MI&T Offers Chicago Flood Victims Mold Testing to Help Determine if Professional Mold Remediation Is Necessary

CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwired - Apr 22, 2013) - Last week many home and business owners experienced water damage from the unusual April flooding throughout the Chicagoland area. Whenever flooding occurs inside a property, there is a risk for indoor mold growth. Organic building materials like drywall, insulation, and wood are perfect nutrients for mold colonies to sprout. Water is the life blood of mold and whenever you combine the two, you have a recipe for serious problems.

Mold can start growing in as little as 24 hours. Throw a little bit of water on a piece of bread and leave it out for a day, you'll see this happen. This is partly why water damage restoration is considered an emergency service. The longer any building material or personal belonging sits saturated with water, the greater the risk for mold growth is.

A basic water damage restoration protocol includes extracting standing water, discarding any material that became saturated with water like carpet, padding, drywall, insulation, and placing commercial dehumidifiers/fans in the property until everything is dry. In order to prevent future mold growth these actions should be taken as soon as possible and preferably handled by a professional.

Once the drying process is complete, you should get mold testing done to see if any growth has sprouted and negatively impacting your indoor air quality. You can't always see a mold problem and getting an inspection prior to rebuilding what has been damaged will keep you safe from a couple of situations.

Many people who handle a flood cleanup on their own don't have the equipment to properly dry everything. They get all the water out and think the job is complete when building material like wood or drywall is actually only dry on the surface and still saturated within. This can be seen relatively easily with a moisture meter. Unfortunately, many people go through a lot of trouble to clean out their property and replace building material only to have extreme mold problems show up in the near future.

The other issue that people run into is when the water damage restoration company they hire suggests all the flooding has caused a mold growth problem. While this is in fact true in some cases, it is an unfortunate truth that some of these companies are doing this so they can run up your bill and do more work. Whenever a restoration company recommends mold remediation, you should hire a third party to complete a mold inspection.

MI&T is one of the largest test only mold inspection companies in the country and their corporate office is actually in the Chicagoland area. They offer Mold Inspection & Testing and operate without a conflict of interest; take no part in the mold remediation process. Give them a call at 312-583-7576 for an unbiased assessment of your home or business to determine if flooding has in fact caused an indoor mold growth problem. If your tests come back indicating problems are present, you will be provided with lab results and a full report with detailed steps entailing what needs to be done to fix the issues and return the property to normal. You can visit their website at http://www.moldinspectionandtest.com for more information.

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MI&T Offers Chicago Flood Victims Mold Testing to Help Determine if Professional Mold Remediation Is Necessary