Tips focus on removing water
—-Mold: You know it’s not a good thing, but only the people who remove it for a living know how insidious it can be.
And after the torrential rains and flooding throughout the area, a lot of people should probably be on the lookout for it.
Even if you’ve replaced drywall, the spores can hide in the wood framing behind, even if it’s dry to the touch, said Ed King, owner of King’s Cleaning Services.
A local building and development services coordinator, said he was recently in a home that had vacuumed water out, only for the mold to find a cozy home in the tiny pits in some concrete.
If anything is wet and not totally dried out within a 36- to 72-hour period, assume you have mold.
And it has different health effects on different people. It’s nothing to mess around with. It’s hard to get rid of. Contact a professional with experience before attempting to remediation yourself.
The experts emphasize basically the same fact about mold: Without water, it can’t grow.
But if it looks like mold and it smells like mold, it’s probably not dust.
“I see spots on my wall that I suspect are mold, I’m going to spend the bucks to get somebody in to check better,” Ed said. “And stopping at concrete or dry wall isn’t enough if it’s connected snugly with wood framing.”
“It’s hard to get it dry without air movement and dehumidification,” he said.
King’s Cleaning Services advises people to check out the Virginia Department of Health’s web page for tips on dealing with post-flood mold.
The site backs up the local experts: “The most practical and reliable tools for detecting a mold problem are your eyes and nose.”
And, it should be addressed immediately.