fact that if you do have asbestos or lead paint, you’ve got a specific, finite amount in clearly defined areas of your home. You may have asbestos insulation and lead paint on the front porch, and if testing reveals those to be the limits of the problem, then once they’re gone, that’s it. You’re done. It’s not going to come back.
Black mold in Virginia Beach, VA, and everywhere else, for that matter, is very different. All mold colonies need to get started is dampness and darkness, and your home has all sorts of places where those conditions can easily develop. Worse, those are places that you seldom, if ever, venture into. Dark, musty corners of your basement. The deepest recesses of your attic. Crawlspaces. Your home’s ductwork, and the like.
Even if you don’t have a mold problem right now, conditions can change. Maybe a tiny crack develops in one of the walls of your basement, allowing moisture in. Or one of the pipes behind your drywall develops a slow leak. A recent storm could easily damage your roof, creating a small leak.
Honestly, it could be any number of things. The main point, though, is that these things naturally happen over time, so just because you had your home tested for mold last year, that doesn’t mean something hasn’t changed in the here and now.
Worst of all, though, is the fact that since mold colonies tend to get their start in places you seldom, if ever see, by the time you start seeing obvious signs of the problem, the colony is already deeply entrenched and will be that much harder to root out.
To complicate things even more, there are literally scores of different mold species that could wind up establishing themselves in your home. Some of them are relatively benign, while prolonged exposure to others can seriously impact your health or even kill you.
If you or any member of your family has an upper respiratory condition like asthma or COPD, they’ll be impacted more seriously than those without such health issues. Still, if the colony is big enough, everyone who comes into contact with it will be negatively impacted. That’s why you shouldn’t try to handle the problem on your own.
The good news is that you don’t have to. As the top-rated environmental remediation company in the region, nobody knows more about black mold removal in Virginia Beach, VA than we do. If you call on us, the first thing we’ll do is come in and test your home, looking in every nook and cranny and even using technology to peer behind your walls.
Once we’ve confirmed you have a mold problem and we have a sense of the scope and scale of it, we’ll be able to map out a remediation plan and give that to you, along with a free estimate so you’ll have a firm understanding of exactly what it will take to put the problem behind you. Broadly speaking, our process looks like this:
Our first goal is to stop the colony in its tracks and keep it from spreading beyond its current confined. To do that, we’ll employ a variety of methods to isolate the area, including, but not limited to:
This step is critical because once we begin the actual remediation process, our efforts are guaranteed to stir up thousands of mold spores, sending them into the air. If we don’t take the step of properly cordoning off the area, then our work won’t be effective because the spores will simply filter to other parts of your home and immediately begin re-establishing themselves the moment we leave.
That’s not what we want, and it’s certainly not what you’re paying for, so containment really matters.
This is where the rubber really meets the road in terms of solving the problem. Depending on where the black mold colony is located inside your home, and the scope and scale of the infestation, we’ve got a variety of tools at our disposal.
Our approach varies from one job to the next. Still, we’ll be employing a variety of technologies, including chemical agents designed to kill mold spores and HEPA air filters to capture any airborne spores that try to escape as we’re doing our work.
Unfortunately, mold is especially fond of drywall, cloth, and paper, so we’ll gather anything that’s been contaminated and prepare it for disposal. Be aware that this could include paper files you’ve been keeping, cardboard boxes—and, in all probability, their contents—clothing, furniture, drywall, and more may be at risk and wind up in the contamination pile.
Once we’ve collected all of the contaminated material, we’ll make sure it’s disposed of at a facility properly licensed to handle it. Of all the steps in our process, this is the most straightforward.
After we’ve removed all contaminated material, we’ll get to work cleaning up the area where the colony was. This is a critical step because the last thing in the world we want to do is leave you with a giant mess to clean up. That’s just not how we do business.
There’s a lot to do here, including vacuuming all exposed surfaces with HEPA vacuums, wiping down all surface areas with cloths and/or mops, and using a special detergent solution designed to kill any mold spores that might remain.
Once all of that is done, we’ll bring in the fans and dehumidifiers to help speed the drying process along.
The final step in our process is to return your home to the way we found it, except for the mold, naturally, which allows you to get back to your life and put the issue behind you once and for all.
The main goal here is to make sure the problem is solved decisively, so you and your family are no longer at risk. We take great pride in our work and would love the opportunity to exceed your expectations. Don’t take any chances where your family’s health is concerned. If you even suspect that you may have a mold problem or any other environmental hazard in or around your home, call us right away.
About Envriotex Environmental Services
Established in Northern Virginia in 2000, Envirotex Environmental Services was founded on military service. While serving his country, the company's owner Mr. Freeman gained vast knowledge and experience in the environmental services field. His expertise in air monitoring and hazardous materials testing prepared him for his post-military career.
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