Got mold? In this segment of The Marc and Mandy Show: Expert Q&A, Philip Strunc from GTA Restoration shares how to identify mold in your home and how to clean it.
Q: How can I tell if there’s mold in my home?
Philip Strunc: So, typically, you can smell it—which would be a cause for concern at that point. We can do two things at that point. One is called an air sample test, where we bring a little cartridge into the home and we suck in the surrounding air. We then send that sample to the lab to determine what type of mold is in the air. The second way is to do a tape life sample, where we take a little sticky and put it on the actual physical wall or surface, then we test that at the lab to determine what type of mold you have. Once that’s been determined, we can put together a remediation program to fix this.
Q: What types of mold are bad?
PS: So, all types of mold are bad, and they’re basically classified into three different groups. The first group is allergenic, the second is pathogenic, and the third is toxigenic, which is the most severe case.
Q: When drying out an area, how long are the air scrubbers in a dehumidifier supposed to run for?
PS: Typically, in a mold job, we have them run for 72 hours, which is industry standard. This is to make sure that we’ve dried out the structure and also to make sure we’ve captured any mold spores that may be in the air.
Q: How fast does mold grow after water damage?
PS: So mold can typically grow between 12 to 48 hours, depending on the conditions within the house. In dark, damp conditions it can grow a lot faster and can typically start within 12 hours.
For the answers to these questions and more, check out the video above!
mold is scary
This is a very helpful video. Many people don’t know how to do this or do it wrong. Thanks for sharing.