Black Mold Removal
There isn’t much that can invade your privacy more aggressively than black mold, and when it comes to ruining the home or attacking your family’s health, black mold doesn’t discriminate. Over the years, I’ve been called by many frantic homeowners that made the discovery themselves, most of them not finding the mold until it grew from a tiny quarter size spore to a forest of mold that gets too big to go unnoticed.
Whether it’s hidden under the fridge, or a group of concealed spores behind the toilet, or a few small spores underneath a window AC unit, it’s dangerous to your health and can cause serious medical problems if it goes untreated for long periods of time.
Symptoms of black mold exposure
While it’s upsetting and a serious issue to see your home over taken by these nasty things, it’s more important that you make sure that you, your family and pets are not sick or in danger of coming sick from continued exposure. Remember, when it comes to mold, a small issue can quickly turn into a big one. Most of the early symptoms of black mold exposure are very hard to differ from a common cold or winter-time flu, but some of the more recognizable than others like, excessive coughing, fatigue, fever, diarrhea and itching around the eyes, nose and mouth.
If you’re concerned more about exposure, then read my complete list of the symptoms of black mold exposure. The most important thing is the health of you and your family.
Signs of black mold
Black mold is quite the rouge agent. It normally goes unnoticed for months, if not years, because it often lives in walls hidden safely from view by drywall and layers of paint or wallpaper, which is why the black mold removal process can be difficult. But, even with that in mind, it’s important to be aware of what’s going on in your home and inspect your home when you do your regular cleaning session.
Here are some of the usually signs of black mold spreading within your home and some places that are common breeding grounds for spores.
1. If you suspect that you may have mold in your home, start by checking refrigerators, toilets, bathtubs, AC units, ceiling leaks, window seals, doorways, basements, crawlspaces, venting ducts, exhaust fans, attics and defective siding and gutters.
2. Signs of black mold can be little or many depending on the size of the contamination. So, if you have a musty or moldy odor, soft spots or water stains forming on floor, walls and ceilings, warped wood, black growth on bath tiles and even poor ventilation, these can see signs that you may have mold present in your home.
Black mold removal
There is a big myth that bleach will kill and stop the spread of black mold, but honestly, it doesn’t work, since components of bleach prevent it from penetrating deep into porous material (drywall, wood, etc…) to really get rid of the mold.
The single best method for black mold removal is to cut and remove the infected area, replacing it with new material; I highly recommend that you go back with a mold resistant drywall. But in cases of contamination on rafters or parts of your home structure you can use a mold and mildew remover to stop continued growth.
Bottom line – remove the black mold and apply the mold and mildew cleaner to all surrounding surfaces but be sure to figure out what caused it. You don’t want to be tearing out more drywall a couple months from now, because you didn’t actually cause of the black mold.
When it comes to black mold removal, you need to take your time, do some research, get the right materials and finish the job right.