Recognising mold after a water loss, drying the cause and checking a firm's credentials before any work starts.
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Mold after water damage grows where moisture stays in building materials for days, most often in wall cavities, subfloors and insulation. Drying the cause removes the conditions it needs to grow. Anchorage Water Damage Restoration answers calls at any hour, and a crew is sent as soon as one is free to measure the moisture and record any growth it finds.
Mold is a fungus that needs moisture, a food source and time. Building materials supply the food, and water that has soaked into them supplies the moisture. A wall cavity that stays wet for several days, a subfloor under a carpet or a bottom plate that is damp for weeks can all support growth. Mold that is found after a water loss is therefore a sign that the drying was too slow or the water was not found, not a separate event.
The mold that appears after a leak is often hidden. It can grow on the back of drywall, on the underside of a subfloor, in insulation, or on the face of framing that is out of sight. A surface that looks clean can still have growth behind it, and a smell is often the first sign. The crew measures the moisture first, because the readings show where the conditions for growth are still present.
The first step is to dry the cause, not to treat the visible patch. A patch cleaned while the cavity behind it is still wet will come back. Shut off the water source, keep the affected room closed off, avoid disturbing any growth you can see, and leave a visible patch larger than a hand-sized area for the crew to assess before anyone cleans it.
Do not disturb a large growth area, a growth in a closed wall or a growth in a ventilation system without protective equipment. Keep children, pets and anyone with a breathing condition out of the affected room until the work is complete. Do not run a fan that blows air across a growth area toward the rest of the house, and do not mix cleaning products together.
Find and close the water source before anything else. A mold problem that starts with a leak still running can grow faster than it can be cleaned. The crew confirms that the source is closed and records the time, so the drying is measured from a known point.
Moisture meters are used across the walls, floors and framing to find where the conditions for growth are still present. Growth that is visible is photographed and recorded before anything is touched, because disturbing it releases spores into the air and changes the evidence of where it began.
Where growth is present, the affected room is closed off and kept under negative air pressure where the equipment allows, so that spores do not spread to the rest of the house. Protective gear is worn for the work, and the room is kept closed until the work is complete.
Porous materials that have grown mold are removed, including drywall, insulation, carpet pad and the lower part of a wall, because mold grows through porous material and cannot be cleaned out of it. Hard surfaces are cleaned, dried and checked again. The removal is recorded item by item.
The area is dried to the reference reading, and the moisture is measured again before the room is closed up. The crew records the growth it found, the materials removed and the final readings. Any growth that remains is described in the record, so the next contractor knows where to look.
Mold can begin to grow on wet material within a few days, and it grows faster in warm, still air and on materials that stay damp. The sooner the material is dried, the less chance mold has to take hold, which is why the drying starts on the first visit.
The exact timing depends on the material, the temperature, the airflow and how much water was present. A cavity that stays wet inside a wall is slower to dry and more likely to support growth than a floor that is opened and dried promptly.
A smell that has been noticed for a few days after a loss is a reason to ask for a readings check. A smell often means growth that has not yet appeared on the surface, and a meter reading can show the moisture that supports it.
Ask which credentials the firm holds and whether they apply in Alaska. Ask for proof of insurance, a written scope of the work and references from recent jobs. A firm that says it is licensed should name the body that licensed it, and industry certifications should be treated as certificates, not state licences.
A written scope should say what will be removed, what will be cleaned, what will be tested and what the owner will receive at the end. A scope that says only that mold will be removed, with no measurements or record, gives you nothing to check the work against.
If testing is part of the job, ask whether the person who tests the air or surfaces is separate from the crew that does the cleanup. A firm that tests its own cleanup has a conflict, and a separate test at the end gives you a clearer result.
A test shows what was present at the moment it was taken, and it does not show that the building is free of mold. Surface and air samples have limits, and a result depends on where and when the sample was taken. The visual check and the moisture readings are often more useful than a single test.
A test is most useful when it is taken before and after the work, at the same points, by a person independent of the cleanup. A result that shows only that growth was present, with no record of its location, does not tell you where the building still holds moisture.
The owner can ask the crew to record where growth was found, what was removed and what the readings are at the end. That record is the basis for any decision about the room afterwards.
