My blog

Tag: Mold Removal

  • Why You Should Encapsulate the Crawlspace of Your Home

    Why You Should Encapsulate the Crawlspace of Your Home

    Most homes in the Los Angeles County and surrounding area have crawlspaces instead of basements. The crawlspace of your home is the perfect environment for mold and bacteria to grow unnoticed. It then enters the interior of your home through the ventilation system. At Tri Span, we can encapsulate this area and provide a barrier of protection for you and your family.

    Stabilizes the Temperature of Your Home

    Fully encapsulating the crawlspace of your home allows your HVAC unit to cool or warm the air easier and provide an even temperature. Moisture that comes up from the crawlspace can dramatically affect the way your Los Angeles and surrounding area home heats and cools during cold and warm spells. You will feel more comfortable on a consistent basis.

    Improves Air Quality

    Most crawlspaces have a dirt floor. The air that is trapped in this space is pulled in and cycled through your home ventilation. It is often the reason you get an earthy-type smell when the HVAC system is operating. It can drag mold, pollen, germs, and bacteria that make their way into your crawlspace directly into the home.

    Reduces Energy Use

    The added insulative qualities of an encapsulated crawlspace equate to energy savings you can enjoy all year long in your Orange County and surrounding area home. Lower energy bills are an attractive part of placing a good moisture barrier over the bottom area of the home.

    Reduces Mold

    The dark, quiet, damp area offered by crawlspaces without moisture barriers are perfect for spreading mold up into your house through the vents. It can bring mold spores into the home even during periods of little and no rain. The ground has natural levels of moisture that can promote mold growth.

    Reduce the Chance of Pest Infestations

    A quality crawlspace encapsulation will limit the ability of bugs and rodents from infesting your home. Pests tend to enter homes through their most vulnerable openings. Getting this added layer of protection will help you keep pest free without spending a small fortune.

    [su_note note_color=”#f1f1f1″]Call us at Tri Span and find out more about crawlspace encapsulation. We offer moisture barrier services throughout the Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside County areas.[/su_note]

  • Eliminate Black Mold for a Healthier Environment

    Eliminate Black Mold for a Healthier Environment

    Black mold can grow and get out of control long before you see and smell the problem. The difficulty in dealing with black mold is that there is a health hazard associated that can directly impact anyone with a compromised immune system or present breathing troubles. A severe mold infestation should be taken care of as soon as it is discovered to preserve the health of you and your family.

    The Prevalence of Mold Spores

    The weather in Orange County and the surrounding areas are typically lovely, and the idea of mold infestations seem a distant threat. The reality is mold spores are present in the air in nearly every climate, especially near large bodies of water. These mold spores enter the home on clothing, shoes, bags, and through fresh air. Once they make their way indoors, finding a fresh, undisturbed area of the house is all that is needed for the problem to start.

    Treating Common Areas

    Common areas to find black mold are bathrooms, closets, cupboards, basements, and attics. Visible dark spots on the surface of walls, ceilings, and floors mixed with a pungent, musty odor are good clues that you have a problem with mold in your home. The wise solution is to have experts in the Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties safely isolate and remove black mold. Professional remediation personnel understand the health hazards of black mold and demolish it.

    Finding Lurking Black Mold

    There are times that your home has a black mold problem, but the location is not as noticeable. Mold experts can locate these problematic areas, such as under flooring, behind drywall, and in areas of plumbing fixtures. There might even be black mold lurking in behind the insulation. Water intrusion locations are a likely spot for black mold to settle in and grow. These areas will have to be thoroughly checked, cleaned, and new materials put in place that is free of mold.

    Physical Symptoms of Mold Sensitivity

    Sensitivity to mold can cause you and all family members to feel miserable all year long. You may try to enjoy the warm sunny days of Orange County, but the mold leaves you feeling like there is a constant cold going around. A few of the symptoms can include:

    • Sneezing and watery eyes
    • Coughing and wheezing
    • Asthma attacks
    • Stuffy nose and chest congestion
    • Runny nose and sniffling

    Take the time to have a professional mold remediation company take care of the problem so that you can get back to good health.

    [su_note note_color=”#f1f1f1″]Contact the mold remediation specialists at Tri Span for complete removal in all of Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties today![/su_note]

  • Preventing Mold and Sick Building Syndrome

    Preventing Mold and Sick Building Syndrome

    Many buildings in Orange County and other areas of Southern California experience what is known as sick building syndrome. This unhealthy indoor environmental condition is caused by molds which directly or indirectly affect the indoor air quality, leading to health problems for people and animals who use the building.

    [su_note note_color=”#f1f1f1″]A new study done in France has found a further explanation for how these molds actually cause disease and spread. Researchers at the University of Toulouse discovered that toxins produced by molds commonly found in buildings could disperse from the spores into the air. This moves the mold from one place to another inside the building, helping it spread, and it causes allergic reactions and other health issues in residents along the way.[/su_note]

    Mold Problems in Southern California Buildings

    When moisture from flooding, leaking pipes and drains, ground water, or other sources come in contact with walls, floors, and ceilings in a building, it creates the perfect conditions for mold growth. As these molds grow they develop reproductive spoors containing a toxin called mycotoxin. Many people and animals develop allergies and chemical sensitivity when exposed to the invisible mycotoxin dust particles as they float around in the air.

    [su_note note_color=”#f1f1f1″]The researchers in France studied three mold species commonly present in sick building syndrome, Aspergillus versicolor, Stachybotrys chartarum, and Penicillium brevicompactum, and discovered mycotoxins dispersing directly into the air from the mold spoors under conditions simulating real life inside a building. The molds were grown on the wallpaper to further reproduce actual conditions.[/su_note]

    These aerosolized mycotoxins were then observed dispersing into the air and traveling around inside the building. From there, they can easily enter the respiratory tract of a person or animal, making them sick, even though they never directly contacted the mold itself.

    Health experts estimate between twenty and forty percent of all buildings in the United States have visible mold growing somewhere in the building, creating conditions where sick building syndrome can develop. The best prevention for sick building syndrome is repairing water-damaged areas as soon as possible and hiring a contractor with the right experience, personnel, and equipment for remediating water and mold damage in a timely way.

    [su_note note_color=”#f1f1f1″]If you have a water damage or mold remediation problem in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, or Orange Counties, contact Tri Span, Inc. We are Southern California’s leading building contractor for all types mold remediation work.[/su_note]