When You Smell Mold – Better Call SERVPRO®

11/4/2024 (Permalink)

Mold can be found in many colors, including green, black, reds, white, yellow, and more.

Mold are microscopic fungi found both indoors and outdoors. These fungi live on organic matter, such as food, wood, some soil types, and many common building materials. In nature, mold plays an important role in breaking down and digesting organic material, to be reused by growing plants. Some molds are also useful in the manufacturing sector. Certain molds age and flavor cheeses, others are used in bread-making, fermentation, and for lifesaving drug manufacturing. Other molds are harmful to humans, especially when they are allowed to spread unchecked in areas with poor ventilation.

Most people have heard of the infamous ‘black mold’ which is often attributed to health problems, despite not always being toxic. Other colors of mold can be just as bad. Green mold is the most common color for mold, with several thousands of types. There’s also blue, pink, white, yellow, red, and more. Some are dangerous and others aren’t. Unfortunately, color isn’t always a determining factor of whether the mold is dangerous or not. That’s why when you smell mold, it’s good practice to call in the professionals at SERVPRO.

When the right conditions for mold growth are met; heat, moisture, a food source, humidity, and oxygen, a small infestation can grow rapidly. Often, an active or previous water damage situation provides an optimal environment. Wet wood, water trapped between carpets and padding, damp soil in crawlspaces, and improperly dried sheetrock or paneling, are all considered prime breeding grounds for mold.

Your local SERVPRO can assess the situation, perform multiple types of tests, including an air-quality check, to determine if mold is present. Once the source is identified, the team will provide abatement and remediation services. These can include drying wet areas, removal of seriously affected building materials, sanding and then encapsulating wood surfaces, and more, depending on the severity of the problem.

Mold can present health dangers to your family, many of which can lead to long-term problems. That’s why quick action should be taken whenever mold concerns arise.

Mold can take over

11/17/2020 (Permalink)

Heavy mold growth occurred after a pipe leaked while this home was vacant.

SERVPRO specializes in remediation work of all kinds. This bathroom suffered from microbial growth that wicked almost four feet up the wall. With growth like this, it is required by the IICRC S520 standard to remove all affected materials. Our microbial growth specialists set up containment to keep any particles that may be aerosolized during the work contained in a small area to make clean up easier. They then removed the drywall, door casing, and door jamb and then treated the framing to seal in any spores that may have rooted in non-removable structure items. After all the affected material were removed, they cleaned up any remaining debris, then fogged the contained area to prevent spores from spreading any further.

The reconstruction division then stepped in and replaced the drywall, door jamb, and door casing then finished up with texture and paint to make it look "Like it never even happened."

Your Mold Damage Partner in Kailua

8/27/2017 (Permalink)

Laundry issues such as a leak or a clogged dryer vent can contribute to mold damage in your home. Call SERVPRO to investigate the damage today.

SERVPRO Technicians Remediate Mold Damage in Your Home and Help Prevent a Recurrence

Hawaii has a climate that features daily rains and high humidity in most areas, and our community is no exception. The amount of moisture possible in your home can be significant at any given time, meaning you need to be vigilant and check for microbial growth. Our teams of fully trained mold remediation specialists are always available if the microbes seem to have the upper hand.
 
You have all the safeguards in place to limit mold damage in your Kailua home. Your bathrooms have operating exhaust fans tripped by the rooms’ light switches. The kitchen also features, and you use, a properly sized and vented hood fan over your cooking area. Air conditioning runs as recommended to not only cool the air but also to remove as much moisture as possible. The drains and condenser coils are clean. If despite all, your efforts fail and you notice mold growth in your laundry room, we can help abate the current mold outbreak and assist you in troubleshooting the reason for the mold damage.
 
SERVPRO mold remediation follows the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) protocol. First, we contain the mold, including using negative pressure air scrubbers while we work, venting potentially contaminated air outside. Then we remove the mold colony and any porous materials it infiltrates, and dispose of it according to hazardous waste rules. We finish the cleanup by using professional antimicrobials to destroy this outbreak.
 
The last, but arguably most important, step our technicians take is to find the moisture that fueled this most recent mold problem. The average air humidity in Kailua is always over 60 percent, edging into “danger zone” that encourages mold spores to blossom into colonies. You plan for this with indoor technology that reduces ambient moisture in your home to between 30 and 50 percent. Since you take this care, the mold that does grow is likely feeding off another moisture source. SERVPRO crew members seek and discover unexpected sources of moisture you overlook to get things back into balance.
 
SERVPRO’s inspection reveals a clogged clothes dryer vent, incompletely sending damp air outside of the home when the dryer operates. That moist air supported mold growth. We clean out the vent and recommend consistent removal of lint from the dryer’s filter as another way to reduce moisture in the laundry room. This practical response combined with your other best practices gives your home the best chance to remain mold-free into the future.
 
Mold damage restoration is a specialty of SERVPRO of Kailua North / Laie. Call us at (808) 235-5015 to discuss this common problem in our humid climate. We have solutions to keep the mold under control.

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