When To Suspect Your Air Ducts Have Mold And How They Can Be Cleaned
If your home has had recent water damage from a burst pipe or a flood, then you know there's a possibility of mold growing in hidden areas. If there was mold on the floor, walls, or upholstery, then spores wafted through the air. Spores may have spread during the cleanup process or because of interior demolition and construction. One likely place that the mold spores landed is in your air ducts, especially if you run the HVAC to dry out your house. It may be necessary to have your air ducts cleaned and sanitized to improve the air quality in your home and stop the spread of mold spores. Here are some tips on when to suspect you have mold and how it can be eliminated.
Signs There Could Be Mold In Your Air Ducts
If you notice a musty odor in your home that seems to get worse when your HVAC kicks on, that could indicate there's mold in your ducts. Try shining a light in the ducts to look for mold. You might see it growing on the registers or just inside the ducts. Another sign is when you have a constant cough or respiratory irritation when you're in your home. You could have your home tested for mold, but if the water damage crew has already restored your home, inspecting the ducts might be a quicker way to get to the source of the problem.
How Mold Is Removed From Air Ducts
When air ducts are cleaned, a vacuum and negative air system are used so that dust and mold are drawn out of the house. This is an important step, or the mold will be stirred up and spread through your home. The cleaning crew uses a brush and vacuum hose to scour the sides of the ducts and pull out the debris that's knocked loose. When all the mold and dust are out of the ducts, they are sanitized to kill the mold and any other contaminants that may be in the ducts.
Cleaning mold out of air ducts is a job for a professional cleaning crew with commercial equipment. Even if there is no mold and just dust, special equipment is necessary to keep the job from being messy and to prevent exposure to respiratory irritants. Cleaning the ducts may be the only way to eliminate the mildew odor that lingers after a water disaster in your home that led to mold and foul odors from stagnant water. Once the ducts are clean, be sure mold is removed from elsewhere in your home before using your HVAC or mold spores may get sucked back into the ducts again.
For more information, contact a company like Terry's Cleaning, Restoration & water damage today.