Showing posts with label mould. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mould. Show all posts

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Getting Mold Off of Fabrics

Most of us who have lived in a home for a while have collected a large number of fabric items, including clothing, sheets, blankets, and linens, but sometime we run across an old and neglected item that has been in the back of the closet for quite a while and has become molded. If you do happen to find an item like this in your home, it is best that you go wash your hands after handling it as soon as possible, since letting mold come into contact with your bare hands can cause skin rashes and sometimes allergic reactions.

These items can be cleaned most of the time, depending on how advanced the contamination of mold is, but unfortunately, many times it will leave behind stains. Cleaning mold off of white fabric is fairly easy, since bleach can be used to remove stains, but if you are cleaning mold off of colored items, getting rid of the mold stains may be a little more difficult.

Borax laundry detergent can be used to kill and remove the mold, but you should use an old toothbrush to remove any substantial growth. Always wear latex or rubber gloves of some kind before working with these items and you can put a pre-wash stain remover on them to help with the stain removal process. Allow this to soak on it for about 45 minutes before you wash it the first time. Things should usually be washed in borax detergent at least twice and instead of using the electric dryer to dry them out, let them dry naturally outside the house.

A bad thing about mold contaminating items of clothing and furniture is that natural items like leather do not do very well. These items can rarely, if ever, be restored to their original condition. Leather becomes discolored fairly easily and since mold’s job in nature is to decompose organic material, this is to be expected.

Use a vacuum cleaner that has a HEPA filter on it to get rid of mold that can collect on drapes and furniture. Using this will collect the majority of mold spores from the air and capture them. When you are emptying the filter, however, do it slowly, so you do not stir the contents back up into the air. If possible, you should do this outside.

Air purifying systems are also available and will help reduce the amount of mold spores in your home, thus reducing the chance that it will build up on your clothing in the closet or in drawers. Purchase one of these that can handle your homes square footage or it will not work as intended.

Ditra and Exhaust Fans Prevent Water Damage

Even though mold can grow anywhere in your house, there are some rooms that are at risk for developing it more than others and these are generally the places in the home that have a sizeable quantity of water passing through them every day, like the kitchen and the bathroom. These are the two rooms in your home that require the most maintenance and attention in order to keep them in good shape while you are living in your home. However, it really only takes a casual inspection every once in a while to make sure that no problems with mold or water damage are developing.

In the bathroom, the most important surface is the floor. This holds up everything else in the room and if this goes, so does everything else, so preventing water and mold damage to this surface is extremely important. You can do this by making sure that the floor is completely water tight and there is no way for spilled water to get underneath the flooring installed in the room. If it does, it can cause mold to grow and the subfloor to begin rotting. Installing Schluter-Ditra, a waterproofing membrane, will give you an extra bit of protection against this, so if you are remodeling your bathroom, you really want to consider adding this to the room. Any other room that could have a major spill of water like a laundry room or kitchen could also benefit from this.

The ceiling can be just as important, since allowing it to become soaked with water can lead to sagging, cracking, and eventual collapse of the drywall. This happens when the steam and heat in the room goes up to the ceiling and has nowhere else to go. Most building codes have regulations requiring that a bathroom have at least a window or an exhaust vent, but it is best to have both of these, since leaving the window open might not be practical in all cases. Spending a couple hundred dollars and a few hours installing exhaust vents in the humid rooms of the house can help with the maintenance of them and save you money over time.

Something else that you need to do is make sure that water on the floor stays cleaned up as much as possible and that wet items of clothing get washed and dried as soon as possible instead of being left out or thrown in with dry dirty items.

Exhaust Fans and Ditra Prevent Mold

Mold can grow all over the house but there are a few rooms that are a bit more at risk for mold growth than all the others and this is usually due to the amount of inherent moisture that passes through them on a day to day basis. You may not realize it if you are just moving into a home of your own after college or getting out of your parents’ house, but the kitchen and the bathroom are the two areas of the home that require the most attention to keep them in tip top shape over the years (or just months) you will be living there.

