It Doesn't Dry By Itself . . . Fast Enough

12/30/2016 (Permalink)

This didn't dry fast enough. That's why there's mold.

Of all the things we hear, the most common is this:  "It'll dry up by itself." It's a polite way of telling us, "Thanks but no thanks, we don't need your drying mitigation services, because my house or commercial property will dry up on its own, without your mitigation services."

Sure it will.  Over time. Yep, it will dry up.

The question is, will it dry up fast enough?  Just what is "fast enough?"

Let's put it this way.  Roughly half our business is comprised of "mold remediation."  This means, a lot of times it didn't dry up fast enough.  Mold remediation is the activity we do when a water intrusion dampened building materials or contents, and mold began to grow as a result. The building materials remained wet enough, long enough, that mold began to grow, to a point that it needed to be cleaned.  Frequently it gets to a point comparable to what is seen in the attached photo. 

It doesn't dry fast enough, without proper attention.  The baseboard and wallboard in this picture remained wet for an extended period of time, creating an ideal environment for mold to grow.  Perhaps the surrounding environment was humid, preventing moisture from escaping the building materials and evaporating into the air, leaving the building materials wet for a sustained period.  Perhaps there was insulation inside the wall cavity, keeping the exterior-facing wall and baseboard wet all the while. One thing we do know, if proper attention had been given to these materials quickly enough, the materials would have dried out quickly, preventing mold growth.

Without proper service, the wall and baseboard would dry. It could be two weeks.  It could be a month. It depends on various factors. But either of those alternatives is not "fast enough."

Our recommendation is to have your building properly mitigated at the earliest possible opportunity, to prevent the microbial growth that can arise. Give us a call at (305) 532-5411 and we'll be happy to walk you through the process!