Mold Remediation

1. Have your home inspected for mold. A professional hygienist has industry-regulated tools and equipment to get the test done accurately. An inspection will help you find all the mold and let you know the type of mold you are dealing with.

2. The professionals that inspected the mold issue will let you know if it’s small enough that you can treat it yourself. If that’s the case wear a respirator mask to filter out the mold spores. A dust mask will not do.

3. Fix the issue that resulted in the mold. Other protective gear you will need is eye protection, rubber gloves, rags, a scrub brush, and cleaning supplies. Solutions you can use are white vinegar or non-ammonia soap or detergent. A bucket for the solution after use. Bleach. A dehumidifier and multiple air movers. The equipment you can rent from HCR daily.

Personal protection equipment (PPE) is essential in every mold inspection and mold remediation. Every site has the potential for danger and we may unexpectedly uncover hazardous material like asbestos, black mold, or even dead animals (unfortunately).

In order to guarantee the safety of our inspectors and technicians, it’s mandatory to wear protective gear such as respirators, full-body disposable dust-impermeable, suits, water-resistant gloves, and goggles on your property no matter how much mold.

This is a handheld device used for scanning large areas for the detection of moisture levels on surfaces like flooring, drywall, and ceilings. These precise tools help to non-invasively detect the presence of active or residual moisture within your property’s building materials.

When water is present within a material like drywall or wood, mold can form within 24 to 48 hours. So, finding an active water source in your home can be the first step in resolving a serious issue.

A simple test that takes a few seconds to perform and gives instant results to help assess the potential for biological contamination on surface areas. These tests serve as indicators for laboratory analysis sampling and/or establishing disinfection recommendations.

These tests cannot be used to determine mold types, understand toxicity levels, or establish hazard levels on surface areas. Any type of positive reaction to instant swab tests is only an indicator of potential issues. Mold swabs are great for testing hard-to-reach areas or for wet surfaces that cannot be tested using a tape lift.

An adhesive tape lift is a method used to test a specific area for mold. To collect a sample, HCR presses the adhesive side of a piece of tape over the area in question and gently pulls it off. Samples collected using the tape lift method are sent to an accredited microbiological laboratory for testing. The results provide information on the types and concentrations of mold present in the sample.

Familiar with the swab tests, tape lifts for mold cannot be used to assess the overall health of the indoor environment as they provide information only on the surface tested.

Proper lighting is an important aid during property inspections. It can be the difference between seeing and missing what might be the most important mold reservoirs in a given structure. 

Light-colored mold such as some members of the Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp. groups are often the dominant problem mold in properties but these offenders are often missed by a casual inspection because they can be hard to see on surfaces.

Using the light carefully can make a big difference in what mold you find and where you find it. Just looking for “black mold” risks missing the important mold on the property.

Laser particle counters use lasers to provide intense light and thereby count different size particles. A high-quality particle counter can monitor both large particles (pollens, larger bacteria, plant spores, and dust mite feces) as well as small particles (fine dust, bacteria, mold spores, smoke, smog, and coarse dust).

Taking the particle counter into a contaminated area, you can screen the area by taking a count for a set duration in suspect places. They don’t classify the type of particle (other than by size). But by comparing the counts in each area you can identify the area that has the highest concentration of particles. This then becomes the place for the start of an in-depth investigation. This technique can save time by pinpointing likely spots that are contaminated with mold.

The smoke pen generates a thin stream of dense, white smoke perfect for air-flow studies and leak testing. By lighting the smoke pen wick with a lighter or match, and blowing out the flame, the glowing tip will produce a trail of smoke lasting up to 30 minutes.

The white smoke reacts to even the smallest of drafts, making it easy for inspectors to locate air leaks around windows, doors, and chimneys. Smoke pens are regularly used to detect inefficient or malfunctioning ventilation systems as well as heat loss due to poorly sealed windows and doors. This smoke is completely safe and non-toxic so it won’t pose a risk to your health.

The borescope is a camera that can visualize suspected mold growth inside plumbing pipes, and other structural elements through an opening in the component.

A common non-destructive testing method, borescopes are snake-like devices that have a camera on one end and an eyepiece on the other. They are most commonly used during visual assessments to inspect the interior of small, otherwise inaccessible areas without causing destructive damage to the structure. What makes borescope such a valuable addition to our toolbox is its flexibility, which gives us access to some of the smallest, darkest, hard-to-reach places in a property.