One of the reasons mold remediation is expensive are the engineering controls: use of air scrubbers (also known as negative air machines), creating a negative air pressure inside the work area, containment, and so forth. These are what prevent mold from getting into the rest of your house during remediation. If the containment is set up the correct way you can live in your house while the work is being done. It might be noisy as air scrubbers have big, loud fan motors inside them.
Unfortunately, some mold remediators do not know how to set this equipment properly. Sometimes they run an air-scrubber in what’s called “re-circ” mode. This is as using it like a big air filter. Yes, an air-scrubber (also called a negative air machine) has a HEPA filter (High Efficiency Particulate Air filter, as officially defined by the U.S. Dept. of Energy)inside it. But intention of using an air scrubber (negative air machine) is not to filter air. Simply filtering the air is not going to remove mold growth or keep it from spreading.
Rather an air scrubber (negative air machine) is used to create a suction, a vacuum, inside the work area. The result is that it’s like having a big vacuum in the work area. When the machine is sized properly, the suction is so big that air from outside the work area is sucked into the work area. This prevents dust generated during remediation from escaping.
Here’s where things can go wrong. The air scrubber should be exhausted outside – not into another room in the house. The air scrubber must be exhausted outside. A negative air machine is just an acronym for what’s accomplished when an air scrubber is exhausted outside. You can’t turn a negative air machine on and get a negative air pressure unless it’s exhausted outside.
When an scrubber is exhausted outside, you’ve taken the first step to being on the right track and setting up containment properly. If containment is set up properly you could live in your house during mold remediation.
Do you want to? There are other factors to consider when deciding if you should move out during mold remediation, other things than can wrong during remediation. It’s helpful to have a conversation with the remediation company before they start. Discuss you concerns with them and make sure they are on-board to address them.
Other things to consider are:
What kind of chemical products will they be using? Are they planning on using an antimicrobial or treating the mold? They should not. Read why.
