What to Expect From Mold Removal in Tampa

In the United States, you can find mold in about 70% of homes. Not only can mold growth cause serious damage to your home, but it can also be dangerous for your health. If you have dealt with water damage and mold growth in your home, you need to hire a professional company for mold remediation in Tampa.

Do you want to learn more about what you can expect during your mold removal in Tampa? Keep reading this guide to learn more about the typical mold remediation process!

Mold Remediation Process

When you are getting mold remediation done in your home, you may want to learn more about the steps that a professional mold removal service will take to protect your home. This way, you can be sure that they are doing everything possible to get rid of all the mold in your home.

Here are some of the most common steps that a mold remediation company will take during your mold removal process.

Identify the Problem

Once you have spotted signs of a mold problem, your mold remediation company will try to identify and repair the problem that caused your mold in the first place. This way, you can prevent mold growth in the future.

For example, you may have a leaking pipe, leaks around your roof or windows, or even problems with poor ventilation in your home.

Getting to the bottom of these issues can help you get rid of the mold in your home permanently.

Prepare for Removal

Before the mold remediation company can start the mold removal process, there are some things that you and the company can do to prepare.

Several days before your appointment, you should try to remove any furniture or belongings that were not affected by the mold. This way, the area will be clear and ready for the company to work in.

You should also keep your pets out of the house starting a few hours before the remediation company arrives.

When the company arrives, they will begin to prepare your home for the removal process. This includes laying plastic sheeting in your home, running hoses through your home, and suiting up with respirators, goggles, and protective suits.

Isolate the Area

Next, they will begin to isolate the affected areas of your home. This is because mold spores travel through the air and are very easy to spread. If you do not carefully seal off the areas with mold growth, the spores can spread throughout your entire home and continue to grow.

Because of this, professional companies use plastic sheeting to block off windows and other openings to the space.

They will also spray the air of the affected areas to keep dust with mold spores from spreading.

Remove Damaged Items

After the space has been fully isolated, a mold remediation service will begin to remove the moldy items from your home. There are some things that you can salvage from the space and others that you must throw away.

For example, you must remove wet materials or porous surfaces, as it is very difficult to completely remove mold in these situations. Some things that will likely need to be replaced are drywall, carpets, insulation, and more depending on the severity of the mold growth.

Not only will professionals remove these items from your home, but they will carefully seal up all of these affected items. This way, they can take them out of your home without having to worry about mold spores spreading to another area in your home.

Clean and Kill Mold

Once you remove the bulk of the moldy and wet materials from the space, your mold remediation company will begin to clean and kill the mold. They will use a special biocide cleaner that is able to keep the mold from spreading and reproducing.

A mold remediation company will also thoroughly clean all of the non-porous surfaces in the affected space, including vacuuming, scrubbing the surfaces, and more.

This cleaning process will kill the mold and as a result, there should be no remaining mold that is visible in your space.

Dry the Space

After the biocide has been sprayed on the mold spores, there is a waiting period. The workers will leave your home and allow the biocide to soak in and have time to kill the mold and dry.

They cannot begin the encapsulation process until the biocide has completely dried.

To ensure that mold doesn’t grow again, it is essential that all of the moisture is removed from the space. You need to make sure all the materials in the room have time to dry, otherwise, it will be easy for mold to continue to grow.

Most remediation companies will use fans and dehumidifiers to remove the moisture from the air and speed up the process.

Encapsulate the Area

Once the space is dry, your mold remediation company can start the encapsulation process. This is some type of cover, like paint or whitewash, that covers and encapsulates the remaining mold spores in your home.

Typically, the mold remediation company will spray down a larger area than where the mold was found, just to ensure that the process is more likely to succeed.

It is important to note that mold can still grow under encapsulated areas, so you should never paint over active mold. Instead, you can encapsulate the area after the spores have been treated and killed.

Check for Success

Finally, your mold remediation company will check to see if the process was successful. Often, it is deemed successful if there are no visible signs of mold, no smells, or foul odors. Sometimes, this will also require odor removal services.

They will likely do another test to make sure there is no active mold in your home. This needs to be done before you sign the final documents of the remediation process. Your final testing will be done by a certified mold inspector and will determine whether or not your home is safe from mold.

If the cause of mold has not been addressed, they can begin to do this after the remediation process. Then, you can start repairing or replacing your belongings.

How Long Does Mold Removal in Tampa Take?

Because there are so many steps to the mold removal process, it can be difficult to know how long it will take. The length of the treatment process will depend on many factors, like how far the mold has spread throughout your home and the extent of the damage.

For small amounts of mold, a professional company may be able to finish the entire process in a day or two.

However, more serious water damage and mold growth can take up to a week to get rid of. Luckily, you should still be able to stay in your home during the mold remediation process. You just need to have the affected areas of your home sealed off during the treatment process.

How to Protect Yourself From Mold

Because mold can be so dangerous to your health, it is important that you learn how you can protect yourself and your family from mold.

If you have already found mold in your home, the most important thing you can do is hire a professional for mold remediation. While you may think that you can do the process on your own, you will likely not be as thorough and the mold can continue to spread.

Mold remediation companies have the right training and experience to get your home mold-free as efficiently and effectively as possible.

If you don’t have mold in your home, there are some ways that you can prevent mold growth to protect your family. For example, you should work to keep the humidity levels in your home as low as possible.

This is especially important in areas like kitchens or bathrooms where moisture is more common. Having a dehumidifier can help in areas where humidity is high.

You should also improve the airflow in your home. This will circulate the air in your home and will also help with the humidity.

Need Help With Mold Remediation in Tampa? Find Local Mold Removal Services Today

When you have mold in your home, you need to act immediately. Otherwise, the spores can quickly spread and grow. By learning more about the mold remediation process, you can be prepared for your mold remediation service!

If you need help with mold remediation in Tampa, Big Easy Restoration can help! We specialize in mold removal, water damage, and other disaster restoration projects.