In today’s economy, many people look for the ways to save. That’s why many of us try to avoid hiring contractors for jobs we can successfully accomplish ourselves. Yes, you don’t need a landscaper to cut your own grass, and you can probably fix that leaky faucet with the help of tutorials. However, certain things should be left to a pro, and at Guardian Basement Waterproofing, we think that mold remediation is one of them.
When it comes to your family’s health, there’s no room for a sloppy DIY. Before you decide to tackle your mold problem yourself or with a help of “knowledgeable” friends, carefully evaluate your skills by answering the following questions:
Do you know the size of the problem?
The mold growth you see on an old newspaper down in the basement might be just a tip of the iceberg. Mold can survive on any surface and is known to infect materials you wouldn’t normally consider “edible.” Your Maryland mold remediation expert will know where the mold is hiding and how big of a problem you’ve got. He or she will tell you which surfaces are infected beyond repair and have to be discarded. Can you make this judgment call yourself?
Do you know what kind of mold you are dealing with?
There are more than 400,000 types of mold: some of them are more common, more toxic and more resilient than others. While it’s doesn’t make much difference for the mold remediation process to know the exact type of mold, it’s useful to know whether it’s toxic. Household mold test kits can be of some help, but the results they produce are not always accurate and reliable. If you want to know for sure if the mold is toxic, a pro can take samples and arrange the lab testing.
Do you have appropriate gear?
Airborne mold spores can cause inflammation of upper respiratory tract, worsen asthma and cause various allergic reactions. We recommend wearing a plastic full-body suit, goggles, respirator with a HEPA filter and some shoes before approaching the mold. If you want to avoid any adverse health effects, you’ll need to buy all these items, which you might never use again.
Do you have the proper equipment?
Cleaning solutions, disinfectants, biocides, powerful wet and HEPA vacuums, moisture meters, etc. – do you have any of these or are you willing to buy/borrow? Mold removal specialists will have all the necessary equipment to get rid of mold in a fast and effective manner.
Do you know what to do and what not to do?
You might have read online articles and watched tutorials, but that doesn’t make you experienced. You have to take precautions to ensure your remediation efforts don’t cause the mold spores to become airborne and spread around the house. The experts will also know how to properly dispose of infected materials and to keep mold growth from reappearing.
Do you know why you have a mold problem?
This is probably the most important question you need to answer. If you don’t cut off the source, you’ll just end up with more mold in the future. Mold likes to grow in warm, damp places, which means a leak or unbalanced indoor humidity is often to blame. Quite often, mold remediation pros also offer waterproofing services, which means they can find and fix the leak and help you improve indoor air quality.
With more than 40 years of experience in the industry in both residential and commercial waterproofing; serving the Maryland Metropolitan area and Pennsylvania. Guardian has a proven record of expertise and excellent customer service. Our staff are trained and skilled technicians that work to permanently stop foundation water leaks. Guardian installs state of the art systems and specializes in basement waterproofing, basement finishing, crawl space waterproofing, repair and foundation repair.
