How to Visually Inspect After Mold Cleanup

How visibly clean should the mold cleanup area be after a mold remediation job?
What are the visual characteristics of a successful mold cleanup job? How should things look to the eye after Mold Remediation?
How does a building "pass" a clearance inspection?
MOLD CLEARANCE INSPECTIONS - separate article
- CLEARANCE PROCEDURES - separate article
- MOLD CLEARANCE TIMING - separate article
- ACCEPTABLE MOLD LEVEL - separate article
- MOLD CLEANUP, VISUAL CHARACTERISTICS
- MOLD CLEARANCE TEST, SUCCESSFUL - separate article
- MOLD LEVELS IN BUILDINGS - separate article
- MOLD CLEARANCE: FOLLOWUP STEPS - separate article
MOLD PREVENTION GUIDE - separate article
Questions & answers about the visual characteristics of a successful mold cleanup or mold remediation job
References

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Mold clearance procedures using visual inspection: this article describes the visual characteristics of a successful mold cleanup job.

What are the VISUAL CHARACTERISTICS of a Successful Mold Remediation Project

This article is part of our ACTION GUIDE which provides an easy to understand step-by-step guide for dealing with toxic or allergenic indoor mold and other indoor contaminants: what to do about mold "mildew," moisture, in your house or office, building-related illness, involving your physician, treatment, sick building investigators, reduction of irritants, and special products to help clean buildings and air.

In our page top photo the remediator left a dryer running into the crawl area because it was still wet at the time of our clearance inspection.

Notice the old insulation left in the crawl area at the rim joist. The cleanup of the crawl area was incomplete and there was a risk of remaining mold reservoirs as well as a need for more cleaning.

All suspect or mold-contaminated material, which cannot be cleaned, should have been removed. There should no demolition debris left in the building.

Our next mold remediation job photo (above left) shows a home that was partly gutted after flooding. We were concerned about remaining mold reservoirs in fiberglass insulation left in the upper section of wall cavities (tested by vacuum sampling) and possible moldy insulating board exterior sheathing.

The sheathing board was a critical call since if it needed to be removed the job cost would be increased enormously.

Areas where moldy surface coverings have been removed leaving exposed framing or other hard surfaces, such as remaining structural components, floors, and other surfaces should have been thoroughly cleaned, HEPA (High-efficiency particulate air filtering system) vacuumed, wiped, and sealed if a sealant was to be used.

HEPA vacuuming is important since ordinary "shop vacuums" and most home vacuum cleaners will simply pass small mold spores right through the system, actually increasing the level of airborne mold.

Remediated areas should be free of visible mold. On previously infected structural members or surfaces, some remediators use fungicidal sealants as extra assurance against movement of remaining incidental spores and to reduce potential future moisture uptake in wood and thus future mold growth. I report the extent of such treatments if evidence of such is visible.

The most common mold cleanup mistakes we encounter are

Failure to maintain a working dust containment system for the cleanup area during the procedure,
Failure to actually clean up demolition dust and debris from every surface,
Bringing in new building materials or actually beginning reconstruction of the building before a successful clearance inspection and test have been completed.

This last "error" means that either the clearance inspection and test are limited in assuring the success of the job or that some of the new work has to be removed to permit inspection and testing.

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Technical Reviewers & References

Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.