Cleaning a surface that is still wet leaves the moisture in the material behind it, and the growth returns once the surface dries out and the conditions change. Drying removes the conditions mold needs, and cleaning removes what is left on the surface.
The order matters. A crew that cleans the visible patch first and dries the wall later will find the same mold again. The crew measures the moisture, dries the cause and then deals with the growth on the surface.
Air movement and dehumidification during the work help too, because they keep the surface dry while the cleaning is done. A dehumidifier in a closed room with moisture still in the walls can increase the humidity in the air, so the readings are checked as the work goes on.
A patch the size of a hand on a hard, non-porous surface can be wiped with a detergent solution while the area is dry and ventilated. Anything larger, anything in a cavity, anything on porous material, and anything with a smell should be assessed by a crew before it is touched.
Wear a mask rated for particulates, gloves and eye protection, and keep the room closed off from the rest of the house. Do not use bleach or ammonia together with another cleaner, because the fumes can be dangerous.
Do not sand, scrape or dry-brush a growth patch, because that spreads spores into the air. Photograph the patch before you clean it, and tell the crew about it on the first call.
Growth on the surface of a material that was wet from clean supply water is the most common case after a short delay. It is often small and can be removed by cleaning and drying if the material is non-porous. Porous material with growth on it is removed rather than cleaned.
Growth behind drywall, plaster or insulation is found when a surface is opened, usually after a smell has been noticed for some time. The cavity is opened under containment, the growth is recorded, and the framing is cleaned and dried. The crew says what it saw and what it did, and the owner decides on the reconstruction.
Mold that follows a sewage loss is treated with the sewage cleanup steps first and the mold steps second. The porous material that was in contact with the sewage is already removed, so the remaining growth is usually on framing and hard surfaces. Protective equipment for both risks is worn.
In a heated house, a wet wall can dry from the room side while the cavity behind it stays damp. The crew measures inside the cavity for that reason, and it does not assume that a dry room means a dry wall.
Ask any firm you hire which credentials it holds, whether they apply in Alaska, and whether the Municipality of Anchorage requires a permit for any part of the work.
Where a home in Chugiak, Eagle River, Girdwood or Indian has been wet for a long period, the humidity and the ventilation of the house are part of the cause. The crew records the readings and the ventilation it sees, and the owner can take that record to whoever advises on the building.
A crew is dispatched as fast as one is available, and you approve the estimate before any work starts.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Air movers and dehumidifiers that dry walls, framing and subfloors to moisture readings, not to appearance.
Finding and drying water that reaches under a house with a crawl space, before the floor above gives way.
Lifting and drying wet carpet, pad and hardwood, and deciding what can be kept, from readings taken on the subfloor.
Cleaning up sewage that backed up through a floor drain or toilet, traced to the utility main or the house drain.
Water under a house with a crawl space soaks the insulation, the joists and the sill plate, and the first sign is often a soft or sagging floor rather than a puddle.
Hire a water damage firm by asking which credentials it holds and whether they apply in Alaska, what the Municipality of Anchorage may require for permits, for proof of insurance, for a written scope and for references from recent jobs.
A sewer backup starts either in the utility's sewer main or in the house drain, and the answer decides who clears the blockage.
Most indoor mold is a nuisance that should still be removed, but some people are more sensitive to it than others. Anyone with a breathing condition, a weakened immune system or a child in the house should keep away from the growth until it has been cleaned.
You cannot tell reliably by looking. Dark stains can be mold, soot, staining from water or old dirt. A crew can take samples where needed and can record what it saw, and a lab can identify the organism if you need that.
Whether a policy covers mold depends on the policy and on what caused the growth, and the insurer decides. The crew's record of the water, the readings and the growth is the evidence to send with any claim.
The moisture that supported it was probably never removed from the cavity, or the source was not fixed. A repeat growth means the cause has to be found, measured and dried before the surface is cleaned again.
That depends on the size of the work and the room. Where the growth is contained to one room that is closed off, the rest of the house can usually stay in use. The crew tells you the containment it plans and whether any room must stay closed.
Ask for the final moisture readings for each area, a list of what was removed, the photographs before and after, and a written note of any growth that remains. Keep the record with your insurance papers and the reconstruction scope.