Oh my goodness!!!! Is exactly what I thought when I walked out of a mold certification class about 5 years ago. I can’t believe I’m still breathing. Or even alive! I’m sure this is how most customers feel when they find out that they have mold. Just this week I had a customer who fit this description.

All jokes aside, mold is a serious issue. But how serious is that issue? Every house is completely different. I crawled under the prospective customer’s house to evaluate the situation. Upon viewing the whole crawl space, it was very obvious that the mold was centralized to the bathroom that had once been repaired. In fact, I would go as far as to say that most of the mold was found on the debris from the remodel. So with a little housekeeping and a vapor barrier there would not have been an issue.

I’m pretty sure if we hire a mold company to find mold, they will do exactly that. We can find mold of some form in almost any crawl. The avenues to fix these situations can be costly and a pain. The first step is to call in a second set of eyes. More than one quote is always a good idea. Sealing a crawl space completely may be what you need. Or maybe you just need a drain, a vapor barrier, or a box fan from Wal-Mart on a Christmas tree timer.

The point is to evaluate the situation. Fix the source that is feeding the mold breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day (i.e. a food source). Water intrusion can be handled with drains and pumps. Air flow, or lack thereof, can be knocked out with fans or a dehumidifier. Sometimes gutter extensions can resolve the problem. You very well may need a full blown remediation or just a wipe down and a vapor barrier.

The bottom line is you need to first, find the source of the problem. And second, put a plan in motion to fix it. If not, mold and rotten wood may be in your future. Get a second opinion and compare the proposed solutions. Ask as many questions as you can. If the company can’t give you a definitive answer on why their solution is the best or if their responses are just too vague, then I would recommend choosing with the one that can give you a satisfactory response.

By the way, I was kidding about the fan from Wal-Mart. I would suggest going to your local building supply for the fan. If you need any questions answered, please don’t hesitate to give us a call. We will tell you the truth for free.

- Joseph Sherrill