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What Is The Average Cost Of Attic Mold Remediation?

attic mold

Attic spaces are prime real estate for mold. Condensation and roof leaks can introduce moisture at the top of a structure. After mold starts growing in an attic, the infestation can easily spread along the path of water damage and result in hidden mold behind walls or inside HVAC ducts within a matter of days, weeks, or months.

At the first sign of moisture in an attic, a property owner should resolve the cause and consider testing for mold. Accurately identifying whether the mold is present and the species and extent of an infestation will determine mold remediation in attic cost. Average expenses for remediating attic mold start around $1,500 and range up to $10,000.

Infestation Size

The number of square feet in a structure that is affected by mold will determine the extent of cleaning required for remediation. If you catch a leak relatively early, water damage may be confined to the attic area and the risk of mold or any mold growth that is present may be limited. This may make cleanup possible for the lower end of the price range for attic mold removal, likely between $1,500 and $3,000 dollars.

Few property owners access attic spaces often enough to catch water damage before it becomes severe enough to spread down and become apparent on lower levels of the structure. By the time a leak becomes apparent, mold has already had a chance to flourish in the attic and may have spread to other building materials. Large leaks may result in damage that can cost up to $10,000 to fix.

Ease of Access

Visible mold is easier to reach than mold growing behind walls or hidden under fixtures. For this reason, infestations that are not difficult to access may cost less to clean than more challenging problems. In addition to labor costs, it is also important to factor in whether building materials will need to be torn out and replaced to eliminate every trace of mold.

Insulation that has become damp enough to support mold growth will need to be thrown away and replaced. It can be difficult, if not impossible, to ensure that porous building materials and contents are completely clean, disinfected, and free of spores.

Cleaning

Mold cleaning may take hours, days, or weeks depending on the extent of the infestation. The duration of cleanup accounts for a significant portion of mold remediation in attic cost. Cleanup professionals must eliminate the root structure and hyphae. Simply disinfecting or wiping down surfaces with cleaning solutions may not be enough to prevent a problem from recurring at the property.

Remediation

 

The affected area should be thoroughly dried and relative indoor humidity levels kept in the 40% to 60% range. A combination of moisture and food sources must be present for mold spores to settle and multiply. If a leak supplies moisture, cellulose present in many common building materials can supply fungus with sufficient nutriment to thrive in the form of starches that are converted into sugars.

Restoration

In addition to fixing leaks, drying the affected area, and lowering humidity levels, mold restoration experts may also apply antifungal treatments or replace components with building supplies resistant to mold growth. Cleaning or replacing materials and contents may introduce additional expenses.  Property owners should be aware that mold is excluded from most homeowners’ and commercial property insurance policies. An endorsement or rider may be necessary to cover remediation costs.

Prevention

Property owners should inspect the condition of a roof after major storms. This involves looking for missing shingles or other signs of damage after the storm has passed. It is also important to monitor attic temperatures and use insulation and ventilation strategically to avoid condensation. Uneven temperatures also cause seasonal issues such as ice damming, in which refrozen water blocks drainage and damages roofing materials. Attics also become warm during sunny weather, which may encourage fungal growth if any moisture is present.

Get mold remediation in attic cost estimate from mold cleanup and remediation service in the United Water Restoration Group network. An environmental hygienist or professional mold tester may point out conditions that call for specialized treatment, such as containment strategies for toxigenic mold. Property owners should aim to eliminate every trace of mold to prevent spores from re-entering the active growth cycle or spreading throughout a structure.

 

 

Transcript

Adan:
Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of Restoration Talks. And in this video, we’re going to be answering the top 10 questions, or maybe 11 questions, on mold. So we’ve been getting some questions from around the web, from our community, asking us a couple of questions about mold remediation and we have our expert, technician Liam here with us to answer some of your questions. Now some of the questions are funny, Liam. So just be forewarned here. But I think some of these are very important. So one of our viewers asked, “How many different types of molds are there in a home?” Or can there be in the home?

Liam:
Oh, there can be probably upwards of hundreds, to be honest.

