How Do I Remove Mold Myself Safely?
Safely means in the right order: contain the room, protect yourself, remove rather than scrub, and clean the dust afterward. Close the room off from the rest of the house, keep the family out, and run nothing that moves air between that room and the others. Porous materials with growth in them (drywall, carpet pad, insulation) come out; they do not get cleaned. Hard surfaces can be cleaned. When you finish, the fine dust in that room has to be wiped and vacuumed, not just the spot you worked on.
If you are reading this because a cleanup already failed, or because someone in the home is reacting to the house, stop and get a mold or water damage inspection first. Mold Relief inspects and tests homes across Virginia and Maryland, and we coach homeowners through their own projects nationwide by Virtual Consultation.
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Additional Questions
What's the Average Cost of Mold Remediation?
In Northern Virginia and Maryland, most residential mold remediation falls between $1,800 and $9,000, and a whole-home project in a sick home can run higher. The spread is wide because price follows three things: how much material has to come out, how much of the home has to be protected while the work happens, and how much fine dust has to be cleaned afterward. A small bathroom wall is a one-day job. A finished basement that flooded twice is not.
What Is the Difference Between Mold Removal and Mold Remediation?
Mold removal takes the visible mold out. Mold remediation does that and also deals with what made the mold possible and what the mold left behind: the moisture, the fine dust that spreads well beyond the colony, and the parts of the home that need protecting while the work is done. The two words are used interchangeably online, which is why so many "removal" jobs come back.
What Does the Mold Remediation Process Involve?
A sound remediation runs in a fixed order: protect, understand, fix, finish. First the family and the belongings are protected, before anything is disturbed. Then the home is inspected and, where needed, tested, to learn where the mold is and its likely sources, often more than one. Then the affected material is removed in a controlled way. Finally the fine dust the work leaves behind is cleaned and the result is checked.
Does Anything Kill 100% of Mold Permanently?
Technically, mold can be killed. The problem is that all of it cannot be killed, and the spores that are killed are essentially blown apart into smaller fragments, which makes the situation more complicated, not less. Disinfecting has its place, but it should be used strategically. Remediation, at its core, is the removal of risk. That is why the sound approach is removing impacted materials and cleaning and remediating the remaining surfaces, not treating them.
Experience. No One Has More.
Experience you can't get from a training course, and we still listen and learn on every job!
Water Damage and Mold Jobs
Water damage is the most common cause of mold, and we've worked on both sides of it for over 35 years. More than 15,000 jobs, and we still listen and learn on every one!
Happy Customers
As a former multi-state licensed general contractor, we completed more than 100,000 home service and repair jobs across every trade. That's where home systems fail, and knowing how they fail makes it much easier to find where mold is hiding and its likely sources.
Of Doctor-Referred Clients with Sick Homes
Doctors refer their patients to us. Many of those homes look spotless, yet test results point to an elevated-risk environment. If you or your doctor thinks your home is making you sick, we're the company for you.