Mold & IAQ
For Over 30 Years, LEW Environmental Services Has Helped Thousands of New Jersey and New York Property Owners Address Their Mold Concerns
New Jersey and New York households/businesses commonly encounter mold in their homes due to excessive moisture. Mold can be found in a variety of places throughout your home both in highly trafficked areas and spaces hidden deep within your home.
Molds produce mold spores which can cause an allergic reaction in some people and sometimes mold produces a potentially toxic substance called mycotoxins. Mold allergies are extremely common and occur when mold spores are inhaled. The types of allergic reactions people can have will vary from person to person. Common allergy symptoms include cold-like symptoms, runny nose, sneezing, red eyes, and itchy skin with or without a rash. People with asthma can be especially prone to mold side effects, including worsening of asthma symptoms. Even if you are not allergic to mold, mold exposure commonly causes irritation to the skin, eyes, nose, throat and lungs in otherwise healthy individuals.
What Is Mold?
Mold is a fungus that reproduces by microscopic spores that can travel through the air both indoors and outdoors. Mold can enter your home through windows, vents, heating/air conditioning systems, and open and poorly sealed doorways.
How Do Property Owners Know They Have Mold?
Typically, mold can be spotted by the naked eye or cause a smell in your home. Mold often looks like a discoloration, sometimes with fuzz and other times without fuzz. People often describe mold as smelling musty or a stale smell that lingers in the air.
The best way to look for mold is to search for areas on your walls and floors that are discolored, possibly water stained, warped areas, or try to locate the source of the smell in your home. Oftentimes, mold can grow within walls so if the source of the smell appears to be emanating from the wall, getting your home professionally tested for mold is a good choice.
However, the only definitive method of determining the presence or absence of mold in an indoor environment is to have an inspection performed by a qualified and experienced company.
Where Does Mold Grow?
Mold spores are naturally found in both indoor and outdoor air samples. Mold will only grow if the spores settle in an area with moisture. That means that the areas in your home with the most moisture are at the highest risk for mold growth. It is important to note here that if you discover mold, simply eliminating the moisture will not kill the mold and simply killing the mold and leaving the moisture problem will cause the mold to re-grow.
The most common areas to find mold growth in New Jersey homes are:
- Bathrooms; especially shower stalls, bathroom tiles, and shower curtains
- Windows
- Seals on appliances
- Surfaces on and around air conditioners
- Basements prone to flooding
- Leaky roofs
How Do I Treat My Home For Mold?
Mold is a living organism and needs to be physically removed to be eliminated and any sources of moisture need to be fixed otherwise the mold will return. Painting over mold, or using ineffective home treatments can cause mold issues to multiply. This happens because once mold spores are disrupted they can scatter into the air causing the mold infestation to spread. Removal does not necessarily mean that costly demolition and tearing out of fixtures will be necessary.
Speaking with the experts at LEW Environmental Services is a great first step to eliminating mold in your home. Our technicians will come to your home and inspect every nook & cranny of your home to identify all sources of mold and moisture. Our team will then create a custom report and will send you information on expert mold remediators in your area.
If your home has already been inspected and it is determined that mold exists, LEW Environmental Services can handle all of your remediation needs.
Dead mold may still cause allergic reactions in some people, so it is not enough to simply kill the mold, it must also be removed