Costs of Mold Removal
Mold remediation costs have confusing issues when determining an honest price to pay for the service.
Although I would assume that most states in the United States are similar, I can only speak of:
- Maryland
- Washington DC
The cost you should pay boils down to how much liability you want to take on and what chances you want to take not to get sick. Both issues lead to the different levels of costs:
Mold Remediation Level one: " Cut it out "
This is the least expensive procedure and it simply means taking a knife and removing effected drywall or wall base. Simple and cheap but it has it's costs as well. When you remove the effected wall, you will distribute mold spores throughout the room and possibly throughout the house via the air ducts. So without "containing the mold spores may lead to future illness, complaints and sadly law suits."
Mold Remediation Level Two: Contain it but no testing
A responsible restoration company will follow the IICRC S502 mold remediation guidelines and create a temporary plastic wall and plastic room around the effected area. Adding a negative air pressure to the room and then removing spore contained air through a hepa filtered machine outside, is the accepted practice and is expected by the US court systems. Although there are additional steps to this process, this is the main concept to prevent the spores from traveling to other areas of the house. The question left is did we get all the mold spores and visible spores. Who says the location is healthy and free of legal issues? Let's go to the next level
Mold Remediation Level Three: Testing
This is the entertaining part of this article, the testers. You see to become a "mold tester" all you need to do ( if that ) is to take a non licensed school course and presto you are a mold tester. Even if the tester sends the samples to an accredited lab, it's still questionable.
If the samples were taken incorrectly then any reading will not be accepted by a judge. Remember that in legal situations an opposing attorney can find ways to question a non scientist taking samples
But hiring a scientist would be the way to test and the easiest way to do this, would be to hire an industrial hygienist ( IH ). An IH is accepted by most judges for their testing and actually IH's will take the liability of the situation leaving the remaining parties protected. Also those who are concerned about getting ill, should be more relieved that the correct person is watching the mold remediation situation.
This is a brief summary of why you will notice different mold remediation costs among companies and even within a particular company. It's ultimately your decision and what you feel is best for your situation. If you want to find out more about SI Restoration and our services please contact us at the number on the top of the page. You can also use our contact form, as we service all of Maryland and Washington DC including but not limited too:
- Baltimore, MD
- Columbia, MD
- Germantown, MD
- Washington DC
- Silver Spring, MD
We have more Mold Remediation FAQ‘s as well if you need more information on it.
SI Restoration mold remediation clean up services are available in the following Maryland areas :
Towson
Pikesville
Catonsville
Bel Air
Baltimore City
Baltimore County
Dundalk
Essex
Laurel
Parkton
Westminister