Mold Abatement vs. Mold Remediation

If your home or business is experiencing mold damage, you may have come across the term mold abatement during your investigation. Though mold remediation and mold abatement can seem like similar tasks, the two are quite different. While the two sound similar on paper, they have different processes and steps.

United Water Restoration Group understands that the task of mold remediation isn’t easy. We understand that this may be your first time undertaking the task and navigating these phrases and terms. United Water Restoration Group would like to provide you with a better understanding on mold remediation versus mold abatement.

What is Mold Abatement?

The word abatement itself is used in many different instances. Dictionary defines it as “the act or state of abating or the state of being abated; reduction; decrease; alleviation; mitigation.” Mold abatement is essentially services used to stop and remove mold from one’s home or business. Though many mold remediation companies use the terms mold abatement and mold remediation interchangeably, some may not.

Mold abatement is about stopping the problem and removing it from your home or business. Though some use it interchangeably, other companies may use mold abatement as a means of only removing mold. While this sounds ideal for some, mold abatement may not solve the larger issue at hand. Though the mold may be removed, the home or business may still have the problem that caused the mold growth in the first place. 

Again, most companies use mold remediation and mold abatement interchangeably. However, the two are very different in terms of the services that your home or business needs.

What is Mold Remediation? 

Mold remediation is another broad term that can be used to mean a few different things. The reason to seek out mold remediation over mold abatement is the scope of services provided. While mold abatement is about removing the mold from the home or business, mold remediation is a much broader service. This service allows for us to not just remove the mold from your home or business, but to help solve the problem at its core.

Though mold abatement removes the mold, it doesn’t help prevent or identify the problem. Mold abatement also leaves your home or business open to further damage. Due to the nature of mold, it can spread and take hold of nearly any organic material your home or building has to offer. This can mean mold colonies linger in walls, ceilings, carpeting, and many other spots. 

The Mold Remediation Process

The biggest difference when it comes to mold remediation and mold abatement is the process as to which these tasks are completed. Mold abatement technically stops once the mold is removed from the home or business. Mold remediation has many steps that aim to place your home or business back to a state of normalcy. Though some mold remediation companies vary, here is the United Water Restoration Group’s mold remediation process:

Step 1: Emergency Contact

The first step to our mold remediation process is contacting our emergency hotline, (800) 430-5838. Our emergency hotline is open 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. Contacting our hotline will place you in direct contact with one of our certified technicians. During this call, our technician will try to gain a better understanding of your problem and schedule an appointment molded around what times and days work best for you. Depending on the severity of your mold remediation needs and services required in your area, our technician can be out to your property in as little as a few hours!

Step 2: Inspection and Assessment

Another major part of any mold abatement or mold remediation process is the inspection and assessment step. This step will have a United Water Restoration Group technician on your property during the scheduled time. Our technician will go over the property to inspect the affected areas and begin to craft a plan of action. During this part of the mold remediation process, our technicians are willing to go over what they found and what needs to be done next. 

Step 3: Mold Containment

During part of the mold remediation process our technicians will help ensure the mold colonies do not spread. Mold colonies can move and spread throughout a room quickly. United Water Restoration Group technicians use procedures such as negative air chambers to help isolate the mold colonies and prevent them from further spreading throughout the affected areas. Our technicians may also place physical barriers to help prevent spread. During this stage of mold abatement/mold remediation, all fans and air/heating systems are turned off to further help prevent spread.

Step 4: Air Filtration

Though it is impossible to entirely remove mold spores from one’s home or business, this step is about absorbing many of those spores. Our technicians come equipped with specialized air filtration equipment. This equipment is designed to remove mold spores from the air to prevent further damages and colonies.

Step 5: Mold Removal

This step is where the typical mold abatement process would end. During this process, our technicians remove mold colonies from the affected areas. United Water Restoration group technicians will use antifungal and antimicrobial treatments on the affected areas to remove mold colonies and prevent new colonies from forming in the building.

Step 6: Cleaning Damaged Objects

While mold may have taken a hold of an item, it doesn’t mean the item is ruined forever. Our technicians will do their best to clean damaged objects and restore them to their former selves. During this part of the mold remediation process we will also use equipment like air scrubbers. This is to remove the old, musty, moldy smell from the affected areas.

Step 7: Restoration

Though mold abatement seeks to remove the mold and move on, United Water Restoration Group doesn’t stop there. We are able to do a full mold remediation and ensure all the parts of your home or business are back to normal. This can be something minor like repairing drywall to something more major like replacing carpeting.

Though mold abatement and mold remediation are similar on paper, they stop at different parts of the process. United Water Restoration Group is a company that focuses on mold, fire, water, and flood damage. Our company has offices located all around the United States.

To find a United Water Restoration Group office near you, go to our website and place your zip code into our database or call our hotline at (800) 430-5838! We provide services in Ormond Beach, Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, Orlando, Florida, Tampa, Florida, Melbourne, Florida, and many other locations around Florida!