If you decide to check your home for black mold or you want someone to check for you, the first thing to do is proper testing for mold to tell you if you even have the problem. While prevention is the best way to kill black mold, there are many times where you will have to test first such as when you are purchasing a new building, after water damage or if someone who is susceptible to black mold moves in. There are two ways to go about hunting for black mold in your home. These are air testing and surface testing and while they are both different, they do compliment each other nicely.

Testing By Air

When you are doing air sampling for black mold, you are testing the amount of black mold spores in your home. A higher concentration of spores in the air obviously indicates a greater health risk and a lower concentration indicates a lower risk. The tester used is usually a plate with a fan or another way to draw in air. Spores caught on the plate are measured to estimate the amount of black mold in the home. While these tests are non-invasive, simple and affordable, they may not tell the whole story about the level of mold in your home or where it is. Air testing is an easy indication of the presence of black mold in your home though and allows you to easily tell what you have if not where.

Testing Surfaces for Black Mold

If you find mold, but you’re not sure what kind of mold you have, surface testing will help you determine the problem. Surface testing is done by cutting pieces of mold and the surrounding area from your home and sending it to a lab for verification. This is a more invasive method of course, but it will give you a better idea of how extensive the mold is and even what kind of mold it is. After all, just because it looks like a certain kind of mold doesn’t necessarily follow that it is that type of mold and you wouldn’t want to waste a ton of money and effort on what is essentially an ugly, but harmless mold. Surface testing though will not give you an idea of the level of spores in the home and the spores are what causes the health problem.

Both of these types of testing are great for helping you to get rid of black mold because they work well together. They are easy and inexpensive, but still give you great results to work from. Testing may seem like a pain, but if you want to protect your health, you have to know what to protect it from. Black mold is toxic and can be deadly, so if there’s a risk of it in your home, make sure to test and put your mind at ease. Testing supplies are easy to purchase online or offline or you can hire someone to do it for you. Once you have identified the problem, you can work on getting rid of it and that is always well worth doing!

Black mold can be a serious problem in all most anyone’s home, and it’s become a normal decision to just ignore it in your bathrooms and window sills. Educate yourself by reading our blog on black mold removal.

Black mold is a common mold in many homes and it is very toxic. Black mold is usually found in areas where there is water damage, organic materials, and low light or sometimes even no light. The at-risk groups include infants, seniors, and those with immune system issues, but given enough time and exposure, even healthy adults can find their health deteriorating. There are several symptoms of black mold to keep in mind and it’s important know how to deal with them and with black mold as a whole in order to stay healthy.

Black mold toxicity is caused by the spores released by mold which ends up in the lungs of those nearby. The spores end up growing in the lungs and intestines, causing a fungal infection which then leads to a range of symptoms, including wheezing, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, asthma, dizziness and in very rare cases, coma and death. Unfortunately, many of the symptoms of black mold toxicity are similar to the symptoms of a range of other problems, from the basic common cold to pneumonia and other issues. It is important therefore to do the right testing to see whether black mold is the problem or whether your symptoms are coming from something else.

There are two broad tests to run in order to establish black mold poisoning. First, you should test your household for black mold. You can call in the professionals to do it for you or you can get a black mold tester that will test the air in possibly affected areas and let you know if there are any black mold spores floating around. These testers are fairly easy to get and do, but they won’t be quite enough you also have to test yourself. The best way to do that is to get bloodwork done that will pick up the presence of mold spores and toxins in your body. If you test positive for black mold, it’s time for some serious black mold remediation, both in your body and in your home.

Black mold remediation in your home is largely a matter of cleaning and getting rid of black mold foodstuff, but what about you? There are some things that can help. For example, your doctor may give you pills which can kill the fungus in your body and you may have to be put enzyme therapy or even liver therapy if the damage is bad enough. You may also have to change your diet, such as ingesting more ‘Good’ oils to help strengthen your body cells again. You may even be put on a ‘no sugar’ diet because fungus and mold thrives on sugar. There are several things that you could do, but it’s important to take the first step by talking to your doctor as soon as possible so that the mold can be taken out of your body before it gets worse.

Black mold poisoning is serious; don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It causes a range of symptoms that are highly damaging to your body and to your lifestyle. If the black mold isn’t removed from your home and from your body, the problem will get worse and your health will collapse. Make sure to identify where the black mold is coming from and then clean it up and take care of your body as soon as possible. You and your home will be so much better for some good black mold remediation!

Black mold can be a serious problem in all most anyone’s home, and it’s become a normal decision to just ignore it in your bathrooms and window sills. Educate yourself by reading our blog on black mold remediation.

One of the common renovation areas for household owners is the basement because it is easy to turn a massive room into whatever you want. Basements can be renovated and updated to create a good rec room, an extra bathroom or bedroom or a child’s room. Renovating a basement isn’t easy though and it can even be hazardous because the basement is a prime area for the growth of black mold and other toxins. Black mold is common in basements because they tend to be dark and damp, as well as hidden leaky pipes which allows for mold growth. You may have to deal with the black mold as well as other basement renovation issues.

Renovators who are interested enough in the process to do it themselves will also be glad to have the chance to get rid of the health risk black mold represents. Basement renovations make it easy to find black mold since you can do things like tear out the walls and change up the pipes. Black mold tends to hide in these places where you will be doing the bulk of the dirty renovations and so it’s much easier to find and get rid of when you’re already tearing things apart anyway!

Fortunately, getting rid of black mold in your basement isn’t as bad as it sounds as long as the affected area isn’t too huge. There are black mold cleansers called biocides you can purchase online or off or you can clean it up yourself using a HEPA vacuum, homemade cleaners based in things like vinegar and some elbow grease. Basically, you will start by sealing off the impacted area with plastic, carefully vacuum the area, scrape it down with a wire brush, damp it with water (to provide the spores from flying away) and then wash it.

Considering how a good chunk of the renovations will include tearing things out, make sure to do this first, disposing of things properly and then carefully clean everything around it. Spores are airborne and move around easily, making removal of the affected area alone less effective than removal plus cleaning.

The simple fact is that black mold remediation is probably going to come up in the course of basement renovations. Basements are suitable places for black mold to live and grow, so you will likely run into it while renovating. But don’t get stressed out or annoyed; remember that you are going to be cleaning and tearing things out anyway, so take advantage of the chance to renovate your home and your health

Black mold can be a serious problem in all most anyone’s home, and it’s become a normal decision to just ignore it in your bathrooms and window sills. Educate yourself by reading our blog on black mold remediation.