Effects of Mold Damage on Materials and Air Quality in New Providence Homes

3/30/2023 (Permalink)

Don’t despair when your home or office in New Providence sustains mold damage. Contact SERVPRO to assess and remediate.

SERVPRO Can Provide New Providence Residents with Expert Mold Remediation Technicians

Mold can eat away at clothing, drywall, and organic matter. It can also be challenging to remove due to the penetrative hyphae, which allows these microbes to cling onto or to surfaces. Some microbes do not need light to grow, which means an infestation can stay hidden for several weeks or months. You must enlist a professional remediator if you suspect or discover microbial growth in your property. 

Local remediation technicians can help restore mold damage in your New Providence home. We use cutting-edge technology to find the sources of microbial growth and eliminate them. Once the source of the problem is resolved, it is often just a case of disposing of moldy materials and cleaning surfaces to get your home back to its preloss condition. Like all living things, microbes require moisture to grow. If parts of your home smell musty or have a visible infestation, there is likely a moisture problem. Our technicians use moisture sensors, meters, and thermal imaging cameras to search for potential water leaks or vapor damages in the home. This equipment measures wall or surface temperatures to calculate the likelihood of moisture residing in or behind them. We are halfway towards solving the microbial issue by correcting the moisture problem. 

Another core condition for the reproduction of microbes is energy. Mold uses digestive enzymes to break down organic matter, which they convert into energy for growth. A home environment is full of organic matter; it is the wood frames deep in the building assembly, the subfloor, and the interior surfaces like drywall. Denser materials such as lumber wood can often be restored by either cleaning the surface with anti-microbial chemicals or removing layers using sand-blasting equipment. In rare situations, lumber woods may have an abnormal moisture content, measured using a penetrating meter, which can be the source of the infestation, commonly called dry rot. Porous materials such as plyboards, gypsum boards, or drywall often suffer more from microbes which makes replacing them a requirement. SERVPRO technicians can professionally remove and replace infested materials that are deemed non-salvageable.

Preventing Microbial Growth in the Home

• Maintaining insulation in garages or exposed areas is a useful preventative measure for condensation damage.
• Crawlspaces can become wet during periods of heavy rainfall. Installing a vapor barrier can be both energy efficient and protect against infestations.
• If water pressure drops, it can result from a slow leak. Using professional plumbers or water restoration technicians to repair the problem. 

Infestations can harm indoor air quality. When mold grows into full-size colonies, it begins to release spores into the surrounding atmosphere. Spores are microscopic seeds that settle on surfaces where they can grow into new colonies. While spores are airborne, they can be ingested or inhaled by occupants in the home. One method of tackling this air quality issue is air filtration devices (AFDs). This equipment is measured by the size of particles they can filter, with certain types going as low as 0.3 microns. A human hair, by comparison, registers at 70 microns. SERVPRO technicians can set up AFD devices in affected areas of the home to clean the air and ensure that your property fully recovers after an infestation.

Air Filtration Devices

• High-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters are the best at removing microscopic matter from indoor air, including spores. 
• These devices can also use carbon filters which help to remove odorous particles from indoor air spaces.
• Active air purifiers can also purify indoor air by releasing ions that attract and neutralize potential contaminants into the space.

If your home emits a musty odor or has a microbial growth problem, contact SERVPRO of Western Union County for mold damage removal at (908) 791-9177.