None of us are ever really prepared for the force of Mother Nature even when a home or business is lucky enough to be saved. In fact, many homeowners may find themselves left with mold and wondering where to go next. Do you flip through the yellowpages in search of mold inspectors and hire someone or do you go straight to the mold remediation process.

If it’s obvious that you have mold growing in your home, you can more than likely skip hiring an inspector and go straight to getting rid of the mold. However, if the fungus is hidden (you can only smell it), you should hire someone to inspect your home. You may also want to consider hiring a professional mold inspector if you believe there are both hidden and visible molds in your home or business.

Once you have an expert in mind, you need to find out if they can do the inspection within a 24-hour time frame. If not, you’re better off hiring someone else since mold can spread very quickly. Also, make sure that the mold inspector you’re intending to hire is both licensed and certified. While some states already have those requirements before they can practice, there are many states that still do not.

In addition to being certified and licensed, you should ask the company inspecting your home for references from other clients. You may also want to see if they’re listed with the better business bureau, however you should keep in mind that just because they’re not listed doesn’t mean they’re not trustworthy.

You should also make sure that there is a contract provided to insure that both you and the inspection company are in agreement with the work that is to be done. The contract should include an agreement, which requires the company to take a swab or lift tape sample of any mold found in the home and an air sampling for potential airborne mold.

The contract should also include an agreement to provide a lab analysis report of any mold found in the home, answers to any questions you may have whether it be on the report or from the company and an agreement of a thorough inspection for mold in the home.

In addition, you home inspection may also consist of a moisture and leak test, an air quality test, humidity test and drainage test which can take anywhere from a few hours to a half a day to complete, while the cost of the inspection may run anywhere from $300 to $900 depending on the size of your home or business.

And finally, if the business you’ve chosen to inspect your home offers black mold removal services as well, you should be aware that mold inspectors and mold remediation are two separate businesses and any good inspector can tell you that.

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If you discover a small amount of fungus (generally less than 10 square feet) and you know that’s all there is, it’s probably safe enough for you to do the work yourself unless of course you’re highly sensitive to mold.

If the affected area is more than 10 square feet (say an entire wall), you should call a mold remediation expert. You should also hire a professional if the mold is hidden or you’re dealing with a toxic black mold.

However, before you hire just anyone out of the phonebook, you need to shop around. Not only will you be able to get the best deal this way, you’ll also get the best contractor out there or at least the very best available in your area.

Keep in mind however that your phonebook isn’t the only tool that can help you with your quest. You should also be ready and willing to ask your family, friends and even neighbors on who they’d recommend for this type of service.

You may also want to consider asking your city or even real estate office who they would recommend for the job. It also wouldn’t hurt to check with the better business bureau either.

Once you’ve decided on a mold removal company for the job, be sure to ask about any discount services they may have available. Most businesses won’t offer discounts or promotions unless a potential client asks first.

Even with a discount however, many homeowners may still find it difficult to swallow the price for a professional. So, if you’re a little worried about the mold remediation cost, there may be a few options available to help make that decision a little easier.

The first thing you may want to do is check with your insurance company to find out whether or not your homeowner’s policy will cover the costs. If they don’t, ask your insurance agent if the source of your mold problem (such as a flood) may be covered. You may also want to find out if your policy covers any structural damage as a result from the mold.

Another option that you may want to consider is your city. There are many homeowner programs that may allow you to recoup the cost of cleanup or at least part of it. If not, they may at least offer assistance in repairing any damages caused by flooding or a city issue such as a broken water line in which case you have every right to have those repairs taken care of.

And if you are living on a farm, you should contact your county and state about any programs they may have to help with loss of crops or income due to molds and the need to hire a professional mold removal service.

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Sure, they agree that mold cleanup is necessary in order to maintain a clean home, but when it comes to toxic mold, they don’t think that being exposed to it will do any serious harm. And when someone comes forward to tell his or her story of mold sickness, they blow it off as other health problems that have nothing to do with toxic fungus exposure.

Yet for those of us who know better, it’s a frustration and a continuing battle that challenges us every step of the way. We know we’re sick from mold, yet many doctors are unable to pinpoint it as the problem, while the rest of the world thinks we’ve lost our minds. Still, checking for mold in and around the home is an absolute must no matter what other people think.

There are actually a couple of ways you can check for mold. One of the easiest ways is by hiring a mold inspector to inspect your home. A proper inspection will consist of detecting for mold thoroughly both in and around the home.

He or she should check in crawlspaces, the attic, behind walls, in air ducts and anywhere mold may be visible or hidden. They’ll then take samples of those mold and send them to a lab for testing. Once the test results come back, the inspector will go over the report and should answer any questions that you have. From there he or she will offer advice on what you should do next if there is a problem. However, they should not offer to do the work themselves.

