There are few things more offensive than a foul smell that remains after a water damage fire or other catastrophe in the home. And there may be nothing worse than to have your home look beautiful after repairs have been completed, but still have the lingering odor of mildew, mold, or fire.
Odor Removal in Your Home or Business?
Restoration professionals have the expertise to greatly reduce the possibility of lingering odors. With the proper equipment, products, and procedures, a mold or fire mitigation professional evaluates every situation and proposes and then implements odor removal protocols to eliminate such problems. The professional knows when and how to use masking agents, pairing agents, electronic deodorizers, cleaners, disinfectants, and sealants. She or he will also know when demolition and removal is the best option. Most deodorization jobs will require a combination of procedures to be completely effective.
Water damage frequently causes a musty odor to remain in the home. Improper or incomplete drying of structural or content items is usually the cause. Appropriate drying of the damaged area by a qualified technician is critical. Water detection tools available to the professional help eliminate problems that might occur later on. In addition, daily monitoring and charting of the results during the restoration process further ensures that the structure and contents are completely dried.
However, an intermittent or constant musty smell almost always signals the presence of mold. There is a ten step mold remediation process that will eliminate the mold and the musty odor smell. Only when the cause of the smell, in this case, mold is completely removed will the smell dissipate.
Odors from fire damage tend to be more complicated. A fire restoration expert will determine a number of factors such as: the source of the contamination, the degree of heat involved, the time the materials were in the structure, the extent of the contamination, and the type of materials directly contaminated. The professional will form an action plan and then implement that plan to eliminate lingering odor problems.
ODOR CONTROL PROCEDURES
Deodorization can be a complex issue. A restoration expert knows the basics of odor removal. Odor can and should be attacked very simply. First, eliminate the source. Second, clean the contaminated area. And third, if necessary, seal or remove the source that was exposed to the contamination. Nature eventually deodorizes virtually all odors. Unfortunately, it can take a long time on its own. A restoration specialist, however, can greatly speed up the process with the proper equipment, training, and expertise.
Regardless of the circumstances - dealing with odors or other aspects of water damage, fire/smoke damage, or mold remediation call specialists. For all property damage situations, these professionals are standing by. They will mitigate the loss to prevent further damage and will then provide restoration services to return the property to a pre-loss condition as quickly as possible. All professional restoration offices have well-trained professional technicians who provide the latest state-of-the-science services to all property damaged from water, fire, smoke, mold, and other disasters.
Cleaning agents are always an important aspect of deodorization. The first and most essential step in any deodorizing situation is to remove the source, which usually involves cleaning. Unfortunately, this is often ignored or minimized by non-professionals. Cleaning sometimes requires aggressive steps to remove the source of the odors. For example, the heat from a fire causes pores in certain materials to enlarge, allowing contaminants to enter the microscopic openings. Then, once cooled, the pores close trapping the contaminant. This holds in the odor and causes problems if not treated properly. The restoration professional, with appropriate training, can detect such problems and perform the correct cleaning procedures.
Where there is fire and heat, there is also pressurization. Increased pressure can force odor molecules into hidden or inaccessible areas, such as behind cabinets, behind baseboards, into walls through switch and socket covers, etc. Sometimes conditions need to be re-created for complete deodorization to take place. By increasing the vapor pressure of the deodorant, it will penetrate into hidden and inaccessible areas the same way the odor molecule traveled. Completely eliminating odors may require the application of a heavily pigmented sealer to semi-porous building materials (such as wallboard, framing, sub-floor, etc.) in fire and mold. This will permanently seal the remaining odor in the material. In other cases, removing the affected material through demolition is the best option.
Masking agents or fragrances are often be a part of every deodorization process. However, care must be taken when using masking agents because they are sometimes offensive to individuals.
Pairing agents, on the other hand, tend to be odor modifiers. One such deodorizing method is to emit a dry vapor into the atmosphere that absorbs the odor molecule and neutralizes the offensive odor.
Ozone is also an odor modifier. It is often called the only true deodorizer because it physically changes the chemical composition of the odor molecule. Ozone works well on a broad range of offensive odors, but its effectiveness depends on the length of time used. It sometimes takes days for it to work well. Whenever ozone is used, caution is warranted. People, pets, and plants should be evacuated during its use. Natural rubber components should be removed or protected.
Also frequently used are hydroxyl machines that have the same impact as ozone but are green and have less problematic impact. Hydroxyls (OH) are safe, naturally occurring molecules that are created in our atmosphere when the sun's ultraviolet rays react with water vapor. This Hydroxyl generating system is a newer green technology and is an advanced solution for eliminating odors, decontaminating surfaces and purifying the air. It is safer technology than Ozone and will not cause damage to people, pets, or plants
A restoration professional knows when to use these procedures and how to use them safely.
SUMMARY: As you begin to learn about the dangers and prevention pertaining to Fire, Water and Mold damage in your home or business, you will better understand what steps to take to protect your family, employees, pets, personal belongings, business records, equipment, building structure, landscaping and surrounding areas. More importantly, in addition to knowing what steps you can take to aide in prevention, many of these same techniques will help you to mitigate risks in case of an emergency related to fire, water or mold damages should they happen to you. As stated earlier in this series, the more you know about the dangers of Fire, Water and Mold, the better prepared you will be when disaster strikes and in addition to mitigating risks, you may one day help save the life of someone you love as well as yourself, because disaster can strike anyone, anywhere at any time and it is up to you to gain the knowledge to protect your family, home and business and know when to call the professionals who can only respond after the emergency strikes.
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Mary O'Hara holds a Masters of Public Health and has numerous certifications in mold remediation, fire restoration, lead remediation, and fire damage restoration. She spent 25 years as a health care executive with leading health care organizations in Minneapolis, Seattle, St Louis, and Tampa. She started her first health care related business in 2005 in Florida and is a senior partner in a Disaster Restoration Business serving Florida. In 2010, Mary added a mold assessor course and certification to assist with scientific enquiry of residential and commercial building problems.
For more information on Mold testing and/or remediation Services please visit or call: http://www.tampabaymoldremoval.com info@tampabaymoldremoval.com Call: (855) 2RID MOLD (274-3665)