Black mold removal should be performed immediately upon confirmation that you are confronted with a toxic mold issue. Otherwise you risk serious side effects for your family’s health.
Once black mold symptoms are discovered, you have two main routes of action: get rid of the mold yourself, or use the services of a specialized company. The recommended approach is to use the services of a professional company. In any case though, it is useful to have an overview of the process.
Recognizing Black Mold
This is the first step to take once you suspect black mold is present in your home. It may be the case that what you see is indeed black mold, but there are many other types of mold that are harmless. The one that is the toxic black mold is called Stachybotrys Atra, which is the most harmful mold type.
Here are some basic tips to identify black mold:
- Color: particular greenish-black color that is not commonly found in other types of mold
- Smell: specific mildew and musty smell.
- Location: as black mold usually appears in areas of excessive humidity, double-check if the place where you see the greenish-black mold has been exposed to moisture lately, be it the floor, walls or ceiling.
You can use the above guidelines to determine how likely it is that what you are experiencing is black mold. If you conclude that this is the case, you need to take action immediately.
The Black Mold Symptoms
Unlike the common mold symptoms, the health impact of black mold is very serious. Black mold symptoms include the following:
- Cold like symptoms, such as sneezing, itchy-eyes, cough
- Respiratory problems: shortness of breath, any trouble breathing
- Hearing loss
- Psychological conditions: memory loss, depression, etc
Moreover, there is a major watch-out in the case of black mold poisoning of infants and people suffering from respiratory conditions. Black mold can even cause death in such cases.
Black Mold Inspection
Once you have determined your house is plagues with black mold, you need to avoid staying in the affected areas and take immediate mold removal action. However, before you proceed, you need to identify all the locations with this issue and also the root cause.
More specifically, you need to map all the places where black mold grew and what is the source of excessive moisture. A tip is to double-check any area that is traditionally exposed to excess moisture: basement, bathroom, vents, attic and so on. Have you experienced any pipe leaks or floods? Go through a thorough mold testing and mold inspection in all areas with prone to excessive moisture, in the places with a musty smell and in the ones where the greenish-black mold is visible.
How To Get Rid Of The Black Mold
Address Root Cause
In order to effectively kill black mold, you need to address the source of excessive moisture that created the issue in the first place. These may include fixing leaky pipes and plumbing, improving air circulation in certain rooms, installing a drainage system to avoid floods and so on. Whatever the root causes are, try to identify them and find effective solutions to address them.
Remove Black Mold
After eliminating the source of black mold, you can proceed to removing the mold itself. Before getting the process started, you need to prepare properly. First of all, in order to avoid any health issues, you will need protective gear: gloves, respiratory mask and eye protection.
Then, you need heavy-duty sponges or cloth and an appropriate cleansing solution. You can either use a ready made black mold removal product for this purpose or you can prepare the solution yourself. If you choose to go for mold removal home remedies, there are several options you can go for, but a good one is combining pure bleach with water, in a ratio of one cup of bleach per one gallon of water.
Next step is to seal off the area to be cleaned, so that mold spores do not spread to other parts of your house. Use plastic sheeting, duct tape and whatever else necessary to make sure you isolate the area well.
You can then move on to cleaning-up the mold. A good idea is to first pre-clean the area with just water and soap. This is enough to get rid of a large part of the mold. You then start to use your strong cleaning agent and make sure that the area is left to dry afterwards. Proper attention should be paid do this job thoroughly, in order to avoid re-contamination.
Finally, you need to discard all the materials used in the cleaning process: protective gear, sponges, disposable clothing and all the other items that may have been contaminated.
The Follow-Up
You need to monitor your home and check if the mold returned, by watching for the signs mentioned above. If you have any indication that your do it yourself mold removal project did not fully succeed, get professional assistance immediately. For peace of mind, it is actually recommended that you use the services of a black mold remediation company from the beginning.