Another option you may want to consider when it comes to inspecting for mold is to just do it yourself since it can often be cheaper than hiring a professional to inspect your home. However, there are also some downfalls when doing it yourself.

For example, if you have hidden mold in your home and don’t know where to look to find it, you could be putting your health at risk if it’s left undetected. Also, if you’re unfamiliar with how to read a lab analysis report, that could be a problem as well. And of course not every company out there who sells testing kits for mold is reliable. However, if you’re still considering doing the testing on your own, you’ll find the kits work in practically the very same way as a professional test.

Whichever route you decide to take whether it’s hiring a professional for mold detection or testing for mold on your own, it’s always important to do your research beforehand. Otherwise you could find yourself spending way more than you should have or wind up with more problems than you started with in the first place.

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One of the allergy issues that many people have from mold in the home is hay fever. You may experience nasal stuffiness and irritated eyes as a result of the hay fever. Some people may even experience skin rashes from the allergies.

There are some people who can become highly sensitive to mold and it can become very harmful if they’re exposed to it. Serious allergies include a fever and even shortness of breath.

Those same molds can also lead to death for people who have weak immune systems (specifically infants and elderly) or chronic lung problems. And for those who already have lung illnesses, they may develop an infection in their lungs.

If you know you have mold in your home, you should find temporary housing until your entire house is free from mold. However, not everyone can tell that they have mold in their home and generally don’t find out until they begin to show signs or symptoms of a problem. But it’s very important that you never take the chance and try to live with the mold.

And if you’re thinking about just moving out of your home and putting it up for sale, your problem isn’t just simply going to go away to another buyer looking for a home. I mean think about it. How would you feel if you found the home you’ve always wanted only to realize it’s been overrun by mold? And would you really want to pay the price that you’re asking for when you know it has a dangerous fungus problem?

Even if you’re still struggling with those answers it should be quite obvious that molds can lower the value of your home. Can you manage to move out on far less than what you’d anticipated for the price of your home? I doubt it, so it’s better to fix the damages than try to avoid them.

So if you need to hire a mold removal company, then go ahead and do it. If you can remove the mold damages yourself, then do it. Take the steps necessary to clean up the problem.

One final note however. Not everyone is a homeowner and when you’re renting a home, removing the mold in your home caused by flooding or leaking faucets that were in very bad shape before you moved in requires your landlord or landlady to handle the mess. If they refuse you can do one of two things. Find another home to rent or contact the city to let them know of the situation.

One way or another, mold from water damage is not something you can just live with.

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That’s the bad news. The worst news is, because we live in a small town there are no such companies around here. What happened when the flooding occurred in our area was FEMA came through and cleaned everything up. And of course they only cleaned up the homes where the damages were extreme.

So after doing a little research we learned that the nearest city where we could hire a professional to remove the mold from our home was nearly 2 hours away. We also learned that unless we were willing to pay a traveling fee or hire them without an estimate, etc. many of the companies weren’t willing to travel that far.

So what other options did we have for basement mold removal? Well, as it turns out we actually learned that the mold in our basement wasn’t black mold, which meant we could do the work ourselves.

However, even though the molds weren’t toxic, we still decided it was best that we take the precautions necessary and treat it as if it were a toxic mold. So I headed to our local dollar store and purchased a pair of rubber gloves. I also purchased a bucket and scrub brush for the clean up job. I spent less than $5 for everything,

Then I headed to our local farm and feed store where I found a cleaner that is specifically meant for killing mold. The cleaner cost me around $10 with tax and everything.

After that I considered a mold resistant paint at our local paint store, but decided that first I would need to repair and seal all of the areas in the basement where the rain had gotten in. But after doing some quick calculations I figure the entire job will cost me under $100.

However, we’re spending a little more this year on a sump pump which will hopefully keep the damages to a minimum next year when the rains come again. The price for a sump pump to remove the waters from our basement will cost us around $120.

The good news is, we’ve already got a dehumidifier to help with the moisture. When pricing those at our local discount store we found out one would cost us around $50 to $200.

So the entire cost to remove the mold from our basement on our own was $235. If we’d needed a dehumidifier it would have cost us at the most $435. If we would have needed to hire a water damage remediation company, the job would cost anywhere from $1000 or more and that’s not even including the expense of travel fees! I’m just glad the mold wasn’t toxic after all.

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If you have little ones, elderly or anyone with a weak immune system living with you, an inspection for mold is a good idea. Mold that may be in your home which are toxic can cause extreme illness in some and can even cause death.

