Ball Construction & Inspection Services

We in Florida live with mold every day.  We do not think too much about it until we start to feel sick or one of our family stays sick.  Looking around you start to find all kinds of traces of possible mold.  Then what do you do?

Mold, mildew, black mold, are all the same thing... mold!  All mold acts the same way when it is stressed,  it goes into survival mode and will send spores all over the place.  If you find mold DO NOT CLEAN IT WITH BLEACH!  Clean the area with Lysol then wipe the area with bleach as a mold inhibitor.

Mold needs 3 things to survive: 1) It needs oxygen 2) It needs a food source... anything organic  3) It needs a moisture source / level of 50% or more.   If the humidity  stays below 50% then the mold will stay inactive.  So usually if there is a mold problem there is a moisture problem.

 There are usually 2 ways to test for mold: 1) Swab sampling... this will tell us what type of mold it is but will not tell us if there is an over abundance of mold spores.  2)  Air sampling... this will tell us what type of mold and the spore count.  This information along with a test outside to compare it to and we can tell if there is an active problem.

There are many species of mold that can make a person sick especially if there already is a weakness in the body.  By testing for the species of mold we can usually tell if it is one that is bad to live with.

We can find mold in all kinds of places, some normal (bath, laundry) and some not so normal (walls, closet bedrooms).  Its the odd places we need to worry about because there usually is moisture associated with the problem area.  Moisture can be getting in through all kinds of places.

 When we do our mold test we also make a moisture inspection.  If there is mold we need to know where the moisture is coming from so this can be fixed.  There is no way to clean up mold until the moisture problem is controlled.

Moisture can be coming from bad plumbing, roof leaks, window leaks or even through the house siding if there is direct water contact on a regular bases such as sprinkler spraying against a wall.

Now is the time to catch the problem, while it is small.  Mold spores are very tiny and can get into all the wrong areas of the house.  Add moisture / high humidity and you can have a major problem and very costly to repair.

 If you are not sure you have a problem call us for a free consultation.

If you see or smell mold call us now to make an appointment.