In most cases preventing mold can easily be managed by good maintenance personnel, a good homeowner, a responsible tenant or a similar diligent individual.
The most common mold often occurs in bathrooms and is related to a simple and easy to control elevated humidity level. Occupants of a premise where mold has occurred in the bathroom need to make routinely conscious decisions to make sure that there bathroom is well ventilated especially immediately after taking showers and especially hot steamy showers. For individuals that are not fortunate enough to have a window in their bathroom, they need to make sure that they use their ventilation fan, and landlords or property owners need to play their role and make sure that a structure has adequate ventilation within especially the bathrooms.
Events such as the basement flooding unfortunately can’t always be prevented, however a meticulous and immediate cleanup directly after a flooding event can completely prevent mold from becoming an issue. This immediate cleanup should include pumping out of all the standing water, disposal of wet flooring; especially carpeting. Saturated wood should also be considered for removal and there should never be a pre-finished flooring surface on the basement level of a structure anyways for this reason. Two additional measures that need to be taken must include the use of heavy duty commercial dryers similar to what would be used by a flood and fire restoration company. These are usually available for rent at a commercial tool supply and rental store and the second additional measure would be from the same source, to rent a commercial grade dehumidifier. Other than that, wet sheet rock or wood in walls and panels should be removed from the water line down to the basement floor. Although this seems like a lot, the costs involved are nowhere near the costs that a full-blown mold remediation job could require through a professional and reputable company. The best way to prevent basement flooding to begin with would be to have a sump pump installed, potentially have French drain systems installed, seal up cracks in foundation walls whether they be made of poured concrete, stone or brick and perhaps waterproof below grade foundation walls especially when you have a basement level which is used as a living space and it has many items which would be susceptible to both water damage and mold growth in the event of water intrusion throughout the basement level.
All in all, preventing mold can save you a whole lot of time and money over having to conduct a full-scale mold cleanup. Some common sense tips were provided that the average person may not even have realized could make a great difference.
Remember the most important thing is prevention and if it is too late for that then cleanup and clean up real fast, along with getting the humidity to a desirable level of under 50% which is also undesirable to our friend black mold.
If you suspect you have a mold problem or if your mold problem is out of control you will need to conduct proper mold testing and mold inspection procedures prior to obtaining an accurate price quote from a remediation company. Find some help on removing mold here. You should keep in mind that we only provide testing and inspection services to gather the necessary data for consumers, business owners and landlords to make an informed decision as well as to provide remediation companies with the facts of the air-quality with regard to mold spores in the subject premises. Mold Inspection NYC takes calls seven days a week and quite often till late in the evening.