Adan:
Yeah, I mean mold-

Liam:
Lots of different ones.

Adan:
… mold is pretty common, it’s just the bad mold is the ones that you want to be careful of, especially the ones that cause smell right?

Liam:
Absolutely.

Adan:
So one of our viewers asked is like, “Hey, what are the main causes for mold to grow?” I think we’ve had some of our viewers, you know, have mold in their home and they don’t really know what’s causing it.

Liam:
Well, a lot of times it can be from unaddressed water damage that wasn’t properly mitigated. Or it could be a humidity issue where you don’t have the proper levels of humidity in your home and they’re high and there’s too much moisture so you’re creating condensation on your building materials.

Adan:
Yeah. And mold can pretty much grow on anything, right?

Liam:
Absolutely.

Adan:
I mean there isn’t any limitation. You know, I’ve even heard of cases of mold growing in the carpets.

Liam:
Yes, absolutely.

Adan:
Like spotting [crosstalk 00:01:29]

Liam:
Carpets are a fuel source for it because they can catch any fibers, microns, anything.

Adan:
Wow. So one of the questions here is, how does mold affect our health when it comes to… especially when you have an overgrowth? I think that’s a very important topic. What are your thoughts on that?

Liam:
Obviously, it affects everyone differently. If you’re in the ages of infant to a toddler, that’s a compromised immune system. The same thing if you’re talking-

Adan:
Even with the elderly.

Liam:
… about 65 to 90, what have you. And it affects everyone differently. If you’re very hyper-allergenic it can affect your respiratory system, it can give you migraines and you know, for some people it might not affect them at all.

Adan:
Yeah, I think especially if you have other issues with asthma, for example, I think you’ll be very, very sensitive to mold. And I think one of the telltale signs is, hey, if you’re walking into your house and you’re fine and you walk into a room and you just start feeling kind of, you know, sneezing and you’re getting all these symptoms, I think that’s a pretty clear sign that you have some kind of a mold issue.

Liam:
It absolutely attacks your respiratory system and then also in your brain where you get migraines as well because it’s too much and your sinuses get affected.

Adan:
Definitely. Now some of our customers have asked us if we perform mold testing ourselves and from what I understand we don’t do that.

Liam:
No. We use a third party voucher for our testing just for a chain of integrity. That way we can go in there after they’ve done the test and wrote out the scope, we will do the remediation process and they will come back in and clear the home.

Adan:
Yeah, I mean, you know, we don’t want to be the guys telling you you have mold and then be the guys cleaning it up as well. I think that’s a little bit of a trust issue there, but not that we’re an un-trusting company but you never know. For the chains of integrity, I think that’s very important for you guys to know.

Adan:
Now, one of the questions we get is, “Hey, is it okay if I cleaned the mold myself?”

Liam:
I mean, you need proper PPE to deal with mold, your personal protective equipment, respiratory, you need to be able to use the right tools for it. If you use a Shop-vac, you’re just going to aerosolize everything. We have specialized vacuums that don’t have any exhausts on them and we also have HEPA air scrubbers that replace the air, and we use antimicrobials as well. But the biggest thing is your own health. You need to properly protect yourself while you’re mediating it and then making sure that you don’t cross-contaminate in other areas of your home.

Adan:
Yeah, I mean especially when you’re dealing with microbial agents, you’re talking about something at the microscopic level, right? You don’t want to be taking a vac and blowing it everywhere and trying to suck it out. And I think you would be causing more harm than done and actually allowing the mold to actually spread. I think that’s an important note there. So…

Adan:
But I want to thank you, Liam. I think these have been very, very important questions from the community. And if you guys have any questions about mold restoration, water damage, anything to do with the internal of the home in any emergency case, please leave us a message below on our video by commenting or asking us a question. This has been another episode of Restoration Talks and we hope to see you guys on the next one.

We provide services in Ormond Beach, Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, Orlando, Florida, Tampa, Florida, Melbourne, Florida, and many other locations around Florida! 

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