House Mold Removal, Mildew Odor Control
House Mold Removal and Odor Control – Allergy-Proofing Q&A
From: “Susan B
Subject: Moldy old house
Question:
Hi there,
I’ve enjoyed Allergy Consumer Review for several years now and finally have a question I’d like to ask.
My mother and I are considering swapping homes, so that I could live in our family house and she could move into my two-bedroom condo.
Unfortunately, the house has been neglected for well over a decade. Because it is always damp and cold, there is mold growing on some of the walls and furniture (which I’d like to salvage), and there is a pervasive stench of mildew. The roof also needs to be repaired or replaced in several spots where the ceiling is swelled and dripping.
And I won’t even mention the bug problem…
What steps would you suggest to ensure that the house is allergy-proofed before I move in? Are there professionals I could call to evaluate the condition of the home — and its potential before I get started? And how can I be certain that it won’t start to deteriorate again in years to come?
I’d appreciate your advice.
Susan
Answer:
Hi Susan,
There are many things you need to consider before moving in.
The first thing to do is to perform a mold test in various sections of the house where you think the mold is present. Once you perform the tests and get the results back, you can determine how extensive the mold problem is and if you should have it professionally removed.
Also, if you have mold that is active in the house, it is highly likely the mold spores are emitting mycotoxins, which are Volatile Organic Compounds (V.O.C.s), into the air that can cause various symptoms in people depending on their allergies. These can range from headaches to dizziness to tiredness and other neurological symptoms. Setting up and running portable air cleaners with a HEPA filter for the mold spores and gas filters for the V.O.C.s will help in reducing the amount of allergens and gases in the air directly associated with the mold.
Next and most important, is that the source of the mold is determined and remedied. If the source of the mold is the leaks in the roof, they need to be fixed because the mold problem will reoccur if you clean up the mold. If you are also having a humidity problem, I would recommend a dehumidifier to maintain a relative humidity of 50% or below. This will help in two important areas. The first is mold creation. One of the things necessary for mold to develop is water in a liquid state or high water vapor in the air. If this is controlled, the development of mold will be extremely difficult. The second way a dehumidifier would help would be in the control of dust mites, which thrive in environments of 60% humidity and higher.
It will then be necessary to eradicate the mold that is present in the home. The reason is that use of the dehumidifier will prevent the mold growth from getting any worse, but it will not kill the mold and remove it. If in the future you have any moisture develop from a leak or if your dehumidifier turns off or breaks, this mold could become active within 24 hours. Therefore, I recommend you remove it.
I will give you some helpful hints on how to remove mold with some URLs of websites.
Here is some useful information:
The following are ways to remove mold:
You want to isolate the area where you think the mold is. You want to wear gloves and a mask because the mold spores will be disturbed when you clean it and they will become airborne. That is also why you want to isolate the mold so it will not land somewhere else to redevelop. You should go over the area to be treated with a HEPA vacuum to remove any of the loosened mold spores.
Three natural solutions that kill mold:
- You can use 2 teaspoons of tea tree treasure with 2 cups of water mixed in a spray bottle and apply it to the area and let it sit. Do not rinse. The smell will be very strong but it works. It is expensive but a little goes a long way.
- Remove mold is with citrus seed extract, which is odorless, so this may be your preference. You mix 20 drops of citrus seed extract with 2 cups of water in a spray bottle and apply it to the problem areas. Do not rinse. You may see the citrus seed extract listed as grapefruit seed extract.
- Remove mold is with straight vinegar. This is the least expensive method but as you can imagine the smell isn’t pleasant at all and the smell sticks around. Straight vinegar will kill 82% of mold. Pour some white distilled vinegar straight into a spray bottle and spray it on the moldy surface and let set without rinsing. The smell should dissipate in a few hours.
There is another way to kill the mold and it involves no chemicals or additives. It is the use of a dry vapor steam cleaner which because the temperature of the steam is in the area of 180 to 220 degrees, most molds will be killed. The reason is most molds are heat sensitive and will be killed at temperatures of 160 degrees and above. However, there are many types of mold, and some of them are not heat sensitive, so the hot dry steam will have no effect on them. You simply go over the surface of the areas where the mold is present, and let the heat of the steam kill the mold. You can remove it with a towel after the steam is applied and you can also apply the steam directly through a towel attached to the brush, so the mold will be killed and absorbed directly into the towel at the same time.
As far as cleaning the mold from the furniture, I recommend first going over them with a Hepa vacuum so any surface mold spores would be removed. Then, I would clean the items with a solution of hot water and detergent or non-ammonia soap. Scrub the entire area where you believe the mold is present. Rinse the cleaned areas with water and dry thoroughly.
Keep in mind, mold spores whether they are dead or alive will cause an allergic reaction if you are allergic to them.
Once the mold is remediated, continued use of your dehumidifier to maintain a relative humidity of 50% will eliminate the possibility of mold redeveloping in the future.
You can also consider one other way to prevent mold from reoccurring in the future and this would be the use of the Airfree Sterilizer which we have on our website. Each unit will sterilize an area of 250 square feet with an average ceiling height of 8 feet so it will control an area of 2000 cubic feet. The unit works by taking in the microorganisms in the air by convection where they are incinerated at 400 to 600 degrees in a chamber. From there the air is cooled and then emitted back into the room through the top. The sterilization process occurs slowly over a 3 to 4 week period and the result will be no airborne micro organisms which would include mold, bacteria, viruses, germs, and protein based particulates such as pet dander and dust mite fecal material. The great thing about this unit is that once you have removed the airborne mold from the room, it is very difficult for mold to develop in the area, due to the fact you have removed one of the three things necessary for mold to grow. This is the presence of airborne mold spores. Normally, there will always be an abundance of these because they are in great supply in the outdoors and some of them will always circulate into the inside of your house. However, the use of the Airfree Sterilizer will eliminate them so mold formation will become very difficult.
The use of a dehumidifier is also very helpful against the development of mold because you will be controlling another one of the three things necessary for mold to develop, which is water in the liquid state or high relative humidity of water vapor in the air. Once the humidity is above 55 to 60 percent any condensation occurring will allow mold to begin to form and grow on a surface. Lowering the relative humidity with a dehumidifier will lower the dew point in the room, making the occurrence of condensation forming on a surface unlikely. Keep in mind, the third thing necessary for mold to develop is there needs to be a proper surface, which will be next to impossible to prevent unless everything is covered in plastic and inorganic materials. Any surface such as wallboard, wood, concrete, etc. is a good breeding surface for mold. So, as you can see it is the other two areas we need to focus our attention on.
Finally, as far as the bugs are concerned, you would need to find out what kind of bugs you have. If it is mainly the dust mites you can control them on your own. However, if they are ants or termites you would need to hire an exterminator.
I hope this information will be helpful.
Sincerely,
Dave Barnaby
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