Tips For Addressing Basement Mold After A Flooding Incident

Having large amounts of water come into your basement is always disheartening. Once the water has been pumped out, you can breathe a sigh of relief. But it's also important to acknowledge that this is just the first step. After a basement flooding incident, you almost always have mold to contend with. It pops up within just a couple of days when conditions are warm and moist! The following are some top tips to help you deal with mold growth in this situation.

Call a professional mold remediation company.

If this were a few spots of mold in the bathroom sink or a couple of colonies in your fridge, you could certainly clean it up yourself. But post-flooding basement mold is a much more extensive problem. For all of the mold you can see, there's likely even more of it hidden within walls and under floors. Accessing this mold is not easy and is best left to the professionals. Plus, being exposed to large amounts of mold can be risky, and mold remediation technicians have the suits, respirators, gloves, and other protective gear necessary to keep themselves safe.

If the flooding was due to a storm, then you probably are not the only one struggling with basement mold in your area. As such, mold remediation teams might be busy. Call a few, and see who can get you on the schedule the soonest. The faster you get this done, the less mold there will be for them to clean up.

Throw away porous items.

You may be tempted to save items like your sofas, boxes, and spare clothing. But these items can harbor mold that is hard to get rid of. It's best to just throw porous items away and start over. You can start doing this before the remediation team arrives, provided you have the right protective attire. Take photos of everything you throw away; your insurance company will likely reimburse you.

Continue to dehumidify after treatment.

Once the mold remediation team has gone, make sure you continue to run a dehumidifier. Either run your whole-home dehumidifier or invest in a portable one to use in the basement. Keep it running for a few weeks in order to ensure the space stays dry enough to discourage the mold from coming back.

With the tips above, you can do a better job of clearing out mold after your basement floods. Contact a professional to learn more about mold remediation.