After the Flood: Warning Signs of Mold & What You Can Do
When storms soak an area with inches of rain in a short time frame, flooding is inevitable. If you had water in your home for at least two days, chances are some mold colonies are growing, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Here’s what you may not realize: mold may not be visible immediately, but its spores are growing.
Here are warning signs that mold may be a growing problem post-flooding, and advice to help you deal with it:
What’s that smell?
Although mold begins growing within 24 hours after water enters your home, it takes a while before you can actually detect the musty odor that means mold. So, over the next few weeks, be sure to keep your senses on alert for a musty smell developing in your home or business.
Why can I smell mold and mildew, but can’t see it?
Mold plays hide-and-seek, which is why testing is so important. Typical hiding places include:
• the back side of dry wall, wall paper or paneling;
• the top side of ceiling tiles;
• the underside of carpets and pads;
• around pipes – inside and outside your walls;
• the surface of walls behind furniture;
• inside ductwork;
• in roof materials.
What should I do about that musty smell?
It’s important to test for mold to determine where it lurks, as well as its root cause. Do-it-yourself testing kits can be unreliable. Qualified, trained mold inspection services are much more thorough and, therefore, offer the best protection. If you can see the mold on hard surfaces, clean it off with detergent and water. Be sure to dry the surface completely. If the problem is too large, a commercial cleaning or remediation company is your best solution, depending on the location.
Who should test for mold and when?
Consumers should have a certified professional test for mold, but they should not perform remediation services so as to avoid any conflict of interest. A certified microbial investigator will discover mold’s root causes and provide a detailed report with recommendations on how to remove the mold. You should test for mold before you hire a remediation company, and again after work is complete to make sure the mold has been properly removed and will not grow back and resurface a few months later.
What is the health impact of mold?
Mold can cause a host of health issues. It has been known to trigger allergies that cause headaches and coughing, as well as irritate the nose, skin, and eyes. For people with asthma, mold can make breathing particularly difficult. Read more in depth about the health risks of mold.
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Next comes the all-important bleach wash, which will remove any leftover mold, in addition to stopping future mold growth. In a pail, add 1½ cups bleach to 1 gallon of water. Wet the surface well with this mixture, letting it soak in for about 15 minutes. Scrub the area with the scrub brush. Then rinse well with clean, clear water. Repeat these two steps until all visible mold is gone. Next, use a fan and/or dehumidifier to dry the area well. If you leave any moisture behind, you are leaving your wall open to mold growth.
HVAC systems often cause mold outbreaks in buildings, especially during the summer months, when the air conditioning systems create condensation. Where there’s moisture, there’s mold. And since mold spores can travel throughout the building through the HVAC system, you can expect that mold colonies are sure to develop.
Leaves and all kinds of debris clog drains. When that happens water has nowhere to go but into a nearby apartment. Water will travel to the weakest point of entry, which could be just about anywhere. Without proper testing, it is difficult to determine. If you have a terrace, be sure to keep your drains clean.
A flat roof can often spell trouble. Many apartment buildings are built with flat roofs, which can deteriorate and sag. And, if they are not engineered properly they won’t shed water, as they should. Water then goes through the roof and into the apartments below. We have also seen water silos (water storage tanks) on a rooftop leak or burst, causing massive flooding in the apartments below.
It is important to get two different companies to do the testing and remediation. Why? When the same company does both it is a clear conflict of interest, and could cost you extra for repairs that are unnecessary. An independent testing company will tell you exactly where the problem is, and provide you with a blueprint for remediation. The remediation company will then do only the work that is necessary, minimizing disruption and cost. In New York State, it is illegal for the same company to do both testing and remediation on the same job.
Clean your gutters.
You certainly don’t want to start your winter with a leaky roof. Check your ceilings for water spots, mold, or stains. If you spot them, before you call in a roofer, have a mold inspector test your home for mold. That way you’ll know exactly what needs to be replaced so the mold doesn’t come back. You may have small stains or dark spots now, but once the heavy snow sets in, the problem could get much worse, and you could wind up with a full blown mold infestation. You should also check your attic for moisture, as mold can easily grow there if it is not properly ventilated.
Indoor air quality suffers in the winter because your home is closed up most of the time. Toxic fumes, including carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), can be emitted from fireplace and wood burning stove smoke and may back up into the house, which can cause serious health issues. Mold and dust can also build up in HVAC units over the summer months, then spread throughout your home when the heat is turned on. To make sure your indoor air quality is at an acceptable level, schedule a test from an environmental inspector like 
Quick Guide to Clean Up a Flooded Basement
This will help the water drain properly. Also, make sure your sump pump is working, if you have one. Sometimes after the power goes out, your sump pump may need to be reset before it kicks on.
Don’t rush repairs after water damage occurs. Improper demolition or renovation may not only cost you thousands more in unnecessary repairs, it can also send a host of toxins into parts of your home that were not affected, including mold spores, lead dust, and asbestos. The first step is to get an independent environmental inspection from a company like RTK Environmental Group. The independent inspection can protect your financial interests by pinpointing exactly what needs to be removed, what’s salvageable, and which environmental hazards are present.
