Simply wiping down mold with bleach does not rid the surface or surrounding areas of the floating mold spores in homes, offices, crawlspaces, basements, attics, vehicles for homeowners in Victoria, Cowichan, Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum, Courtenay, Comox, Campbell River, and Port Alberni.
Mold is more than simply a smelly and unsightly stain on walls, ceilings and other surfaces. Like all forms of fungus, mold is a living organism that can grow and reproduce. A look at the mold life cycle will help you understand how it can quickly spread through your home before you even realize it’s there.
Four stages of the mold life cycle
• The initial stage begins with a cell called a hypha. This minute, thread-like cell feeds on cellulose, wood and other organic materials through the release of enzymes. As the hypha absorbs the nutrients, it grows into a mycelium, and the resulting cluster of hyphae forms the visible portion of mold.
• Once the mycelium is created, some of the individual hyphae develop spores on the ends. You may remember from high school biology that spores are cells that reproduce asexually in fungi and certain plants such as ferns. Available light, oxygen and ambient temperature all play roles in the formation of spores.
• The microscopic spores are then released into the air, where they drift until settling in a new area with the requisite water and nutrients to fuel reproduction. Despite their size and seemingly delicate nature, spores are hardy organisms. In many cases they can remain dormant for years, even under inhospitable hot and dry conditions.
• As spores settle in and begin reproducing, the mold life cycle comes full circle. The spores absorb moisture and nutrients from their new home and begin generating new hyphae. Left unchecked, the process continues indefinitely.
How the mold life cycle affects mold treatment
Hyphae act as roots, anchoring mold to its substrate and absorbing nutrients just as roots do for plant life. Wiping down a surface infested with mold does nothing to disturb the hyphae. While mold may initially appear to be gone, it inevitably returns as the remaining hyphae begin a fresh mold lifecycle.
In many cases, the mold life cycle plays an important part in the balance of nature, such as when it feeds upon dead or decaying trees, leaves and other organic debris. Problems arise indoors, where ingesting spores through your respiratory system can cause allergic reactions and other health problems.
How can you break the mold life cycle?
With traditional mold remediation, costly and inconvenient rebuilding and, or physical removal of affected surfaces is the only way to interrupt the mold life cycle.
Cleansing an area with bleach does not rid a surface or surrounding areas of the floating mold spores.
The best treatment to break the mold life cycle is treatment by Pacific Decontamination Services to keep mold spores from repopulating.
What We Do – We Also Neutralize All Airborne and Surface Mold Spores
In most situations, Pacific Decontamination Services can neutralize your mold up 99.99999%. If our spray, fog or foam can touch it, we can neutralize it. Our services come at a fraction of the cost as compared to the expensive approaches like soda / dry ice blasting, hepa vacuuming, scrubbing, removal of insulation and deconstruction and reconstruction of the attic and roof.
We neutralize the mold in your attic, crawl space, home, building, vehicle, or property by applying our eco-friendly, safe chemical on all surfaces and airborne, focusing our efforts on the visible mold areas. Depending on the job, we apply our formula by spray, mist, foam, or fog. We further kill all airborne mold spores in your attic. The average time of our on-site service is approximately one hour. An additional four hours is required to achieve maximum effectiveness. We ask that you stay out of the attic for approximately 5 hours in total. Read more about how we work.
Pacific Decontamination Services uses the world’s strongest, most effective and safe antimicrobial disinfectant, deodorization and chemical decontaminate. Our professional application will eliminate up to 99.99999% of any allergen, germ, bacteria or fungus that it touches. AND as powerful as it is, it is also completely safe.
What do you do next? How do you solve the challenge of mold and associated health hazards?
Call Pacific Decontamination Services at 778-269-0208 or email us at our email address: contact @ pacificdecon dot com
Serving All of Vancouver Island: Victoria, Cowichan, Duncan, Nanaimo, Parksville, Qualicum, Courtenay, Comox, Campbell River, and Port Alberni.
