Snapshot
A woman living in a condo experienced a leak in her bathroom ceiling coming from the unit above. Due to a slow response from the condo association the problem got worse. At the same time this was occurring, the health of the homeowner started to decline. After some demolition in the bathroom and a thorough cleaning and treatment with Healthy Homes products, the total mold counts were drastically reduced from 354,662 Cts/M³to 2,560 Cts/M³ for a total mold reduction of 99.3%. The products once again proved their efficacy across a wide variety of mold species.
Intro
The condo owner reached out to Sager Healthy Homes after her condo association made some repairs to her bathroom after noticing a leak from the unit above. The handyman for the association opened the ceiling to repair the leak. Mold in the ceiling was sprayed with Killz primer and the ceiling was closed back up. After the repair, the symptoms the owner was experiencing that correlate to mold exposure kept getting worse. At this point, Sager Healthy Homes recommended to the association that the entire bathroom be gutted to reveal any larger issues.
Problem
The gutting of the bathroom exposed a much larger issue and a history of bad repairs. Within the walls, old moldy drywall was found that had been discarded there at some earlier point. It was also noted that the leak had run under the tub and through the floor into the basement. At this point, Sager Healthy Homes recommended air samples be taken from the bathroom and basement below. Testing for the bathroom showed elevated levels for Ascospores, Aspergillus/Penicillium, Chaetomium, Cladosporium, Memnoniella, and Stachybotrys. The basement sample contained these species but at lower levels but also the addition of Trichoderma. This situation was exceptionally problematic for the resident as there was a mold source directly in the bathroom but additionally the mold levels in the basement also contributed to the living space through the stack effect.
Approach
An air scrubber was set up to limit contaminants to the bathroom while the work was being performed. Moldy surfaces and framing in the bathroom and basement were treated with RE-Hydro. Due to the inability to spray and scrub under the tub due to limited space and access, the cavity was fogged with DE-Mold as well as the rest of the bathroom and the entirety of the basement. Post testing was then conducted to ensure the mold was remediated.
Results
Using only two technicians, Sager Healthy Homes was able to thoroughly clean and treat the bathroom and basement, returning the indoor air quality to safe levels in only one day. Post testing in the bathroom show the following results: 85% reduction in Ascospores, 97.7% reduction in Aspergillus/Penicillium, 99.9% reduction in Chaetomium, 90.8% reduction in Cladosporium, 100% reduction in Memnoniella, and 99.9% reduction in Stachybotrys.