Have damage, but haven’t done anything yet? Here’s what you need to do first.
Whether you choose to do the work yourself or hire a contractor will depend on the size and scope of the damage, and the potential environmental hazards involved. Once you have the results of independent mold, lead, and/or asbestos testing, you will have a good idea as to whether you can handle it or not. Remember: 
Have an RTK certified microbial investigator test the area after you’ve completed the work to ensure that you haven’t missed anything during the repair process.
If you rebuild before the area is completely dried out, you will be sealing mold into your walls. The mold will grow back and cause major damage. This happened quite often during Sandy, and RTK saw hundreds of mold regrowth cases over the next several years. Walls that were rebuilt had to be taken down, mold remediation was performed again, and homes were rebuilt a second time. And, it has been determined that potentially thousands of demolition projects occurred without proper testing for asbestos or lead paint.
An independent environmental testing company will provide you with a detailed report, documenting that your home is safe or is cleared to be rebuilt and has a safe environmental toxin level (mold, lead, asbestos, radon, bacteria, and other toxins). This documentation will be critical when you sell your home or for insurance claims. To ensure that your document will hold up in possible legal situations or in court, make sure the company that performs the testing is certified, licensed, insured, and does not perform remediation, which could result in a conflict-of-interest claim.
Future homebuyers may be asking tough questions about whether your home was flooded or struck by falling trees during any of the noteworthy northeast storms so you’ll want to be able to prove via documentation that your home was properly repaired afterwards. Otherwise, doubtful purchasers might cause you to have to lower the sale price, and you might run the risk of a potential lawsuit from the new owner who could claim that you knowingly sold them a home with post-hurricane environmental contamination like mold, lead, asbestos, and bacteria from sewage.
If your home floods again and mold returns, your insurance company may question whether the mold was caused by the new event and not from Henri. Without proof that your home was deemed mold-free after repairs were made, the insurance company might take the position that a new claim is not justified or that you have met your policy limit. 
Some companies offer mold testing on the cheap and then conveniently offer their own remediation services to fix the problem. This is a clear conflict-of-interest, with the result that the problem is not often remediated – if it exists at all. The consumer may be paying thousands of dollars for bloated repair estimates or an improper and ineffective remediation. Contact RTK for an independent, unbiased test.
If you smell something afoul, don’t ignore it. A musty odor may indicate a mold or mildew problem, which can cause serious health issues. In addition to allergy like symptoms, trouble breathing, and rashes, mold can also cause headaches, fatigue and dizziness.
If your water is not running clear or smells funny, you likely have a problem, either with your well or older pipes. Bacteria, heavy metals, and other contaminants can cause your water to be less than fresh, and sometimes dangerous.
If you go running for a bucket and towels every time it rains, your problem is likely larger than a leaky roof. When water intrusion occurs, like a leaky roof, mold can grow within 24 – 48 hours. And, if you let it go, it can literally grow. And grow. And grow. Mold colonies can be hidden under roof tiles, behind ceilings, sheetrock, and inside walls. And every time it rains, spores will grow larger. If that’s the case, by not addressing the issue, you could be causing structural damage, not to mention the many adverse health effects mentioned earlier.
Often, that “new car smell” is caused by off-gassing from volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. VOCs are toxic vapors that are off-gassed from man-made materials and everyday household (and workplace) items. VOCs cause poor indoor air quality, which can cause headaches, dizziness, listlessness, depression, and much more. Common causes of poor IAQ are cleaners and disinfectants, new furniture or carpeting, candles, electronics, and paints. If your indoor air isn’t quite right, or if you are experiencing unexplained symptoms, have an indoor air quality test. This can pinpoint or rule out mold and VOCs, and help you breathe easier.
Sewage backups are very common in commercial and residential buildings. This usually happens when a blockage of waste becomes lodged or pipes deteriorate, causing sewage to backflow up from drains, cleanouts, showers, and toilets. This is known as blackwater. When a blackwater intrusion occurs, it can end up causing serious problems – from damage to your property to severe health concerns.
The first step in sorting out a blackwater problem is having the area tested for bacteria and contaminants by an independent testing company – one that does not also do sewage cleanup and remediation, as this would be a clear conflict of interest. RTK can help you sort out your sewage problems quickly, effectively, and with minimum hassle.
If you see mold, then you clearly have a mold issue. If you see water stains, you probably have a mold issue as well. The question then becomes how big is the problem? Because mold is often hidden, growing on the back sides of walls and sheetrock, and under carpets and floorboards, the only way to be sure is to have a mold inspection performed by a certified professional.
If you are having physical symptoms such as itchy eyes, cough or wheezing that occur in one location of the premises that clear up when you are elsewhere, it’s a sure bet that the location is harboring mold. If you have any of the following unexplained symptoms, they may be caused by 
Never hire a company that does both mold testing and mold remediation. Why? It is a clear conflict of interest. Often, unscrupulous companies will embellish a mold problem or offer testing on the cheap in hopes of making money on the remediation to follow. But at RTK, we only test for mold and do not remediate, so there is no conflict of interest. Once we have tested your premises, we provide you with a blueprint for mold removal, and you can hire the remediation company of your choice.