If you or your family is sick and it just seems like that sickness will not go away, then it’s a good idea to have your home inspected for mold. Even if there are no signs of visible mold, it still doesn’t mean there’s not a problem. Even hidden funguses can cause you to become ill and if you’re sick, you’ve probably been exposed to them for a while.

If you’ve found leaks or if the building is prone to a history of leakage then you should have an inspection done for mold. Mold loves moisture and doesn’t care whether you have a roof leak, plumbing leak, basement leak, an air conditioner leak or shower leak –mold loves it all equally.

If you know for a fact that there has been any sort of water damage large or small, you need to have your home inspected for mold. Otherwise you’ll not only be putting yourself at risk for health concerns, you could end up losing some or all of your belongings as well as your home if the problem gets out of control.

If you’re thinking about buying an older or even newer home you should have it inspected for mold. Even if you’re considering selling your home you should have it inspected. No one wants to purchase a home only to discover that the previous owner has neglected to tell them that it’s been overrun by something as dangerous as black mold.

And maybe that previous owner didn’t know they had mold in their home, but it makes no difference because it’s still a problem. In fact, some state laws require you to have mold testing and inspection done unless you want to face a hefty fine or find yourself being sued.

Even if you suspect there is only a small amount of fungus growing in your home, you may want to go ahead and hire a professional to inspect your home anyway. It’s always better to be safe than sorry and where there’s a small problem there’s bound to be a bigger one.

Now that you know you need to hire a professional mold inspector, make sure that they are certified for mold inspection. Not all states require inspectors to be certified so it’s extremely important that you make sure of this yourself.

Keep in mind that during the inspection the person you’ve hired should check for humidity levels, any leakage in the foundation of your home, any potential problems with your drainage, and the quality of the air in your home. The mold inspector also takes some samples of any visible molds. After the inspection, he or she will discuss their findings and make any recommendations necessary for the safety of you and your home.

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Still if the job is unsafe, it’s better that you hire a professional mold removal company rather than risk your health. Plus you’ll have the peace of mind knowing that the job is done right the first time.

You can check your local Yellow Pages, or Google, for a contractor or you can talk to your city or check your state’s website to see if they have a list of licensed contractors for your area. Most states require that a mold remediation company be licensed at the very least.

A professional contractor should follow certain guidelines that will insure your home is free of mold after clean up. Some states may require the company to:

Clean items that can be saved using a detergent solution and remove any items that are non-salvageable from the home when the affected area is 10 square feet or less.

If the affected area is between 10 and 30 square feet, the contractor should include the procedure used for under 10 sq feet in addition to covering the working area in plastic and tape before beginning any work. A HEPA filter may also be used before restoration begins.

For areas that are over 30 square feet(generally flooded homes), the above procedures should be used as well as wet vacuums, disinfectants and personal protective equipment such as rubber gloves, a suit, goggles and a respiratory mask. However, personal protective equipment should be used even if the moldy area is less than 10 square feet.

One of the most important things that should be included in the black mold removal process is the contract. You should never hire anyone unless a contract is provided. However, a contract with a remediator isn’t as simple as agreeing on doing the job.

It should also include a diagram that shows the square feet, rooms, or areas where the work should take place. The contract should also list the specific amount of time it will take to get the work done as well as a list of any materials needed to complete the job, cleanup procedures and products being used, and whether or not the homeowner or contractor will provide those materials.

Also how the contaminated materials will be taken care of and whether the homeowner or contractor will remove debris from the home and site. And the contract should contain any warranties of the work or guarantees.

And remember, before you ever sign any form of a contract, you should get a minimum of three estimates, ask for proof of certification and ask for references from other clients that those mold remediation companies have performed work for. After all, you don’t want to end up with a bad deal and you especially don’t want an outrageous bill.

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And it makes no difference whether you barely have time to dust or you’re a neat freak. Molds don’t care where they live just as long as there is moisture in the home. Mold doesn’t even have to be visible to be a problem. It can be found on floors, walls, ceilings, carpets, fabrics, furniture, insulation and ductwork. You can even find mold in the crawl space.

However, air ducts are the worst because fungus spores circulate in the system through the air and settle into the dust on various parts of the system. Then when the central air or heat is turned on, those spores distribute throughout the house.

So the best solution in order to prevent a fungus invasion is to find out whether mold is actually growing inside of your central heating system. You can do this yourself if you know your way around your system or you could hire a professional to come in and do a mold inspection of the unit.

The professional mold inspector should then access the unit’s coil; its lining and the blower, and then take a sample of the dust from the surface of these components. He or she will then examine the sample at a lab and determine whether or not there is any fungus growing in the dust.

If you do decide to hire a professional, the cost of the inspection can range anywhere from as little as $200 to as high as $1,000 and sometimes more, depending on the complexity. And if they don’t find a problem in the unit, but you still believe there may be a problem, you should consider having them inspect your entire home for mold.