All surfaces in your bathroom that are porous are in danger of mold growth, which is why you never want to install a porous flooring material in this room. Materials like hardwood or carpet are very bad for this and other wet rooms of the house like the kitchen and laundry room, so installing something like ceramic tile or sealed stone is going to be much better. Even if you install these hard materials, you can still have problems with mold and water damage underneath them if they are not sealed properly. You should check regularly for missing areas of caulking or grout, since this can allow water to get to the wooden subfloor and cause it to rot. You also need to check for this in the kitchen, since the same problem can come up. You can help prevent it, though, by installing Schluter-Ditra before you put the flooring material in. This is a layer of waterproofing material that will give you an added level of protection against water damage and mold growth.

Another problem appears on the ceiling if there is no vent or fan to allow the steam and heat from the room to escape to the exterior of the house. The ceiling will absorb this moisture since it has nowhere to escape to and will become waterlogged. Mold starts to grow on wet surfaces like this in a relatively short period of time, so making sure that the steam created by the bath or shower gets out is very important. This is also a problem in the kitchen when there is no exhaust system over the stove. You can fix this in both of these areas and other areas of the home with high humidity by installing an exhaust fan that will pull it out of the room with the flick of a switch.

Friday, January 18, 2008

What You Need When Removing Mold

A lot of people dream of purchasing a home that is a “fixer-upper”, but many are wary about purchasing homes that are contaminated with mold in different areas. Depending on how old the home is, what condition it is in structurally, and where it is located, it may be feasible to attempt to remediate the home yourself on top of the normal remodeling that you are going to have to do. When you have to remodel a home due to cosmetic issues, a lot of the time you have to remove building materials, anyway, so why not go the extra mile and remove the mold from the home?

Professional remediation can be expensive, but if you know what you are doing and know what equipment you will need to take up the job and complete it successfully, you could have a gem of a house in not a large amount of time.

If you do choose to remediate the home yourself instead of hiring a professional, you might want to know what you will need to do it. Hiring someone to at least assess the remediation needs of the home is advised. Some heavy duty chemicals that will kill the mold will be necessary if it is growing on non-porous surfaces like tile. Almost anything else that is contaminated by mold, such as drywall, will have to be removed and replaced. Remove any and everything from the home with mold on it; do not let it come into contact with new building materials that you have purchased.

Heavy duty trash bags and a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter system on it are recommended. The vacuum will remove any mold spores from the floor after the remediation job is done with.

Respirators are a must when taking on a mold remediation job. Even if the infection is not that severe, breathing mold spores is still a hazard to your health and many problems can arise. You may be allergic and not even know it. Purchase a good quality respirator if you plan on taking out any drywall or old wood. Protective clothing so the spores do not get on your skin is also a good idea. Purchase a roll of duct tape to seal the gaps between your protective suit and your shoes. Disposable protective clothing for mold remediation is available and it not very expensive. The most expensive piece of equipment you will need is the respirator and there is no reason to skimp on that part.

The Mold Remediation Equipment You Need

Depending on how much mold needs to be removed from your home, the equipment that you will need in order to finish the job will vary greatly. If you cannot afford to hire a professional and plan on doing the entire job yourself, you probably want to know the best and safest way to complete the job. If you do not take care, you should realize that kind of biological hazard that you are exposing yourself to if you do not purchase the right level of protection equipment. This can include aggravation of your asthma, emphysema, the occurrence of skin rashes, respiratory infections, and eye infections can result, among other health complications. If you are sure you want to take on this job by yourself, consider yourself warned.

Washing mold off of drywall or other porous surfaces with chemicals will work only on a superficial level. It will not kill the mold that has worked its way into the depth of the drywall and contaminated the other side in the wall. Most drywall that becomes contaminated with mold will need to be completely replaced. If the mold growth appears to be light and you catch it new, you might be able to avoid this. Purchase heavy duty trash bags that will hold all the contaminated materials that you remove from the home, but make sure to not touch contaminated items to non-contaminated items, because of the possibility of cross-contamination.

Respirators should be used when doing any kind of mold remediation job. An N-95 respirator is recommended at the very least for light jobs and for more extensive jobs, a full face respirator with a HEPA filter should be purchased. These larger jobs are usually done on older houses that are being renovated and almost completely gutted to remove contamination, but any job that requires removing drywall and throwing it away requires a respirator of some level. A full face mask will cost you around $130. Protective clothing can also be purchased, such as rubber gloves and shoes that will not allow the mold spores to come into contact with your skin.

A vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter will also help you tremendously when you are cleaning your home after the remediation is done. This will collect all the mold spores and particles from your floor and carpet and deposit them into a receptacle that you can empty when you are done. Be careful emptying this container, though, and do not touch the contents with your bare hands. Do not stir up the contents any more than you have to in order to get them into the trash bag.

The Bible Talks About Mold

No matter where we are or what time we have lived in, mold has always been there to make us sick and to affect our property and belongings. Insurance companies are quick to tell you that mold is not that much of a health threat and that it has been around longer than we humans have been, but this is just an argument they use so they do not have to pay your insurance claim. If your insurance claims adjuster comments that mold has been around for thousands of years and that it is not a real health threat, whatever you do, DO NOT agree with him. Dispute it. If you agree to anything he says and even remotely say that you might not have a claim, you will not have a claim and you will receive no benefits. Be steadfast when filing your claim and if necessary, you can even cite the Holy Bible to show that mold has always been a health threat to human beings and their animals.

Leviticus chapter 14:39-47 states that mold living in a building was not to be tolerated. It blatantly calls the building “diseased” or “plagued”, depending on which version of the scripture that you read. Rabbis were sent into the homes to inspect them and if they were found to be infected, the stones in the house that had mold on them were removed and taken to a landfill of sorts far away from the village. The house was sealed up for 7 days and after that, the rabbi came back to see if the mold infection returned. If it did, all the building materials for the house were torn down and thrown into the same landfill the first stones were and it was rebuilt. Any clothing that had been contaminated with mold was shown to the rabbi and if it was found to be infected, it also was taken to that landfill.

Insurance companies can dispute the ill health effects of mold on the human and animal body as much as they want to, but the proof is there. The Bible states that mold was considered a problem and a cause of disease in ancient times and we should consider it no less today. If your landlord, insurance claims adjuster, or anyone else you are trying to make a claim with insists that mold poses no real threat to you or your family, disagree with them and get the money for the repairs or relocation that you deserve.

The Bible Talks About Mold

No matter where we are or what time we have lived in, mold has always been there to make us sick and to affect our property and belongings. Insurance companies are quick to tell you that mold is not that much of a health threat and that it has been around longer than we humans have been, but this is just an argument they use so they do not have to pay your insurance claim. If your insurance claims adjuster comments that mold has been around for thousands of years and that it is not a real health threat, whatever you do, DO NOT agree with him. Dispute it. If you agree to anything he says and even remotely say that you might not have a claim, you will not have a claim and you will receive no benefits. Be steadfast when filing your claim and if necessary, you can even cite the Holy Bible to show that mold has always been a health threat to human beings and their animals.

Leviticus chapter 14:39-47 states that mold living in a building was not to be tolerated. It blatantly calls the building “diseased” or “plagued”, depending on which version of the scripture that you read. Rabbis were sent into the homes to inspect them and if they were found to be infected, the stones in the house that had mold on them were removed and taken to a landfill of sorts far away from the village. The house was sealed up for 7 days and after that, the rabbi came back to see if the mold infection returned. If it did, all the building materials for the house were torn down and thrown into the same landfill the first stones were and it was rebuilt. Any clothing that had been contaminated with mold was shown to the rabbi and if it was found to be infected, it also was taken to that landfill.

Insurance companies can dispute the ill health effects of mold on the human and animal body as much as they want to, but the proof is there. The Bible states that mold was considered a problem and a cause of disease in ancient times and we should consider it no less today. If your landlord, insurance claims adjuster, or anyone else you are trying to make a claim with insists that mold poses no real threat to you or your family, disagree with them and get the money for the repairs or relocation that you deserve.

Selling Moldy Real Estate

If you are trying to sell a house that is contaminated with mold, you probably have a pretty short list of possible buyers. You also probably do not want to lose any of those possible buyers and you want the transaction to go as smoothly as possible. There are a few tips that you can use when selling a home like this to make sure that you get the most you can possibly get.

You need to allow the buyer to inspect the house for themselves and find out what kind of mold exists on the property. An environmental inspection clause should be included into the sales contract. If you can have the mold removed from the home at your own expense without taking a huge profit loss, you should do so. A buyer will be much more quick to actually purchase the home from you if you are completely honest about the home’s condition. You will also be able to sell the home quicker if the mold inside it is not toxic. If you can prove that it is not via mold testing kits, then the sale will go by quicker.

