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A damp basement is a breathing ground for mold. Mold develops within the first 24 to
28 hours and action needs to be taken within this time in order to eliminate mold growths
and it’s very important. Mold can reproduce rapidly unless steps are taken to dry the
basement. We need to dry that basement. If we leave the mold to multiply you are going
to find it growing on your walls and ceilings and it will begin to produce a musty odour
throughout the home and in the basement. Well mold takes a lot of forms it is usually a
black stain that is produce on a sheetrock you will see it through the paint and it will
look a little black and on sheetrock walls or plaster walls. You need to look for this
and if you see that you know you have a mold problem.
The most important thing in the damp basement is to eliminate the source of water. For example,
if you have a water coming in from ground water you can’t just fix the mold and expect
it not to happen again you need to put in the waterproofing system if there is a leaking
pipe or if there is a broken water or heater whatever the source of the water needs to
be addressed before or during the mold process. It is very important otherwise you are just
going back the hill again. At the same time, we cannot discount the mold growth itself
we need to remove the mold. If it’s gone past 48 hours and you have a mouldy smell
you need to remove the sheetrock or building materials in order to efficiently get rid
of this mold threat. It is very important. Multiplying the mold spreads throughout the
entire home it can cause allergic reaction. We need to be careful of this for small children.
Asthmatics episodes, infections, and other respiratory problems you will inherit repeated
exposure to mold can permanently injure the nasal passages and most acceptable are the
elderly and the young children. So we want to be very careful if we have a mold present
in our basements.
The first thing we need to do is eliminate the source of the water. We need to remove
the molds from the walls and in most cases we need to remove the sheetrock. If you are
unlucky enough to finish the basement with sheetrock, or plaster, or panelling usually
you have to remove and replace this items. It’s an organic substance that is inherited
to mold growth and it’s a big problem. You may want to look into some of this specialty
companies that do basement finishing that specifically identify no mold growth, no organic
materials, and wall panels flooring, and or course their ceilings. Basement is a specialty
environment and you want to be careful on what we put down on there. We can’t just
throw down organic materials in a cave like environment and expect them not to be damaged.
Inherently in the basement it’s wet, damp, moist, and we want to make sure that we have
materials down there for finishing that are conducive to the environment.
Besides removing the mold and replacing the building materials we are going to go and
treat the sub floor area by reducing the water that is underneath there. You want to put
a waterproofing system and if its ground water that is coming up with that and in conjunction
with that you want to take the air, the damp moist air underneath that slab and get it
out from underneath that slab. Excellent product to have is HumidiVac you want to install one
of this and these are going to treat this sub slab area where 80% of your moisture in
basement comes from.
The next thing you want to do is you want to dehumidify the distinct in air in the basement
by the use of humidifiers the industrial humidifiers are very good and we want to make sure that
the dampness in the air is turned back into water then pumped out of the basement.
Air exchange is also a big item in the basement but we want to make sure that we exchange
the air probably bringing the warmer air from the upstairs down into the basement is the
best way to handle the situation. Due to whole house effect the air going up and escaping
through the roof, through the vents, and through the chimney after we reverse the full house
effect and bring that air down into the basement. We utilize that normally wasted warm air bring
it down to the basement and achieve a 72 degree Fahrenheit which is optimum for drying out
the basement.
One of the concerns between molds are dust mites they are microscopic and cousins of
the thick and spiders and they feed on dead skin cells. They hide into places like mattress
or pillows, bed, carpets, stuff toys, furniture, and clothes. The waste produce by dust mites
are the top factors for causing asthma and allergies multiplying 10 full daily dust mites
seem to be an impossible to tackle but if you do not fend against dust mites leaving
yourselves in a harm’s way and allowing dampness in your basement is a top producer
for dust mites in the home. Dust mites are unable to eat water and instead absorb it
into the air. Dust mites try in human environments basements, they love basements and they fluctuate
with the season so when it’s raining out you are going to have more dust mites down
there the normal. It’s a perfect environment your basement is a perfect environment for
dust mites. We want to make sure that we keep that basement dry and your home healthy.
To recap, we have its necessary to meditate the damage in the basement especially if you
have building materials down the there within 24 to 48 hours. You want to dry the basement
up. You want to use air movement. You want to use Germicide and Mildewcide within that
48 hours to eliminate mold damage. You want to introduce air behind the walls with a Germicides
and Mildewcide. We want to make sure that we kill the potential mold from growing before
it grows on the building materials.
If you go past 48 hours there will be necessary to remove and replace sheetrock materials
or anything organics which is wood. These items will grow mold and they will remain
damp. Property innovation proper waterproofing systems making sure that we address the source
of the water first or while we are taking the mold laden out of the materials is very
important and keeping a clean dry environment by installing a water system with proper dehumidification
products are very important.