Our sons bedroom got wet through the eavestrough being poorly positioned. We have thrown the rug out and have discovered black mold. How do we treat this? It's on the cement and slightly up the wall. The house is 55 yrs. old.
Answer:
Following a flood or back-up things have to be cleaned up as soon as practicable for the sake of occupant (particularly children & pets) health safety. There is an awful lot of harmful bacterial there and a hockey sock full of viruses. Here is a list of protective measures we can take. And take them we must! First, don rubber gloves and boots and all of it will be thoroughly laundered immediately after the job is done. Keep kids and pets out of the area until all is completed. Be prepared to wash your hands often and take breaks for fresh air every few minutes as you remove all furniture and carpets from the area. Remember, absorbent furniture, draperies and carpets (along with their underpads) cannot normally be completely cleaned so they may end up as landfill. If there is any hope at all of saving any of it, cleaning and disinfecting should be done by professionals. Non and semi-absorbent items (concrete, wood trim, wood, metal furniture, etc.) need to be washed with dish detergent and then rinsed off with a chlorine bleach solution. As soon as you can get access to walls that have been effected, remove all wall board and/or plaster, insulation and wooden structural components back to bare basement walls up to a level at least two feet above the flood level line and discard it all. You can now clean up all plumbing fixtures and the like with a good detergent and use plenty of bleach in the final rinse. Don’t forget that the brushes, brooms, mops and such also need to be well cleaned, disinfected and again, bleached. Occupants with allergies, kids and pets can be permitted back in after you’ve had a good shower and plugged in a large fan (windows & doors open) to cut back on mold development and that odour. Everything is now permitted to air dry – as many items as possible out in the garage. You might even want to up the heat a bit to speed up drying that which is inside (walls, floors, non and semi-absorbent furniture, etc.) and you’ll probably be eating out.
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