If your home gets flooded, it's imperative that you ripped out all your
carpeting bedding and Furniture as soon as possible. Get a sheetrock
knife and cut off sheetrock if a four foot level even though you may
have had one foot of damage. Rip out the sheetrock to get the insulation
out of the wall. The installation will act as a sponge and the water
will creep up the wall. Get fans in every room if possible turn on your
air conditioning system and crack your windows. Do not under
any circumstances leave the house closed up. Get a licensed mold
professional to test you home BEFORE you close the walls back up.
Bleach is NOT the cure all!!!!! Get a clear mold test before
re-rocking!!! Use a local GC, and get referrals!!! If you need
recommendations for mold remediation and gc's, please call or PM me.
Get on the list now so you are not waiting forever for someone.
How long before I should start gutting my home?
In March we came across homes that after 2 weeks had not been gutted
because people were on a list waiting for their GC. Let me start by
saying that if you have a GC that says it's okay to keep your home wet
for 2 weeks or more than 48 hours waiting on him, get another GC!!!!!
Once you have gutted, and started he drying process you can wait as long
as you want, but until then, don't wait on a contractor because he is
costing you money every hour you wait!!!!
Do you recommend leaving a couple inches of Sheetrock for proof for insurance?
No, just document with photos, try to get time stamped. I believe most phones now encrypts time stamp of the time and date in
the file. Date/time as well as GPS location in most cases is encrypted
in the descriptive meta data of the photo. There are some apps you can
use to see it.
Should we take out wood flooring if it lays back down after dried?
Although your wood may look fine, under your wood floors if there is any
moisture, mold will grow, it may take months to show it self and you
may never see it but just find your allergies and sicknesses get more
frequent. I recommend taking out all carpet, and wood. Tile can stay
because there is no organic material for mold to grow on.
If you had roof leaks, there is similar problems. Attic insulation,
especially if it jean or cellulose insulation, will mold. You have to
get the wet insulation out ASAP. Once complete, make sure anything wet
is dried and follow the other recommended steps in my previous post.
What about cabinets? Should they be removed?
Unfortunately this is a question that is hard for people. I say ALL
lower cabinets need to go. If someone says different, you are more than
welcome to take your chances. Sheetrock wicks moisture, and in doing
so it gets between the Rock and the back of the cabinet as well as below
the cabinet. This is a perfect breeding ground for mold. Many
cabinets can be saved if you are careful and then the kick plates and
sides can be re-skinned once dry. It is very difficult to get most
counters off in one piece though. I know this is a place many people
try to save money and really fight to not do, but you should remove
them.
Should I mitigate the mold myself?
I already see a bunch of posts that talk about how to mitigate mold
yourself, and some that talk about not taking out cabinets. (Just take
out swollen shelves and open doors to dry out). BE CAREFUL!!! If you
will mitigate yourself, do yourself a favor and get your home tested
before you close the walls. Lower cabinets SHOULD come off. Even if you
save them, they should come off so the area between the cabinet and wall
dry. Don't believe everything you read.
Mold's favorite home is wood floors and carpet! You wont even notice until one day you step and feel a slight bend, pull up the floors and find an entire mold infestation. Then you have to pay for a mold removal project
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