While the Badger loves to do things himself to save money, properly remediating and killing toxic mold requires a lot of expensive equipment and expertise that is best left to a professional. This article will cover the safety equipment, pitfalls, and best practices for proper black mold removal and remediation.

If the infected area is less than 3 feet by 3 feet, the EPA says a non-professional can handle it. Anything else, and you risk your health and contaminating other parts of your house.

After you’ve discovered and tested for mold, and the source of the moisture has been repaired, mold remediation involves the following steps:

1. Sealing the infected area off from the rest of the house
2. Wetting visible mold growth with a MOLD KILLING SOLUTION
3. Use a wet/dry HEPA vacuum to remove the bulk of visible growth
4. Remove and seal in bags, any material that can not be properly cleaned such as carpet and drywall
5. Ensure that all infected areas have been treated and allowed to dry
6. Put everything back together again: drywall, paint, etc.

Please refer to our section on Mold Removal for more specific instructions about which Mold Killing solution to use and exactly how to clean each room and material in your home or office.

During the black mold removal stage is the time when you are most at risk of disturbing the mold spores. This can not only cause a flare up of health symptoms, but can spread toxic mold to other areas of your house. Any contractor who is not concerned about containing the mold affected areas should be asked to leave, as they will likely to make the problem worse.

Plastic wrap and tape should be used to seal around all vents and doorways connecting the affected areas with the rest of the house. Dust is the main concern here, so consider using a HEPA vacuum such as a Shop Vac (found at Lowes and Home Depot) to suck up loose mold spores before you start removing the affected materials.

Especially used for larger cleanups, a negative pressure environment is essential to ensuring mold is not carried by air flow to other parts of your house. A professional is likely to have an expensive blower and duct work, but a fan blowing out a window can also do wonders for creating a negative pressure work environment by pulling air from the room and out of the house.

Negative pressure ensures that the air from the home is flowing into the mold infected area and then out of the home; rather than air flowing from the infected room into the house further spreading mold spores.

During the black mold remediation process, you need to be certain that you removed or disinfected anything that was contaminated with mold or you risk not solving the problem. Please read Mold Removal section on cleaning common household materials such walls, carpet, wood, and concrete.

The cost of black mold removal and remediation can be somewhat costly. This will include having specialists with expensive equipment come into your home, remove and rebuild a portion of your house, and then guarantee their work to ensure they will come and do it over again for free if the mold returns.

A better way to consider the cost is what is your health and that of your family worth? Getting mold fixed is generally less expensive the smaller the infestation, so taking action sooner rather than later will prevent it spreading and the cost increasing. Also, one day in a hospital room costs significantly more than the average remediation cost.

Talking dollars and cents, it can run from $2-4k for a small job to $10k plus if entire rooms need to be contained and sterilized, although that is rarely the case. This is where great mold remediation companies are worth their weight in gold: with proper MOLD TESTING, and their professional training and experience, you can do the bare minimum to solve the problem and get a guarantee on their work. Meanwhile, an untrained contractor might remove more than is necessary, miss an area, or worse, just cover it up and still not be held accountable.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) for black mold removal and remediation is:

• A Tyvek Suit
• Disposable gloves
• Dust Mask with Eye protection

Also used for black mold removal and remediation are:

• HEPA vacuum with wet/dry capabilities
• Spray bottle
• Brush and Rags
• Large trash bags
• MOLD KILLING PRODUCTS