Mold cleanup is a much more involved process than many people think. Mold is actually quite difficult to clean up and can spread throughout an entire home in a clumsy attempt to remove it. For these reasons, and others, people often make mistakes when attempting to remove mold. Here are four common mold cleanup mistakes that we at Certi-Dry in the Madison area encounter on a regular basis. We hope that by reading these you will be able to avoid making the same mistakes in the future.
It doesn’t matter how well you clean up the mold you find unless you clean up ALL of the mold. It is very common for people trying to clean up mold to get most of it but not all of it. Unfortunately, when not all of the mold is removed, it usually grows back quickly. As a result, many people perpetually deal with mold problems and feel that there is no way to actually solve the root of the problem. That is not true! With professional mold removal help from Certi-Dry, you can have your mold problem eliminated for good.
Bleach is an effective means of removal for some types of mold. However, there are many types of mold that bleach does not work on. As a general rule of thumb, bleach effectively kills mold when the mold is growing on non-porous surfaces like tile, bathtubs, and glass. On porous surfaces like wood and drywall, however, bleach is not an effective solution. This is because the bleach is not able to sufficiently penetrate into porous surfaces to reach all of the mold.
Painting over mold will hide the problem for a time, but that’s about it. It won’t take long for the mold to spread underneath the paint and eventually grow through it, leaving you right back where you started. One reason why some people believe that painting over mold will kill it, is because mold resistant paints are available. However, these paints only work on mold-free surfaces to prevent mold from growing at all, not on surfaces where mold is already present.
It’s very easy to spread mold during the cleanup process. Scrubbing moldy surfaces, tearing up moldy carpet, cutting out moldy drywall, all these things can disturb mold spores and send them floating around in the air, where they can easily drift into other areas of the home. To prevent mold spores from spreading throughout the house, it is best to seal off the affected area with large sheets of plastic along with covering all vents. This is another reason why hiring a professional mold remediation contractor is wise because they will have all the necessary equipment and training to seal off areas and prevent mold from spreading to other areas of your home.
If you find yourself facing a mold damage problem, please don’t hesitate to contact Certi-dry for more information on how we can restore your home to a mold-free environment.