If there is an active fungus found in the central air and heating system, the next step is for you to hire a certified and licensed professional mold remediation company. The company should then clean your entire central air and heating system in a thorough manner. They should remove any dust and fungus in the blower cabinet and air-conditioning coil housing as well as clean the interior surfaces of the ductwork using a HEPA vacuum.

If the fungus problem was found elsewhere in the home, then you may want to consider temporary housing until the work is done unless the mold in your home is minimal. It’s never safe to be around active fungal spores and because of various mold dangers, most companies will advise you and your family on the precautions necessary in order to assure the safety of everyone’s health, including their workers.

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Just because you have mold growing in your home doesn’t always mean you need to dish out big bucks for black mold removal costs. In fact, the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) suggests that if the mold growing in your home is less than 10 square feet, you can remove the fungus yourself. Of course anything over that and you should be looking up mold remediation companies in the phonebook.

But first, ask questions. Don’t just hire someone because they sound professional or because it was the first name you ran across in the phonebook. Find out what steps they take to remove the mold, what chemicals they use and what fees they charge.

If they’re talking about testing for mold in your home and using bleach to remove the fungus, run away as fast as you can. Most companies do not test for toxic mold and they will not use chlorine bleach to get rid of the mold because it’s not approved.

What the company will do however is identify and eliminate the source of the problem. Sources often include leaky faucets, pikes or flooding. The company will then eradicate the mold using the steps necessary and products required to kill the fungus. The steps and products used will also depend on the size of the affected area.

In any case, the contractors doing the job will always wear some form of respirator, gloves and goggles for protection. In bigger jobs they may need to use special sheeting to block off uncontaminated areas of the home. And in extreme cases special equipment will be needed to make the home environmentally safe again.

Some equipment that may be used during clean up include a wet vacuum and a HEPA vacuum.  A wet vacuum is generally needed when materials such as hardwood flooring and carpeting is wet. A HEPA vacuum is generally needed when the clean up is in its final stages and all water damage mold has been removed.

In some cases if the damage is extreme you may be asked to discard non-valuable items. Items may include books, non-important documents, ceiling and wall tiles, insulation, carpeting, hardwood flooring, vinyl, linoleum, paneling, furniture and window treatments.

In the event that you do need to hire a company that specializes in mold remediation, you should know that the cost for this type of project won’t be cheap. However, you may be able to minimize those costs and possibly avoid them all together – depending on how the mold damages began. Your insurance company may be willing to help foot the bill and in some cases, FEMA may be able to help as was such the case with the Kansas flooding that happened several years ago. It certainly never hurts to ask no matter what the situation may be.

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Many of the smaller communities of Kansas didn’t have much of a choice in who they could and couldn’t hire, however in the larger cities, most residents could choose a service that provided eco-friendly products for a greener environment. Even if homeowners have black mold dangers, which were the case with Kansas’s residents, eco-friendly products are just as efficient as those containing unsafe chemicals.

Think about it. Why would someone hire a mold removal company to eliminate toxic mold from their home with toxic chemicals? I mean there’s an obvious reason why we’re removing the dangerous fungi in the first place, right? With all of the health concerns over mold and what they can do to us, you would also assume that using chemicals which can cause just as serious of health problems would be a really big NO.

Unfortunately when it comes to the use of chemicals in our homes, we just don’t think that way. Lately however, more and more homeowners have become concerned with the destruction of Mother Nature and are taking the greener road when it comes to what they use. Still, there’s that hesitation when hiring a black mold removal professional because we’re more concerned about the problem than anything else.

The next time you’re in need of help when it comes to removing mold from your home, shop around if it’s possible. Don’t just hire the first person that sounds good. Ask the company a few questions like, do you use eco-friendly products or are you willing to use them during clean up of my home? If they aren’t, maybe you should shop around some more. If they’re willing to work with you, get it in writing.

And while we’re on that note, are there any other requirements you have? If so, get it in writing. As long as your requirements aren’t outrageous (like demanding free service) I’m sure they would agree to a written contract of some kind. Not only is a written contract great for a homeowner, it’s also a good idea for the company and will keep both sides on good terms.

While you’re at it, you might want to get an estimate on the damage that’s done. You definitely don’t want a surprise bill after the work is finished. And I can guarantee not everyone asks for an estimate. Then after the work is done they’re shocked at the costs and considering taking the company to court. Always do your homework before you do the hiring.

If references are a concern then by all means you should ask for them. However, you should also keep in mind that if the company is still fairly new, their references might not stack up to a lot. So don’t be determined to give them the boot if they don’t have very many references. After all, not all mold removal services are going to have 50 years of experience.

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