SERVPRO of Hawaii | SERVPRO of Maui Mitigates Mold Damage.

After water damage, workplaces can get moldy if the damage isn’t restored quickly and properly.  SERVPRO^® of Hawaii | SERVPRO^® of Maui teams are trained to assess and remediate damage so you can get back to work.

SERVPRO of Hawaii | SERVPRO of Maui: 808-329-6560

Rainstorms are not unusual on the Big Island. Most of the time, we deal, but sometimes someone (never you, we’re sure) leaves a window or a door open, and boom – the rain from outside ends up inside!

Perhaps the damage came from inside in the first place. Someone, again, not you, left the water running, or blocked an overflow drain. The washing machine may have been broken, who knows?

Whatever the exact circumstances, if your home ends up with water damage, you need to know:

• Water damage starts off bad, but then…
• Gets worse (rapidly), …
• After which, it really starts rolling downhill, and then...
• Becomes terrible

Even worse (!) within 24 to 48 hours of constant exposure to moisture, microbial growth (frequently mold) develops. Once it starts, stopping it is difficult, and it is not a do-it-yourself job.

Mitigation of Microbial Growth: What to Know

We aren’t going to discuss everything about microbial growth (or mold) but will hit the highlights.

• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires workplaces to hire professionals to mitigate mold if it covers more than 9 square feet.
• Mold eats almost everything, including:
  • Paper, cardboard, wood, glue, fabric, towels, rugs, window treatments
  • Wallboard, sheetrock, wallpaper, ceiling tiles, drywall
  • Insulation, paint, carpet, cotton, wool, linen, other textiles
  • Dust (skin cells, hair), leaves, vegetation, food scraps
  • Anything humans or animals eat or drink
  • Almost anything humans or animals would not eat or drink
• Mold will grow any place there is extra moisture, including:
  • Site of flooding
  • Around leaks in roofs, windows, pipes, doors, showers, on walls
  • On tile or plastic or glass (supported by the skin cells it eats), in plumbing
  • Condensation
• Has a musty smell
• May trigger health effects
• Requires special equipment for mitigation (see our website for details)
• Mold spores are hardy enough to survive in outer space
• Mold colonies can be pink, brown, black, white, brown, yellow, tan, red, orange, green, blue, or purple
• Mold colonies may appear in clumps or in stripes

Break Time!

We usually occupy ourselves during breaks with trivia, but the focus on mold got us worried, so we’re sharing some anxieties:

What do you think?

• Could mold become advanced enough to vote and demand humans leave the planet?
• Would mold allow us to keep our surfboards? If we left the planet, where would we surf?
• What kind of music would mold prefer? Would it even have a preference?

SERVPRO of Hawaii¦SERVPRO of Maui

808-329-6560