When dealing with mold particles and indoor moisture, the goal is to eliminate them by physically moving these things out of your house. The normal circulation of a building that breathes fresh air into a building and expels used air can only do so much – sometimes it needs a little help. That’s why we have a few tools that can assist. HEPA Filters – HEPA stands for high efficiency particulate air, and HEPA filters are made to trap really...
Read MoreDoes your home have a serious mold infestation, but you can’t afford the high costs of professional mold removal? Well, the Ypsilanti Township has an affordable solution that will get rid of the mold in your home for good – burn it down with fire. That’s right, for the cost of a book of matches, you can have a mold removal solution that is, at the very least, cheap and effective. Fire is a natural killer of mold, just like...
Read MoreWhen we think about mold we often think about how it can affect our health or how it can destroy our homes – but what about man’s best friend? How susceptible are our pets to mold? The first recorded case of a pet dying from toxic mold was in 2007. Two Himalayan cats were having a routine dental procedure when their vet noticed a frothy blood within the endotracheal tubes used to supply anesthesia to the two cat siblings. The...
Read MoreOut of all the questions people ask me about mold, the most important question to them is always, “How can I get rid of my mold?” Even though this is an important question, it’s not the question they should be asking, which is, “Why do I have mold?” In the past, we’ve discussed things that might contribute to mold growth in a home or building. Some of these factors were high humidity, organic building materials, and air-tight building structures. But...
Read MoreIt’s a common story: a burst pipe, a flooded basement, toxic mold, and an insurance company that refuses to honor its coverage. Carl and Mary Becker have been fighting the mold growing in their Michigan home for almost three years, but their fight against AutoOwners of Lansing has just begun. The Beckers were away on vacation when two pipes burst and flooded their basement for days. After a plumber fixed the leak, they moved back into their house thinking the...
Read MoreIs mold covered by your home owners or flood insurance? If you had to think about the answer to that question, then you could benefit from a better understanding of the specifics of your insurance coverage. The difference between knowing and not knowing could mean thousands if your home is attacked by mold. Because insurance claims on mold damage and removal has skyrocketed over the last decade, insurance companies are scrambling to rewrite their coverage policies. Make sure you have...
Read MoreIt’s cold season. The weather is hot, then the next day it’s freezing. You wake up with a headache, stuffiness, sore throat, and runny nose. Just great – you’ve caught a cold. Your doctor agrees with the diagnosis and prescribes you antibiotics for treatment. But what if you are both wrong? What if your symptoms are actually caused by mold? The common symptoms of an upper respiratory infection – or the common cold – include stuffiness, sore throat, headache, runny...
Read MoreAlzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and currently affects over 3 million senior citizens in America. Although it does not appear to run in my family, I am always saddened when I see someones grandmother or grandfather with Alzheimer’s. Early symptoms of the disease include confusion, loss of short-term memory, problems with attention and spatial orientation, changes in personality, language difficulties and unexplained mood swings. But these same exact symptoms have also been attributed to mycotoxicosis, or...
Read MoreFly-by-night mold remediators sometimes use encapsulation to simply paint over mold while charging gullible clients thousands for their unscrupulous services. Also called mold sealant or mold paint, encapsulation is the process of treating mold with a product that “glues” the mold in place so it cannot release any spores – rendering the mold powerless. This works to some extent, but encapsulation is not completely effective and should never be the sole means of remediation. Encapsulation is sometimes relied upon as...
Read MoreThere is an interesting debate in California right now involving Prop. 19 that will be voted upon this month. The bill would allow local jurisdictions to regulate their own taxation on production of marijuana, make marijuana legal for those aged 21 and over, and allow adults to grow pot in small plots in their homes. What does this have to do with mold remediation and mold removal? Opponents of Prop. 19 are now pointing to their own study analyzing the...
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