Mold and its spores are naturally
occurring in the environment. When excessive moisture or
water accumulates indoors, mold can begin to grow in as
little as 24-48 hours. If the growth remains
undiscovered or ignored, it can cause extensive damage
to your home and reduce its value. Also, mold
potentially causes health problems. Certain species are
allergenic, while others are capable of causing disease.
If your home smells musty but you
cannot see the source, or there has been water damage,
you may have a mold problem. Hidden sources of mold
include the surface of walls behind furniture and
cabinets, the backside of drywall, wallpaper, behind
moldings, paneling, the topside of ceiling tiles, and
the underside of carpets and padding. Areas prone to
mold contamination are basements, crawl spaces, closets,
bathrooms, and attics (due to roof leaks or insufficient
insulation).
Determine the extent of mold
contamination. If the area affected is ten square feet
or smaller, mold may be effectively removed with a
detergent solution by the homeowner (Please visit
www.epa.gov for more information on indoor air quality
and mold). However, only a professional should clean
contaminated areas of any size when pathogenic and
toxigenic species are present.
If your home, or a home you are
interested in purchasing, has a mold problem, contact
us. We can remove mold contamination from the residence,
restore its condition, and dramatically improve indoor
air quality. Our staff is well educated and trained.
During inspections, we exercise care to not excessively
disturb contaminated areas. This level of concern
carries through to remediation. Our technicians treat
your home as if it were their own, containing affected
rooms in order to prevent further contamination.
Remediation is performed thoroughly and water problems
are addressed in order to ensure mold does not continue
to plague your home.
Investigations and Assessments
involve visual inspections and, often, testing. Testing
is not always necessary at the time of the investigation
if contamination is visible and the homeowner is
interested only in its removal. Visual inspections are
the most important method of determining the extent and
source of water damage and mold contamination. It also
aids the inspector in developing a remediation strategy.
Air testing is used most often
when the source of an odor is not visible. A problem may
exist if mold spore levels are higher than a control
level or if a species present in the sample is not
present in the control sample. Other methods of testing
are swab, bulk, tape lift samples. Genus level ID is
available from all methods of sampling in as little as
24-72 hours. If homeowners are noticing health effects,
species level ID may be necessary. Swab, bulk, and air
samples are capable of producing a species level ID;
7-10 days must be allowed.
If time is of the essence, sampling
can be performed that will be analyzed at the lab using
Real Time PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction). This method
is more expensive but a species ID can be obtained from
the lab in 24 hours or less, with a detection limit of
one spore!
The remediation supervisor creates
a site-specific remediation strategy using field notes
from the inspection and following general guidelines
established by the American Indoor Air Quality Council
and the EPA. Remediation is conducted after the
contaminated space has been contained and negatively
pressurized, protecting other rooms of your home from
excessive amounts of mold spores. Dust and spore counts
are minimized during remediation using professional
filtration devices exhausted outside. Quality control
sampling is performed to quantify spores before and
after remediation to ensure spores counts have
decreased.
Our staff works with the client
during all steps of the remediation process. ANCO
identifies the nutrient sources of mold contamination,
takes steps to stop the problem at its source, and
offers advice to the client on preventing or reducing
the likelihood of mold growth in the future.
Basement
waterproofing services are also available.
