Mold and Moisture Problems in the Basements of Colorado Home Owners

Monday, September 07, 2009 by Michael-Bains

A large percentage of the mold inspections we perform in the Denver and Boulder areas of Colorado are in people’s basements. There are more than just a few reasons for this. Primarily, anytime there is living space below grade, there is an increased likelihood for water intrusion into the structure. Also, there are a significant number of homes in the state of Colorado that have basements.

The last few basements that we inspected all suffered from the same source of water intrusion. Water entered the basements because poor exterior grading allowed either rain water, or water from landscaping irrigation systems to flow into the basement through ventilation points or seepage into the foundation.

Elevated indoor mold spore counts were a concern for all of the occupants in these homes. In each case, the people living in these homes called us because they and their families were experiencing health issues they believed were related to airborne mold exposure. The ambient air samples we collected in these basements all showed minor to high elevation levels. In one case, one of the basement rooms had over 450,000 spores per cubic meter of Penicillium/Aspergillus species. This compared to an outdoor air sample of around 200 spores per cubic meter!

We provide our client with detailed reports of our findings and recommendations. But, the key items these homeowners needed to do to remediate and clean up their moldy basements are:

Fix the source of water intrusion! Before you can remediation basement mold and clean the air, you must fix the source or sources of water intrusion to help ensure that the problem doesn’t happen all over again.
Have a professional mold remediation company clean up and/or remove moldy materials.
Ensure that the mold remediation company uses, among many other things, HEPA air scrubbing machines to bring the indoor spore counts back to normal tolerances.
Engage a mold inspection and testing professional to return to the home and ensure that the mold remediation project was performed to adequate standards and that the indoor air has been returned to normal.
Always engage a professional mold remediation company that follows the standards of the IICRC S520.

If you are wondering if your basement may have a mold problem, consider hiring a mold inspection investigation if you answer ‘yes’ to one or more of the following questions:

Does your basement smell moldy, mildewy, or musty?
Have you had flooding in your basement?
Do you or members of your family experience more respiratory problems inside your home as compared to when they are outside?
Do you see water damage or mold-like growth in your basement?
Has your sump pump ever malfunctioned?

If you believe you may have a mold problem and you live in the Denver Boulder area of Colorado, please contact Mold Inspection Sciences at 303.339.0133, or visit us on the web at http://www.moldinspectioncolorado.com.

The same problems can occur for people with moldy basements in other states. If you live in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, or Dallas Texas, call us at 512.535.2493, or visit us on the web at http://www.moldinspectiontexas.com.