Discovering  a residential mold outbreak causes understandable concern for homeowners. Mold can significantly damage and weaken building materials. Household goods, furnishings, decor, fixtures, and personal belongings are also in harm's way. If you suspect mold is multiplying in your home, take action immediately to prevent an infestation from spreading. Contact a mold remediation professional like the industry leader AdvantaClean to assess your residence's unique situation,   remediate the current outbreak, and help inhibit future mold growth.

How Does Mold Get Inside My Home?

Spores are the reproductive cells of fungi commonly called mold. They are invisible as they float on air currents, settle on surfaces, or sift into cracks and crevices. Uncountable quantities of spores are always in the environment, most doing the essential task of breaking down organic waste outside. Many spores are also in residences. Any time people or pets enter your home or a breeze blows through open doors or windows, additional spores hitch a ride from the outside. 

Why Does Mold Grow in Only Some Residences?

Considering the sheer number of spores likely found in most homes, it is fair to wonder what causes residential mold to infest a particular dwelling while remaining inactive in others. The reasons are simple. The perfect conditions for spore germination and the spread of fungal organisms might be present in your home but not in others. It is a short list including:

  • Oxygen
  • Standing water or damp materials where spores are present to absorb the moisture
  • Temperatures typical of what humans maintain for comfort in living, storage areas, foundations, crawl spaces, and building cavities

What Are Signs of Residential Mold?

Perhaps the number one signal that your home suffers from microbial growth is an unpleasant, musty smell created as the organisms grow and generate new spores. Sometimes a homeowner sees the feathery, leathery mold colonies on a surface--think about what might show up in the corners of a shower or under a leaky window air conditioning unit. Colors vary from white to black depending on the species of fungi, with almost all the colors of the rainbow possible. However, a mold invasion often hides under a damp carpet, between walls, in hard-to-access basement or crawl spaces, or other unseen areas. Finding active colonies then requires more detective work. AdvantaClean’s mold experts seek signs of water damage and evidence of organic surface breakdowns:

  • Bubbling or bulging paint or loosened wall coverings 
  • Softened or crumbling drywall or plaster
  • Swelling or warping wood on floors, baseboards, rafters, studs, and joists

Expect the AdvantaClean team to check all areas in your residence for most, using step ladders and flashlights to confirm growth and damage in low or no light and cramped circumstances.

How Does AdvantaClean Remediate Residential Mold?

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Before we explain the process, let's take a moment to explain why AdvantaClean is careful to term our services as remediation. Although we do remove mold colonies, it is impossible to eradicate all mold particles, especially spores, in your home. What is possible and highly effective in preventing future mold growth are the following remediation interventions AdvantaClean recommends and delivers:

  • Find and eliminate water and moisture sources--moisture management is the key to sustainable mold remediation, identified by the standard-setting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the most critical component when ridding a residence of active mold growth and damage.

 

  • Contain the work areas using heavy-duty polyethylene wraps and negative pressure air scrubbing equipment, venting contaminants to the outside rather than allowing drift inside your residence. Technicians must wear personal protective equipment (PPE).

 

  • Use brushes, scrapers, and controlled media blasting to dislodge and hinder the growth of organisms. 

 

  • Gather and bag the mold and moldy residues, including irreparably damaged porous building materials and contents, for lawful disposal as hazardous waste under local regulations.

 

  • Vacuum up debris and loose particles with HEPA filter-equipped units and wipe down with EPA-approved cleaning products.

 

  • Apply EPA-registered antimicrobials to affected and cleaned surfaces to prevent mold growth rebound.


AdvantaClean's professional mold remediation services are practical and successful, and our team follows the IICRC and NORMI standards to ensure a positive outcome. Have confidence in us to get the job done right.

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