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Top Ten Mould
Mistakes To Avoid
1. USING
CHLORINE BLEACH TO KILL MOULD. Do not use ineffective chlorine bleach to
try to kill mould growth and mould spores. Bleach is too weak even when
freshly manufactured to kill mould. Bleach that sits on store shelves and in
your home continually gets ever weaker over the passage of time. In
addition, read the manufacturer’s usage directions on the bleach container.
The manufacturer does not recommend its use to kill mould. Bleach is NOT an
EPA-registered fungicide.
2. USING OTHER INEFFECTIVE PRODUCTS TO KILL MOULD---such as
Kilz, regular paint, paint containing a mildicide element, any paint, Lysol,
ammonia, and other household cleaners and disinfectants. Painting over a
mould problem does not solve it---it only hides the problem temporarily and
gives the mould something delicious to eat---the paint itself.
3. ASSUMING THAT AFTER A WET AREA IS DRY, THAT IT IS NOW MOULD
SAFE. Mould needs moisture to grow and to multiply as its eats your home
building materials and personal possessions. This moisture can come from
high indoor humidity [above 60% some or all of the year], roof leaks, siding
leaks, and plumbing leaks. If mould spores and mould colony growth run out of
moisture, they do NOT die. Instead, they become dormant, and can wait
millions of years for access to high humidity or a future water intrusion.
Dormant mould can make mould-sensitive persons sick. Even the smell of dormant
mould can make some people very sick.
4. ASSUMING THAT THERE IS NO MOULD PROBLEM BECAUSE OF NO VISIBLE
MOULD GROWTH. The worst mould infestation problems are often the ones you
cannot see INSIDE floors, ceilings, walls, basement, attic, crawl space, and
the heating/cooling equipment and ducts. Airborne mould spores are invisible
to the eye, very light, and are easily carried in air current movements or
in the air flows of your heating/cooling system to mould cross-contaminate
your entire house from just one hidden mould problem. Use our do it yourself
mould test kits to mould test the air of your basement, attic, all rooms, and
the outward air flow from each heating/cooling register for the possible
presence of elevated levels of airborne mould spores, in comparison to an
outdoor mould control test. Please visit:
Mould Mart Use a hidden moisture meter to scan all walls
and floors for hidden water problems. Use a fiber optics inspection device
to check for mould growth inside wall, floor, and ceiling cavities.
5. TRUSTING THAT MOULD REMEDIATION CONTRACTORS KNOW WHAT THEY ARE
DOING. Most mould remediation companies cause and leave more mould
problems AFTER the alleged remediation than before their work because of:
(a) failure to find and fix all of the mould infestation locations in a home
or building due to incomplete mould inspection and mould testing; (b) poor and
inadequate training; (c) failure to utilize proper mould containment
procedures and effective mould remediation techniques; (d) taking shortcuts
that undermine the remediation effort; and (e) sometimes fraud and
dishonesty on the part of the contractor. Insist on hiring only Certified
Mould Inspectors, Certified Mould Contractors, and Certified Mould Remediators
who have been trained and certified by the Professional Certification Institute [PCI].
6. TRUSTING THAT INDUSTRIAL HYGIENISTS AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
ARE EXPERTS IN MOULD PREVENTION, INSPECTION, TESTING, AND REMEDIATION.
The only people who truly care about your family’s health and home
investment are yourself and your family. Although there are many mould
knowledgeable and mould experienced industrial hygienists, most are not.
Hiring an industrial hygienist [trained in industrial safety and health] to
find and fix mould problems is often like hiring a dentist to treat your
heart problems. Hire a
Certified Mould Inspector if you value your family’s
health and home investment. Some government websites often promote
ineffective and outdated mould remediation ideas like using bleach to kill
mould. Government employees do not have the personal experience of having to
work in the real world to find and kill real mould that is often hidden in
home walls, ceilings, floors, heating/cooling systems, attic, basement, and
crawl space.
7. SPRAYING SOMETHING ON THE MOULD WILL TAKE CARE OF THE PROBLEM.
Only EPA-registered fungicides can kill mould, but just spraying visible
mould does not solve mould problems. You need to kill all visible mould
encountered in mould remediation, but it needs also to be removed from the
home or building, and all of the water and mould damaged building materials
need to be thrown out and replaced with mould-free building materials. In
addition the cleaned out area needs to be treated with Tim-bor wood
preservative.. Learn all of the steps required for safe and
effective mould remediation at
Mould Removal Section.
8. THINKING THAT A NEW HOME IS MOULD FREE. Today’s new homes
often come with built-in mould infestation problems because:
(a) mouldy building materials are received from the builder’s
supplier---today's timbers are not kiln-dried as in earlier times, and thus
contain a high internal moisture content that makes mould growth possible in
the timbers;
(b) the builder and its supervisors and employees fail to do
quality control to inspect for, and, thus, prevent mouldy building materials
from being used in the home’s construction;
(c)
the builder stores the inventory of building materials on the outside ground
with no
plastic
sheeting to protect the building materials from rain [which thus supplies
the necessary water to enable mould to grow in and on the materials];
(d)
the construction crew fails to cover the entire home under construction with
plastic sheeting at the end of each construction day to protect the building
materials from rain [which thus supplies the necessary water to enable mould
to grow in and on the materials]. The roof and side walls need to be
protected against rain until the entire
roof,
siding, windows, and doors are totally installed to seal out rain;
(e)
the builder fails to inspect and test the home for mould growth while it is
being constructed and at the home’s completion; and
(f)
use of modern building materials like chip wafer boards, drywall
(plasterboard), & plywood--- all of which moulds love to eat.
(g) failure to spray all
wood-based construction materials on all surfaces with at least one spraying
of the EPA-registered of the EPA-registered Tim-bor wood preservative----
please visit:
Mould Mart
9. IGNORING POSSIBLE MOULD HEALTH
SYMPTOMS BEING SUFFERED BY ONE OR MORE FAMILY MEMBERS OR CO-WORKERS.
Be concerned about possible mould problems if one or more occupants
is suffering from unexplained health problems such as an ongoing itchy eyes,
bloody nose, sinus problems, headaches, nose congestion, runny nose, skin
rashes, skin sores, coughing, breathing difficulties, difficulty in
remembering things and in thinking clearly, feeling disconnected from the
world around you, and/or chronic fatigue. Please remember that some
occupants may experience mould health symptoms, while others may have none,
with all living or working in the same mould-infested area. People differ
significantly in their sensitivity to mould.
10. IGNORING HOME MAINTENANCE PROBLEMS & MOULD CLUES. You
contribute big-time to becoming a mould victim when you ignore roof leaks,
plumbing leaks, sewer line leaks, water stains on ceilings, the indoor smell
of mould, visible mould growth, high humidity [60% or more to drive mould
growth from humidity alone], a wet or damp basement, and a wet or damp crawl
space. |
