Dealing with mold in your property can be quite stressful. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, mold problems can damage air quality and can cause various health effects. These include allergies, runny noses, coughing, and even skin rashes. Mold exposure can also cause serious problems in those with sensitive health conditions such as asthma.
In addition to causing health problems, black mold can also cause major damage to your property including blackening your walls and even rotting and debilitating the entire structure.
Consequently, mold removal is essential when dealing with molden real estate. It is vital you stop the spread of mold on your property and you do so in the safest and most effective manner. In this post, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about mold removal.
Table of Contents
What is Mold Removal?
Mold removal refers to physically removing all mold spores in affected areas. This is a vital step in the entire mold remediation process that also includes mold testing, demolition, sanitizing, containment, and cleaning.
It is important to note that complete mold removal is impossible. There are spores of mold everywhere in the air, and they are microscopic, meaning removing them entirely from the environment is not possible.
Mold removal targets those mold spores that have settled on damp areas and began growing as active mold. Having active mold growing in your property is what becomes dangerous to your health and property structure and what must be removed.
How to Remove Mold?
Cleaning up mold isn’t easy, especially since molden real estate usually involves various affected areas, and the mold is not necessarily limited to a singular space. In order to effectively remove mold, you need a selection of tools, protective equipment, and materials, that includes:
Tools Required
N-95 respirator
Rubber gloves
Safety glasses
Scrub brush
Shop vacuum
Utility knife
Materials Required
6 mil plastic garbage bags
Bleach (properties with mild mold damage might not require bleach)
Water
Detergent
Painter’s tape
Plastic sheeting
Step-by-Step Process
- Put on the necessary safety equipment.
This includes a N-95 respirator, rubber gloves, and safety glasses to protect your skin, eyes, mouth, and nose. You should also wear old clothes you can throw out later.
- Target water damage areas.
If you’re dealing with water damage, you should focus on drying everything in your property. This includes removing water from floors, carpets, and hard surfaces using a wet vacuum.
- Ensure proper ventilation.
You should open all windows and doors of the area you are working in and leave them open as you work. Windows and doors opened should not lead to other rooms as you need to contain the mold in the area you are working in.
- Remove moldy carpet.
If the carpet has been affected by mold, you should remove it by cutting it into smaller pieces with a utility knife. Then, wrap and tape it in 6-mm plastic garbage bags. Moldy carpets should be disposed of.
- Seal off the affected area.
Any room you’re working in must be sealed off from the rest of the property. This is in order to avoid mold from getting into unaffected areas. You should cover the door by overlapping plastic sheeting and taping it to the wall and floor.
- Scrub off mold.
Mix water and detergent and use your scrub brush to scrub any visible mold in your walls. Ensure you only dampen the area, not soak and dry it as soon as you can after scrubbing. After using detergent, you can also use bleach if the area is still too moldy.
Porous materials such as drywall might need to be replaced as they are harder to clean. Other materials such as wood might need sanding after scrubbing to ensure all mold is off.
- Clean up after removal.
It is also important to ensure that once the mold is removed from your walls or floors, no particles are left in the area. Using a wet vacuum, clean up the floor off any residue.
- Dispose of the tools and materials.
All safety equipment and clothing you used must be thrown away. All materials used to seal off the room must also be disposed of. Additionally, you should throw away and replace your vacuum’s filter, and thoroughly clean the vacuum with a bleach and water solution.
Mold Removal Safety Precautions
- Wear protective equipment to cover your skin, eyes, mouth, and nose.
- Also wear old clothing that covers your arms and legs and you can throw away after.
- According to the CDC, you should avoid mixing cleaning products such as bleach and ammonia as they can create toxic vapors. You should stick to a single cleaning product.
- After mold removal, throw away all clothes, rags, protective equipment, and other tools that cannot be thoroughly cleaned.
- Ensure you have proper ventilation, airing out the room safely (this means, avoid opening windows and doors that lead to other rooms, only open those who lead outside).
Where Can I Get Mold Removal Services?
The CDC ensures mold removal can be too difficult and dangerous for homeowners and renters to carry out themselves. The best way to deal with mold in real estate is hiring mold remediation professionals.
At Mold Remediation of Orlando, we have 25 years of experience in the home maintenance business. If you require mold remediation services in Orlando, you can count on our experts to safely and effectively inspect, test, remove, clean, and restore your property. Don’t handle mold on your own, trust our mold remediation professionals.