MOLD REMOVAL
1. INTRODUCTION
There are several reasons why mold should be removed from an environment rather than killing it with a disinfectant.
First, mold should always be removed from the surface that it is attached to. Simply spraying the mold with a chemical disinfectant may indeed kill the mold, but the dead mold will have the same effect on a person in terms of an immune response. It will not be able to cause a disease, but dead mold will still illicit an allergic response or aggravate asthma symptoms.
Secondly, not removing the mold can result in loss of property value on the home. If mold is present in a crawl space, attic, or some other area of the structure and the moldy surface is disinfected and coated with an encapsulant, the mold is still there. A stigma could also be attached to the home because the mold was not removed, but simply covered up or encapsulated.
Thirdly, because the coating has been applied to a moldy surface, it is likely to fail at a later time. Most coatings require a clean surface to adhere to. If the mold is not removed, the surface has not been properly prepared for the coating and it will not properly adhere to it.
2. METHODS OF MOLD REMOVAL
There are two methods we employ for removing mold professionally. The first is a chemical based mold removal process. A variety of products are available, but a good one that we employ is an H2O2-based cleaner. The second method for removing mold that we employ is dry ice blasting. This is a newer technology and is ideal for removing mold from moldy surfaces, especially wood components in the crawl space of a home. Dry ice blasting is odorless and doesn’t utilize water or add water back to the wood components.
This section is still under construction. In later updates we’ll discuss methods of mold removal in more detail, and why it’s important to remove the mold, rather than just kill it with a disinfectant. We’ll also discuss issues related to application, when it’s good to use chemical based processes and when it’s good to use dry ice blasting.
MORE INFORMATION COMING SOON!