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Mold Action Guide after Flooding: When is a Mold Cleanup Job Complete?
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• How to determine if a mold cleanup project has been completed properly
• When & how to perform mold clearance inspections & tests
• When can mold containment barriers be removed?
• Who should conduct mold clearance testing: conflicts of interest

This chapter explains when you can (and probably should) stop looking for or testing for mold in a building after a mold cleanup has been attempted. We explain how you can be confident that the mold cleanup steps taken have been completely and properly performed. We explain when to order a post mold remediation clearance inspection and test, describe what should be done, and review other indicators that help you decide that a mold cleanup project has been completed after a building flood. Our photograph above shows the entry floor of a home at the completion of demolition, cleaning, disinfection, and treatment with a biocide sealant after the building was flooded.

If your building has been flooded, this website provides an easy to understand guide for flood damage assessment, setting priorities of action, safety, and we provide special information about avoiding or minimizing mold damage. These are quick, simple steps to minimize mold damage in a flooded building.

We also list after-flood "anti-mold" procedures that do not work or are unsafe - to help you avoid unnecessary expense in dealing with mold after a building flood. If your building is already moldy or if you suspect mold related illness in your building, we link to a step by step Mold Action Guide dealing with toxic or allergenic indoor mold and other indoor contaminants: when and how to inspect or test for mold, when to hire an expert, how to clean up a moldy area, when and how to perform post-remediation mold testing. If your septic system has been flooded we link to an article outlining what to do about that system as well. Extensive, technically detailed in-depth articles on other mold detection, testing, and prevention methods are organized at our Mold Information Center .

© Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use the links at page left to navigate this document or to go to Other Website Topics. Green links show where you are in our document & website.

WHEN TO STOP LOOKING FOR MOLD After Cleaning and Repairing a Flooded Building

• Mold Clearance Inspections: if significant costs were involved in demolition and cleaning to remove large areas of moldy materials (more than 30 sq.ft. of contiguous moldy stuff) from a building, before making final payment to the cleaning contractor, you should hire an independent expert to inspect and test (not just "test") the building for mold.
  
  The post mold remediation clearance inspector should examine the cleaned surfaces and will explore the un-treated areas to see if the demolition and cleaning were extensive enough.
  
  Screening tests for incomplete mold cleaning, remaining mold contamination, or cross-contamination of areas outside the work area may be performed to check for mold in building areas which were not included in the area of work, to be sure that they were not accidentally contaminated during the cleanup. Be sure that the post mold-remediation clearance inspection includes a thorough visual inspection. Simple screening tests for the presence or absence of mold are not reliable.
  
  Conflicts of interest: Be sure that your mold inspector has no financial relationship with and is completely independent from the cleaning contractor. This step should be taken after all demolition and cleaning have been performed and before any reconstruction has occurred. Otherwise it will be impossible to check the building cavities that were supposed to have been cleaned.
  
  Clearance Inspections are discussed in more detail in a separate document at Clearance Procedures
  
  
• There should be no visible mold in the building.
  
  
• All demolition and cleaning should have been completed before the mold clearance inspection is begun.
  
  
• No moldy building contents should have been left in or stored in the building, and nothing that was removed from the building should have been returned unless it has been cleaned.
  
  
• There should be no wet areas in the building, including no hidden wet areas in building cavities or behind floor baseboard or trim.
  
  
• The building should not smell moldy.
  
  
• Occupants returning to the building should not have an allergic or respiratory-distress or respiratory illness response that appears related to being inside the building. If this occurs, consult your doctor. People exposed to mold, allergens, and stress can become hyper sensitized to mold and other respiratory irritants.
  
  
• Mold work area containment systems such as plastic barriers should be left in place until after a successful mold clearance inspection, including the lab work.
  
  Taking down mold containment barriers before the building has been cleared is a sign of a contractor in a rush. The risk is that if the cleanup was not adequate, you've now risked cross contamination of other building areas and contents - thus increasing the ultimate amount of mold cleanup work and cost.
  
  When a remediator removes their containment system before the mold clearance inspection we think that the contractor was in a rush, may have worried that we'd consider their containment practices unprofessional or inadequate, or the contractor may just be over-confident in their work.
  

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Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

FLOOD DAMAGE ASSESSMENT, SAFETY & CLEANUP A Guide to Mold Cleanup Procedures
  FLOODS & MOLD CLEAN/PREVENT A Guide to Dealing with Flood Damage & Mold Prevention &r Cleanup of Flooded Homes
  FIRST PRIORITIES When Responding to a Flooded Building
  BUILDING ENTRY PROCEDURE How to Enter a Building After a Building Flood
  DRINKING WATER - EMERGENCY PURIFICATION How to purify emergency drinking water, how to remove odors
  DRINKING WATER - EMERGENCY SOURCES Where to find drinking water in an emergency
  ELECTRICAL SAFETY for Flood Damage Inspectors
  Foundation Inspection for Flood Damage
  FLOOD RESPONSE CHECKLIST Checklist of Key Steps to Minimize Mold Damage After a Building Flood
  INEFFECTIVE MOLD PRODUCTS Ineffective Mold Products and Procedures to Avoid in Mold Cleanup/Prevention
  FURTHER STEPS PREVENT MOLD Further Steps to Avoid Mold Damage After a Building Flood
  WHEN TO STOP LOOKING FOR MOLD after Flooding: When is a Mold Cleanup Job Complete?
  GENERAL MOLD PREVENTION Preventing Future Mold After a Flooded Building Cleanup
  FLOOD DAMAGE RFERENCES References on Mold Prevention and Flood Damage
  FLOOD VENTS How to Use Flood Vents for Structural Protection from Flooding - Flood Venting in Foundations and Enclosures Below Design Flood Elevation
  SEPTIC SYSTEMS & FLOODS What to Do after a Flood - Septic Flood Response, Safety, Health, Maintenance, Repair Advice
  SEWAGE CONTAMINATION IN BUILDINGS how to detect and respond to sewage backups
  SEWAGE PATHOGENS in SEPTIC SLUDGE what are the contaminants in sewage
  Wind Damage to Roofs how to assess and identify wind damage to roofs

• Mark Cramer Inspection Services Mark Cramer, Tampa Florida, Mr. Cramer is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors and is a Florida home inspector and home inspection educator. (727) 595-4211 mark@BestTampaInspector.com 11/06
• Hankey and Brown home inspectors, Eden Prairie, MN, technical review by Roger Hankey, prior chairman, Standards Committee, American Society of Home Inspectors - ASHI. 952 829-0044 - hankeyandbrown.com 11/06
• Arlene Puentes, a licensed home inspector, educator, and building failures researcher in Kingston, NY. 11/29/06
• Repairing Your Flooded Home American Red Cross and FEMA - PDF - English
• Como Reparar su Hogar Inundado American Red Cross and FEMA - PDF - espanol
• Flood Cleanup - Avoiding Indoor Air Quality Problems US EPA Fact Sheet
• Cleaning Up After a Flood Texas Department of State Health Services.
• Technical reviewers are invited to comment or ask questions - contact us

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• Environmental Health & Investigation Bibliography - our own technical library on indoor air quality inspection, testing, laboratory procedures, forensic microscopy, etc.
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