Mold is a living organism. It is a type of fungus that lives off organic matter. While mold exists in the air and in most of our environments, we only become aware of mold when it forms a colony inside our home. Molds thrive in moist, warm environments, but can also survive in very cold temperatures.

A colony of mold can be seen most often on walls or ceilings in bathrooms, attics, or crawl spaces. When we find mold living in our walls we are presented with a very unhappy situation: we must tear that wall down. Once mold infests itself in any item, that item must be eliminated.

After you recognize the presence of mold in your wall, these are helpful steps to take.

1) Carefully inspect all items in the room for further mold. If any items seem to have been damaged by mold and are negligible, remove them immediately from your home.

If there are remaining important items, you have two options: one, wash them down with a solution of both detergent and 1-to-6 parts bleach-to-water or two, wash them in a washing machine with a trusted detergent. If you cannot eliminate mold by either of these methods, you must discard these things. If you do not dispose of these mold-ridden effects, they will contaminate other items.

2) Remove the rest of your furniture from the room to prevent spores from becoming imbedded in your sofas, futons, etc. If you open the wall and mold becomes airborne, you run the risk of getting mold everywhere.

3) Before cutting a hole in your wall to remove the dry wall surrounding the mold, turn off the electricity to that area of your house. You do not want to risk electrocution. After eliminating the area of the wall with mold, check beyond the infected area. Often you will find more mold that has not become outwardly apparent. Remove as much dry wall as there is mold. If you find that you have an area larger than one wall of a room, you should probably contact an Environmental Cleanup Specialist.

4) After all of the infected dry wall is removed, you must wash down that surface with a bleach solution. While it is recommended you use a 1-to-6 parts bleach-to-water, you could decrease the dilution (i.e. more bleach) and wipe down the beams at least twice. You must to eliminate all mold. If any spores survive, they will be able to reproduce and cause just as much damage again.

5) Given that you have cleaned the surrounding surfaces twice, leave out a dehumidifier and fan running for at least one full day (24 hours) before attempting to install new dry wall.

For clarification it must be mentioned that bleach is not the best solution for removing mold. Bleach will completely kill mold growing on non-porous surfaces like glass, tiles, bathtubs and counter tops. Bleach, however, cannot completely kill mold growing in non-porous materials such as drywall and wood. It does not penetrate into these non-porous substances so only the mold growing above the surface is killed by the bleach. For this reason it is necessary to remove any affected drywall and utilize other techniques on affected wood surfaces.

http://www.rightwayrestoration.com

Vic Roberts is Vice President and Co-Owner of Right Way Restoration. Right Way is an IICRC restoration company based in Atlanta, Ga. but provides services nationwide throughout the continental United States. Right Way specializes in water restoration, mold remediation, fire and smoke restoration, sewage cleanup, trauma and crime scene cleanup, odor restoration, disaster relief, flood damage cleanup, storm damage cleanup, and emergency response.

http://www.rightwayrestoration.com