Mold Remediation & Removal Near Me
It can get on rotting food, it can get in the walls, it can get under the fridge. It’s mold, and while we understand that mold can be bad for our health and wellness, we often underestimate how bad it can be. Even worse, we are slow to look up mold removal near me services whenever we see the signs of a mold contamination and infestation.
Mold damage can cause a lot of problems for a household infested by it, and it’s important to understand what mold is and why it is so harmful, before we call upon a mold remediation specialist near me to have the mold in your home removed from the home.
What Is Mold and What Are Mold Spores?
Mold is a type of fungi, made from sports that grow in multicellular structures called hyphae. The spores that make up mold can be found everywhere, but in order to truly grow and thrive, the mold spores need moisture to become the hairy fungus we see and know. Anywhere where there is water is a place where mold can form, and mold in your home isn’t what you need.
Under the fridge, after water leaks, in the bathroom, and after flooding. These are all places where mold can start to grow and fester, and simply having mold grow anywhere is bad. Mold damages whatever it grows on, so for starters, a moldy wall or section of floor is going to be almost irreversibly damaged. The spores can also be breathed in if you don’t have proper protection, and they can cause problems breathing. Additionally certain types of mold damage can also cause diseases and illnesses as well.
How To Know If You Have Mold?
For the most part, you will be able to tell the presence of mold from the sight and the smell, and you often will smell mold before you see it. The smell is often very musty and wet, and can also cause sneezing. So look around for any areas where water and humidity could develop, and you might find mold damage and a way to spread mold spores.
Whenever you find mold in your home or business, then you need to start looking for a mold removal near me service to get rid of it. It is providing no benefits at all for you, and can be very dangerous if left to grow unchecked.
What Is Black Mold?
One of the many types of mold you can find is Black Mold, also called Stachybotrys Chartarum. This type of mold is special and dangerous because it releases mycotoxins, a toxic byproduct that can not only break down whatever it is growing on, but can also cause severe health issues for people and pets. Black mold is often called toxic mold due to the problems it can have on infants and those who already have pre-existing health conditions that mess with their breathing. If you have a dark, wet, and warm area where mold can grow, chances are black mold is growing and will also survive. If inspecting these areas leads you to find a dark green or black growth of mold, and if it looks like it has a slimy green moisture atop it, it is probably black mold.
In any case, no matter the type of mold, you need to have it removed right away by a mold removal professional. The longer the mold stays in your home unopposed, the longer it has to cause damage to both the structure of your house by infesting contaminated materials and cause damage to the health of the people living inside it.
How much does it cost to remove a mold infestation with mold remediation?
Once you’ve found the mold, then comes the talk about mold removal cost. Mold infestations and contaminated materials should be removed professionally (more about that in the next section), and there are several factors that can easily influence the cost of the mold removal. Because of this, it is hard to give an exact estimate as to the cost of removing a mold problem, but we can break down some of the factors.
First, the biggest factor is going to be where the mold is in the home and how much mold is inside the house, as well as where it is. If you have mold inside the house on a wall in the bathroom, it can be removed with some bleach and a bit of time. But larger infestations of mold that require the destruction and removal of parts of your house, can and will cost more.
For example, mold can grow very easily in dark and poorly ventilated areas of the home such as attics and basements. If the problem isn’t caught or stopped, then the mold can easily cause a lot of damage to the area, and the cost of getting it removed could skyrocket.
Small mold patches can be removed for around $50 to $100 dollars, with payment only needing to be done for the mold cleaner and the gear that will need to be worn. However, if the mold infestation is much larger, then it can cost around $6,000 to $7,000 to completely clear everything out.
Finally, the type of mold can play a role in how easy it is for a laborer to remove. Some mold simply rests on the surface and won’t eat away or sink into the materials underneath, while other types of mold get underneath the surface and require the affected areas to be removed and replaced.
Can I remove mold myself?
Removing mold yourself is something you can do only if the problem is small. So if you notice mold in the bathroom or underneath your fridge, you can do it yourself. For larger problems with mold infestations in the house, you will need to contact a professional mold remover to solve the problem for you.
You will need to wear certain things in order to avoid exposing yourself or others in the home to health risks related to mold. You will need to wear gloves, such as rubber gloves or gloves made from PVC, as you should never touch moldy surfaces with your bare hands. You should also wear goggles without ventilation holes, as you don’t want mold spores from the cleaning to get into your eyes. Finally, you should wear a mask or respirator, which can be bought or rented from most hardware stores.
First, focus on reducing the causes of the mold in the area rather than the mold itself. Dry the wet area, work to reduce the humidity inside the room, and increase the temperature or insulation in order to prevent water from forming. Once that is done, you can don your protective gear and then scrub the now dry surface with cleaning supplies.
You can use undiluted white vinegar to kill a mold problem, a bleach solution of one cup of bleach to one gallon of water, or a half and half solution of ammonia and water. Additionally, you can buy mold cleaners designed to kill certain types of mold as well.
The instructions for each of these cleaners are different, but for most of them, you need to apply the mixture to the moldy surface, wait a while, and then rinse it off and dry the area with a rag.
The Mold Remediation Process Outside The House
If you have found mold growth outside the home, you will need to use the same protective gear to clean mold inside and then spray the affected surface with a ten to one mixture of water and bleach (ten parts water to one part bleach), and then scrub any tougher stains with a thick brush dipped in the solution. After twenty minutes of waiting, you can rinse the affected area with a garden hose.
Of course, if you wait too long to remove the mold outside the house, it might eat into the porous materials in your walls or deck, and may require a professional to remove the mold that has gotten into the material, rather than just removing the mold on the surface.
What removes mold permanently?
For cleaning, most of the time bleach is the best option to use in order to remove mold on your walls and floor. Putting a glass of bleach in a gallon of lukewarm water can do the trick when it comes to removing mold, and you can just dip a stiff bristle brush into the solution and start scrubbing away to kill the mold growth.
Additionally, it has been shown in studies that hydrogen peroxide vinegar has anti fungal properties, and the combination of hydrogen peroxide and distilled white vinegar has been proven to be safer than bleach for removing mold. Plus, it can more easily get inside porous surfaces where mold has a very tight grip on your walls and floor.
Still, the best way to remove mold permanently without a risk of it coming back is to prevent mold from being able to grow in the area in the first place. Make sure to dry any wet areas or fix any leaks or problems that caused the area of your home to become wet in the first place. If you can, focus on making the area less humid with a dehumidifier,, and regularly check the area for mold so you can catch the growth before it spreads. That’s the only way to kill mold permanently and prevent it from coming back.
Do you need professionals to remove mold?
Professional mold remediation are needed to remove mold whenever the problem is too big to be handled alone, or the mold is in a hard to reach place. If you’ve let a mold problem fester and get worse in your home, or you fear that the mold isn’t just surface deep, then you need to be looking for mold removal near me services. If you’re in need of water damage restoration click here.
Only professional mold removal services will be able to properly access the damage to your home, remove the mold fully and thoroughly, point out the problems that caused the mold to get that bad in the first place, and make sure that your entire home is mold free and ready to be lived in again.
Don’t wait, because once you discover mold the problem is only going to get worse, and it will cause damage to your home and your health. So look for a specialist in mold removal as soon as possible, or take a stab at removing the mold yourself. Just don’t think that the mold will go away on its own. If you need general plumbing services, call us, and we can help you with whatever issue you may have.