Again, make no attempts to cover up the mold problem in the house. Do not be nervous about it. If it is beyond your ability to remove the mold, then tell the buyer so. Explain your situation. If they are sympathetic, they may or may not be more willing to purchase from you. If they suspect you are hiding something, however, they will likely walk right out the door.

In the final sales contract, you need to have a clause that releases you and anyone involved in your end of the deal from any legal liability due to the mold. This states that the buyer already knew that the mold existed on the property and that you are no longer responsible for its presence. Include that the home was sold to the buyer in an “as-is” state and that you are not responsible for the property nor is there any warranty on it, implied or otherwise.

List all past major damage that the home has suffered due to water damage or mold so that your buyer has a complete history. Giving this information to your buyer will show them that they can trust you and that you are hiding nothing from them. This should leave you on solid ground once the final contract is signed.

Natural Ways To Kill Mold

If you are a person that likes to use organic products and remedies, then using chemically-based mold killers in your home is possibly a taboo subject, but what else can you do? Some people say that we have become far too dependent on chemicals to do what nature can do and they have found some natural ways to kill mold that you might not have thought of before and at least one of them should be readily found in your own kitchen cabinet, even if it is a little smelly.

The most available and cheap way to kill mold without buying a bunch of chemical cleaners is simply white vinegar. This method is pretty simple to use and it does not take a lot of effort to prepare it. Vinegar kills somewhere around 80 percent of the different kinds of mold that will grow in your home and even better, if you spill white vinegar onto your carpet or furniture, there is no risk that it will discolor it. It should kill almost any kind of mold you come across in your home or business and if it does not, you probably have a more serious contamination that you should not be trying to deal with on your own, anyway. The only thing that you will need for this is a spray bottle and a funnel. Pour a sufficient amount of vinegar into the spray bottle and spray it where you find it necessary. The only drawback to this method is that it will be smelly in your house for a few hours. It will go away before the day is over.

Tea tree oil can also kill mold, but it is a bit more expensive than vinegar. You should be able to find it at most health food stores and it will kill a few more kinds of mold than vinegar will. All you have to do with this one is take two teaspoons of tea tree oil and combine it with 2 cups of water. Pour into a spray bottle and spray where you need to. Do not rinse. The shelf life on this mixture is indefinite.

The last say is almost identical to the tea tree oil method. Take about 20 drops of grapefruit seed extract and combine it with 2 cups of water. Put it into a spray bottle and spray where you need to. The good thing about this method is that there is no smell.

Mold in the Ancient World

If you live in an apartment or a home that has been found to be contaminated by mold due to no fault of yours, then you might have a good reason to speak with your landlord about the problem. Some landlords are quick to remedy the problem, but some are not and either try to blame the mold problem on you or they try to say that the mold poses no threat to your health or the health of your family and pets. No matter what they say, if you want to get any benefits from them, you will have to dispute anything that says mold is not a threat to you or that it is your fault. Agree that it is no threat or that it is your fault will get you absolutely nothing.

If you have to, you can even quote the Holy Bible on the fact that mold was considered to be a threat to the health of people and their animals in ancient times. It was common practice to visit a rabbi if you believed that your home was contaminated by mold and if it was found to be so by the priest, then everything in your home was removed and thrown into an “unclean place” far from where any people lived so they would not suffer from the contamination. The house was shut up for 7 days, says the scripture, and after that period of time had passed, the rabbi returned and re-examined the house. If it was still found to be diseased, the entire house was torn down and all building materials were taken also to that same “unclean place”. If you had any clothing that you thought might be infected, you were to take it to the rabbi, as well. If he deemed them unfit, then they were to be thrown to that unclean place, also.

It is also thought that the last plague of Egypt could be attributed to mold-contaminated food that had been stored underground to save it from the plague of locusts. The oldest Egyptian children of that time were given two portions of their meals and would have likely consumed enough of the molded food for it to make them sick at the very least. Jewish children were not afforded this and nor did they consume the same foods that the Egyptians did.

Be careful what you agree to when speaking with your insurance claims adjuster. Even if you are not Christian or Jewish, you can still quote these scriptures as evidence of mold being seen as a “disease” in times long past.