Mold Testing/Abatement
We just discovered a bit of what looks to be mold in the basement of our building. I’m a bit worried, and was going to have a hygienist come in and take air samples and so on, at a pretty high cost, to determine if it is toxic mold. But our handyman said it’s probably…
We just discovered a bit of what looks to be mold in the basement of our building. I’m a bit worried, and was going to have a hygienist come in and take air samples and so on, at a pretty high cost, to determine if it is toxic mold. But our handyman said it’s probably nothing and that he could come in and spray it with a chemical to stop it. Will that suffice? Should we be doing the more extensive testing?
i have a kid with multiple allergies, and when i recently suspected we have a bit of mold, i immediately thought it was a problem for him. but at his annual allergy check-up, i asked for him to be tested for mold (several common strains), and to my surprise, he is not allergic to it. i don’t know about all this toxic mold stuff, but i just thought i’d mention it–to suggest that a bit of mold is probably not as scary, health-wise, as a lot of folks seem to think.
very good advice from all above
What kind of surface is the mold on? Is it sheetrock? Is this an unfinished basement (i.e. mechanicals and storage?
1. Find the water source and stop it.
2. If it is sheetrock and you don’t need it, get rid of it. If you need a wall there, build it some other way than with sheetrock. Damp sheetrock is a petri dish for mold.
3. If it is wood, treat it with a bleach solution once the wood has dried.
4. If there is no leak, just humidity, find a way to vent the basement (permanently) so fresh air circulates.
If this is a “bit” of mold, stop the leak, don’t worry about the mold. And there’s not necessarily such a thing as “toxic” mold or untoxic mold. It’s complicated. Stopping the leak is important.
as they say, mold is the new asbestos!
You need to determine what is causing it or it will come back.
wow this whole mold paranoia is really en vogue now, isn’t it.
Used to be just a scrub brush and a bucket of bleach to the area. My guess is that is what your handyman means by “chemicals”. You should focus your attention on where/why the mold is growing in the first place.