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The floors
March 19, 2019 -
info@prosomo.com
Mold under the floors.
(Example that shows the back of the floating floor)
The mold started to grow on the customer’s personal belongings and a mold scent was found in the basement and the first floor. When walking on the floor in the basement, we discovered several weaknesses that could indicate that there was water damage. It was a matter of making several openings to determine at what level the floor was affected and whether the damage had affected the other parts of the basement.
Here’s what the experts at Mold Xperts saw. Since the mold started to grow on the customer’s personal belongings in the basement, we knew that the moisture in the basement was created by a high level of mold. The idea was to create openings in the floors and open the bottom of the walls to find the source of the problem. By investigating the site, we found several sources that might have caused the problem. We proceeded with our investigation and here is what we found.
(Example shows the floor below the floating floor)
(Example shows that the floor supports are affected)
(Example shows that mold was located under the floor)
The pictures show that the floor was affected in the whole basement. Most of the basement showed no sign of mold until the work was started. We detected the problem only by removing the floating floor and this is where we found that the floor was affected in the entire area.
The occupants of the house had noticed that the moisture in their basement was very high. But they always rectified the moisture situation by installing a dehumidifier. So they thought the scent in the basement was from the humidity level and not from the water infiltration.
(Example shows that the floor begun to affect the walls of divisions)
The walls of divisions started to be affected, this means that the source of the problem is not yet repaired since the mold continues to grow. We see clearly that the source comes from the floor since the mold is located on the bottom of the walls and tries to move to the highest point of the material. When the walls of divisions are affected, this is a sign that the rooms situated near that one are also affected since the separation is contaminated. The dividing wall must be treated or removed in order to solve the mold problems.
(Example demonstrates affected support under the stairs)
We see that the problem dates back several years ago since some support are in decomposition. The customer was fortunate that these brackets are not the main supports of the steps since the materials no longer touching the ground. We asked the customer to have the pieces of wood replaced since they no longer supported the steps. The cement has been treated against mold and calcium since several stains were found.
(Example demonstrating that the materials are still quenched)
(Example that demonstrates cracks in the foundation)
After the work was finished, we really knew what had caused the problem in the basement. The water infiltration came from the cracks in the foundation. We found several weak points that showed cracks in the foundation and we could clearly see the black spots of mold were the cracks were situated. We treated the cement that was contaminated with mold and we warned the customer of the situation since the cracks will need to be repaired as soon as possible. We also detected a leak on a plumbing pipe that could have caused a problem in the bathroom so we made sure to warn the customer.
Photo after work.
(Example showing the rooms after the work was done)
Mold Xperts advises all customers to avoid waiting too long before checking out a situation. When you notice a high level of moisture and a fungal scent, we advise you to do some tests to determine if it could be a source of infiltration in your home. Mold is not always visual so it is sometimes more difficult to evaluate a source without testing the area. As you can see from the final photos, all the materials that was located on the floor was removed or treated in order to eliminate any source of mold. The customer was warned of the problems in order to prevent another situation from happening again.