[1] "A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home", U.S. Environmental Protection Agency US EPA - includes basic advice for building owners, occupants, and mold cleanup operations. See http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldguide.htm
[2] US EPA - Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Building [Copy on file at /sickhouse/EPA_Mold_Remediation_in_Schools.pdf ] - US EPA
[3] US EPA - Una Breva Guia a Moho - Hongo [Copy on file as /sickhouse/EPA_Moho_Guia_sp.pdf - en Espanol
[4] G. A. Payne, W. C. Nierman, J. R. Wortman, B. L. Pritchard, D. Brown, R. A. Dean, D Bhatnagar, T. E. Cleveland, Masayuki Machida, & J. Yu, "Whole genome comparison of Aspergillus flavus and A. oryzae", Medical Mycology September 2006, 44, S9S11
Abstract: Aspergillus flavus is a plant and animal pathogen that also produces the potent carcinogen aflatoxin. Aspergillus oryzae is a closely related species that has been used for centuries in the food fermentation industry and is Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS). Whole genome sequences for these two fungi are now complete, providing us with the opportunity to examine any genomic differences that may explain the different ecological niches of these two fungi, and perhaps to identify pathogenicity factors in A. flavus. These two fungi are very similar in genome size and number of predicted genes. The estimated genome size (36/8 Mb) and predicted number of genes (12 197) for A. flavus is similar to that of A. oryzae (36/7 Mb and 12 079, respectively). These two fungi have significantly larger genomes than Aspergillus nidulans (30/1) and Aspergillus fumigatus (29/4). The A. flavus and A. oryzae genomes are enriched in genes for secondary metabolism, but do not differ greatly from one another in the predicted number of polyketide synthases, nonribosomal peptide synthases or the number of genes coding for cytochrome P450 enzymes. A micro-scale analysis of the two fungi did show differences in DNA correspondence between the two species and in the number of transposable elements. Each species has approximately 350 unique genes. The high degree of sequence similarity between the two fungi suggests that they may be ecotypes of the same species and that A. oryzae has resulted from the domestication of A. flavus. Keywords aflatoxin, secondary metabolism, koji moulds
[5] Robert A. Blanchette & C. Gardner Shaw, "Associations among Bacteria, Yeasts, and Basidiomycetes During Wood Decay", Phytopathology 68: 631-637, also appearing in Ecology and Epidemiology.
Atlas of Clinical Fungi, 2nd Ed., GS deHoog, J Guarro, J Gene, & MJ Figueras, Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, Universitat Rovira I Virgili, 2000, ISBN 90-70351-43-9 (you can buy this book at Amazon) - The Atlas of Clinical Fungi is also available on CD ROM
"A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home", U.S. Environmental Protection Agency US EPA - includes basic advice for building owners, occupants, and mold cleanup operations. See http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldguide.htm
"Disease Prevention Program for Certain Vegetable Crops," David B. Langston, Jr., Extension Plant Pathologist - Vegetables, University of Georgia (PDF document) original source: www.reeis.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/209797.html
"Disease Prevention in Home Vegetable Gardens," Patricia Donald, Department of Plant Microbiology and Pathology, Lewis Jett
Department of Horticulture, University of Missouri Extension - extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=G6202
"Management of Powdery Mildew, Leveillula taurica, in Greenhouse Peppers," Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, British Columbia - Original source: www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/peppermildew.htm
Fifth Kingdom, Bryce Kendrick, ISBN13: 9781585100224, is available from the InspectAPedia online bookstore - we recommend the CD-ROM version of this book. This 3rd/edition is a compact but comprehensive encyclopedia of all things mycological. Every aspect of the fungi, from aflatoxin to zppspores, with an accessible blend of verve and wit. The 24 chapters are filled with up-to-date information of classification, yeast, lichens, spore dispersal, allergies, ecology, genetics, plant pathology, predatory fungi, biological control, mutualistic symbioses with animals and plants, fungi as food, food spoilage and mycotoxins.
Fungi, Identifying Filamentous, A Clinical Laboratory Handbook, Guy St-Germain, Richard Summerbell, Star Publishing, 1996, ISBN 0-89863-177-7 (English) (buy at Amazon)
US EPA: Una Breva Guia a Moho - Hongo [Copy on file as /sickhouse/EPA_Moho_Guia_sp.pdf - en Espanol

Cleaning Mistakes people make when cleaning-up moldy building materials and surfaces:

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.
Environmental Health & Investigation Bibliography - our technical library on indoor air quality inspection, testing, laboratory procedures, forensic microscopy, etc.
Adkins and Adkins Dictionary of Roman Religion discusses Robigus, the Roman god of crop protection and the legendary progenitor of wheat rust fungus.
Kansas State University, department of plant pathology, extension plant pathology web page on wheat rust fungus: see http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/path-ext/factSheets/Wheat/Wheat%20Leaf%20Rust.asp
"A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home", U.S. Environmental Protection Agency US EPA - includes basic advice for building owners, occupants, and mold cleanup operations. See http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldguide.htm
US EPA - Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Building [Copy on file at /sickhouse/EPA_Mold_Remediation_in_Schools.pdf ] - US EPA
US EPA - Una Breva Guia a Moho - Hongo [Copy on file as /sickhouse/EPA_Moho_Guia_sp.pdf - en Espanol

"A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home", U.S. Environmental Protection Agency US EPA - includes basic advice for building owners, occupants, and mold cleanup operations. See http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldguide.htm
"Disease Prevention Program for Certain Vegetable Crops," David B. Langston, Jr., Extension Plant Pathologist - Vegetables, University of Georgia (PDF document) original source: www.reeis.usda.gov/web/crisprojectpages/209797.html
"Disease Prevention in Home Vegetable Gardens," Patricia Donald, Department of Plant Microbiology and Pathology, Lewis Jett
Department of Horticulture, University of Missouri Extension - extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=G6202
"Management of Powdery Mildew, Leveillula taurica, in Greenhouse Peppers," Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, British Columbia - Original source: www.agf.gov.bc.ca/cropprot/peppermildew.htm
Fifth Kingdom, Bryce Kendrick, ISBN13: 9781585100224, is available from the InspectAPedia online bookstore - we recommend the CD-ROM version of this book. This 3rd/edition is a compact but comprehensive encyclopedia of all things mycological. Every aspect of the fungi, from aflatoxin to zppspores, with an accessible blend of verve and wit. The 24 chapters are filled with up-to-date information of classification, yeast, lichens, spore dispersal, allergies, ecology, genetics, plant pathology, predatory fungi, biological control, mutualistic symbioses with animals and plants, fungi as food, food spoilage and mycotoxins.
Fungi, Identifying Filamentous, A Clinical Laboratory Handbook, Guy St-Germain, Richard Summerbell, Star
Mycology, Fundamentals of Diagnostic, Fran Fisher, Norma B. Cook, W.B. Saunders Co. 1998, ISBN 0-7216-5006-6 (buy this book at Amazon)


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