Why Traditional Remediation Does Not Get Rid of Mold

I have often been asked about traditional demolition-heavy remediation. Let me first say, I believe there is a time and a place for it. Of course, when your home has, as an example, been flooded, you need to remove the wet material, dry out everything, and rebuild. However, this process has its limitations. Let's go through, step by step, and discuss what a traditional mold remediation company would do in the case of a basement bedroom flood.

1. Cut off the water supply, or water problem, immediately.
2. Contain the area — in this case, the basement bedroom. This may mean using plastic and duct tape.
3. Often they will set up a negative air system, in an attempt to keep all mold spores within the bedroom. Think of pulling air into the bedroom, as opposed to blowing it throughout the home.
4. With containment up, they may put filters, fans and heaters in the area to dry out all wet items including walls, carpets, etc.
5. Next, they will remove whatever is deemed unusable, or damaged beyond repair.
6. All moldy items get bagged in a plastic bag and hauled outside.
7. Once all items are removed, they may or may not spray a fungicide in wet mist form on all affected areas.
8. Still with containment intact, they rebuild items deemed unrepairable.
9. After the rebuild, with containment still intact, they will run air scrubbers for a few days in an attempt to remove spores, hyphae, etc. within the contained area.
10. Approximately, and as a national average, 10 to 30 days after the initial flood, they may or may not run an air quality test within the plastic containment area.
11. At this point, they pull down the plastic, remove the equipment, and report the project as complete.

I hope that as we detailed the steps, the obvious gap in the approach became apparent. Let's back up to pre-flood house history and discuss.

Let's assume this house is 15 to 20 years old. As homes age, the "mold load" within a home increases. It has to increase. Every home, regardless of the level of housekeeping, has little pockets of mold growth. These include bathroom tile, bathroom flooring, windows and window sills, carpet near water, clothing, sink drains, floor drains, rags, etc. All of these small areas have mold growth to some degree. Undoubtedly these little areas will spore, and either 1. add more mold to these areas, or 2. find a new pocket. Remember mold remains viable for years. The cumulative effect of all these little pockets becomes an elevated mold load within a home over the years. You don't believe this? Someone explain the "grandma and grandpa" smell of an older home. Of course, it is mold — elevated mold load. Various changes in building codes, materials, and styles have made the problem more common. So let's assume that on a scale of 1-20, with 20 being a moldy home with visible mold, elevated mold spore counts, and mold odor, this home the week before the flood was an 8. 8 is a reasonable guess, since the EPA says that up to 50 percent of homes and buildings are affected by elevated mold levels. When the flood occurred, within 24 hours the "8" climbed to a 14. When the disaster company came in and did their work for the next two weeks on just the basement bedroom, the house likely dropped to a 10. It's not going back to an 8, since the initial flood would have elevated the mold load throughout the home. The mold created during the early stages of the flood undoubtedly sent spores throughout the home. Even if the disaster company removed every spore, hyphae, and mycelium they could reach, the home would have increased in overall mold load with the elevated humidity during the flood and the actions taken during cleanup. Double-bagging with a twist tie does not reliably prevent a mold spore from escaping into the rest of the home.

Furthermore, the thing of most concern is that the disaster company will now declare the home "clear," and the customer will assume the problem is solved.

What is missing with traditional remediation techniques? The failure to address that the entire home could carry an elevated mold load, and likely does. The water intrusion did not bring the mold that followed. The mold load and corresponding mold spores were already in the home before the flood. The spores simply landed on the wet material. So removing the "wet stuff" only removes the spores that happened to land on the moisture and start to grow. The flood likely just elevated an already moldy home. Again, the EPA says up to half of homes have moisture problems and elevated mold. The flood simply brought this to the surface.

Pure Maintenance is among the first companies in the nation to stress the point that the entire home can carry an elevated mold load, not just where the water came in. The mold did not, or likely did not, come with the water intrusion. The mold was already in the home at elevated levels, and the mold spores in the home found the water. Spot rebuild does not address the mold load of the entire home. It just makes the wet stuff go away. Often, it is more affordable and more effective to find your local Pure Maintenance licensee and work toward returning your entire home to a lower, more stable mold load.