Steps To Take When You Discover Mold

9/9/2021 (Permalink)

When you discover mold in your Ogden, UT home, act quickly to avoid further damage.

You can't always prevent water damage in your commercial building or the fungus that grows on wet materials. You can, however, influence how big the problem gets. If you discover black mold in your building in Ogden, UT, the immediate steps you take may mean the difference between a quick remediation process and a long-term rebuild.

Call for Mitigation

The first thing you should do if you see patches on the wall or ceiling of your office building is to contact local mold damage, mitigation experts. The faster the technicians get there, the sooner they can start the steps of the mold cleanup process:

• Assess the scope of the problem
• Extract excess moisture
• Tear out ruined materials
• Disinfect area, if necessary
• Dry all surfaces
• Rebuild structure
• Restore aesthetic components

Mold can start to grow on surfaces within as few as 24 hours after a water loss has occurred. If you want to keep it from getting out of control, you need to call for help quickly.

Turn Off Water Main

Chances are good that the moisture problem causing the mold growth in your building stems from a blockage or leak somewhere. A toilet may have overflowed in the upstairs restroom. A pipe may have burst along an exterior wall during an ice storm. To prevent further damage, it makes sense to stop the flow to the location of the problem. Locate the water main and shut off the water for the building. Then call a trusted plumber to investigate and fix the issue before you turn the water back on again.

Shut Down HVAC System

While continuous airflow may help prevent black mold in your building, that changes once a fungus problem is discovered. An important step in slowing the spread of the growth is containing it, which means it doesn't help you to continue to blow mold spores throughout the building by way of the air ducts. By shutting down your HVAC system until the problem is resolved, you can help ensure that the technicians can isolate and mitigate the whole issue the first time around.

Leave Mitigation to the Professionals

It may be tempting to grab a bucket of soapy water and a brush to scrub away the mold on the wall. Unfortunately, this may make the problem worse, even if it looks like you're getting rid of the growth. Mold not only covers the surface of the materials it invades but also embeds itself into the fibers and cracks beneath. Despite your best intentions, your attempt to clean may just be feeding the mold by adding more moisture. It's best to wait for the mitigation team to arrive so that they can contain the mold and get rid of the problem for good.

You may not be able to completely prevent black mold growth in your building, but you can minimize its invasiveness. By calling the right professionals who can tackle the problem quickly and stopping the spread of the growth beyond the affected area, you are on the right track. Your fast action may be the key to stopping the mold before it gets out of control.