Mold remediation mistake: spending to remove harmless cosmetic mold::

Avoid unnecessarily costly unnecessary cleaning if the only mold present is cosmetic black mold on wood surfaces.

Public worry about toxic black mold contamination has led some folks to perform expensive cleaning, even demolition, when the only mold present was a harmless, cosmetic black staining mold found on framing lumber.

This section of our "How to Clean Mold" article describes common mistakes people make when attempting to clean up mold. Avoiding these mold cleanup errors can save you money and may also avoid dangerous side effects of bleach, mold chemicals, or ozone when improperly applied.

Warning About Cosmetic Mold Remediation

You can avoid unnecessary & expensive "black mold" cleanup projects for cosmetic molds and stains by noting the following advice about cosmetic mold often found on building framing such as studs, rafters, ceiling joists:

Photo: very extensive "black mold" contamination up four feet on drywall in the basement of a home. There will, of course, be multiple mold genera/species present and more than one of them may be quite harmful. Focusing on "toxic black mold" alone is a mistake.

But some "black mold" like that shown at the top of this page may be harmless and may not even require removal.

It's important to distinguish cosmetic Ceratocystis/Ophistoma, blue stain mold, blue rot, from other problem molds which in fact might be "toxic black mold" such as Stachybotrys chartarum or harder to spot but often more problematic molds in buildings such as the Penicillium sp. and Aspergillus sp. families of molds.

One of our clients had begun a $600,000. "mold remediation" project on their home.

A careful investigation of the property found that all of the "black mold" which had frightened the owners and which had resulted in this expensive cleaning contract, was cosmetic "blue stain" mold which had been present on the lumber since the day of construction of the building.

The mold was of no concern other than a cosmetic one.

Other clients occasionally send "not mold" samples to our laboratory.

To be sure you're not incurring a big and unnecessary expense, be sure that the "mold" to be addressed is really mold, and further, that it's not just a cosmetic mold, read the articles below before undertaking a costly mold remediation project.

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Continue reading at FAILURE TO PREVENT FUTURE MOLD in our series of mold cleanup mistakes, or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• CHOOSE a FLOOD DAMAGE RESTORATION or MOLD REMEDIATOR
• COSMETIC MOLD, RECOGNIZE - more examples of harmless, cosmetic mold growth in or on buildings and how to identify it without testing.
• MOLD ACTION GUIDE - WHAT TO DO ABOUT MOLD
• MOLD CLEANUP GUIDE- HOW TO GET RID OF MOLD - home
• MOLD CLEANUP - MISTAKES to AVOID

Suggested citation for this web page

COSMETIC MOLD CLEANUP EXPENSE at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

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INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to MOLD CONTAMINATION & REMEDIATION

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