How to Deal with Mold After a Flood

A heavy downpour or major storm can cause all sorts of damage to your home. If water penetrated the interior of your home, you need to think about mold remediation. If you were unable to dry out your home within 24-48 hours after flooding, odds are you have a mold problem.

And mold inside a home isn’t just unsightly, it can also cause serious health problems. If you and your family inhale mold spores, they can irritate your eyes, nose, and throat even if you aren’t sensitive to mold. Moreover, if you are sensitive, mold can cause allergic reactions such as a runny nose, skin rash, sneezing, and asthma attacks. It can also produce toxic substances known as mycotoxins.

If your home has gotten soaked, you probably need help from a professional mold remediator. Whether you do it yourself or you hire a professional, we assembled some tips to help you remediate mold growth after a flood or severe storm.

The only way to keep mold from taking hold is to dry out the damaged area as soon as possible. Therefore, you need to open doors and windows and use fans, dehumidifiers, and blowers to accelerate the drying process. Your best bet is to open up your building or residence during the day and close it back up overnight. You can also use wet vacuums and heaters to clean up excess water and move the air around. You should also remember to wear a respirator mask because fungal spores can easily be inhaled during this stage.

Keep in mind that some materials that reach high moisture levels such as baseboards and hardwood flooring may take weeks or even months for the moisture to return to acceptable levels.

Professional water damage mitigation teams can assist with this process. Their knowledge and heavy-duty equipment like pumps, fans, and wet/dry vacuums ensure that your home is dried out properly.

There will be some items that you just cannot salvage. Anything porous that has been wet longer than 48 hours that cannot be thoroughly cleaned and dried must be discarded. This includes carpeting and padding, upholstery, drywall, insulation, ceiling tiles, leather, and even wood products. It’s important to remove and replace these things because even dead mold can cause allergic reactions.

If you believe your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system might be contaminated with mold, do not run it because it could spread mold throughout your home. In this case, you need help from a professional mold remediator. Any part of an HVAC system that was subject to floodwater could harbor dirt and microorganisms like bacteria and mold. Even components that were not underwater such as air supply ducts can collect moisture. For this reason, your entire HVAC system should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected by a trained professional.

If you do the cleaning yourself, make sure to use recommended cleaning products for mold and mildew removal. If you don’t have access to commercial cleaning products, try a detergent like dishwashing soap or laundry detergent for semi-porous materials like wood or concrete.

If mold growth or discoloration is already visible, you should scrub the area until all the dirt or mold is gone. Essentially, any area reached by floodwaters needs to be cleaned and disinfected.

And stay away from bleach. Bleach is not a good antifungal, nor does it penetrate porous materials. It is also very damaging to building materials.

The key takeaway is to get to work immediately after a flooding incident because mold growth can begin within the first couple of days. The longer you let it go, the more damage it can do. So try these tips to keep moisture and mold damage to a minimum once the flood waters subside.