How To Remove Mold From Wood? 5 (100%) 1 vote (100%)vote

Curious about how to remove mold from wood? Well if you are then you have probably just discovered that your home has mold in it. So now what do you do about it? You probably already know that mold is toxic so getting it out of your home quickly is essential.

What you may not know is that mold can cause materials such as wood to rot more quickly than they normally would. This means the structural integrity of your home could become compromised should the mold remain for too long. Obviously this is something you want to avoid, so taking prompt action is important.

You can’t ignore the problem because it will not go away on it’s own. It will just keep getting worse over time. With the health of yourself and your family at risk, and more expensive damage to your home possible, the minute you find out you have mold you need to start planning out how to deal with the problem.

What Causes Molding On Wood?

Figuring out how to remove mold from wood is the first thing that will probably cross your mind once you discover that your home has mold in it. But how did that mold get there in the first place?

The mold that you found in your home actually comes from spores that are all around us. Mold spores are common and they lay dormant until they are exposed to sufficient moisture. The important thing to take away from this is the fact that there really isn’t a lot you can do to keep mold spores out of your home. No matter what type of air filtration system you have, and how thoroughly you clean, there will be mold spores around just waiting to activate and infest your home.

Keeping Moisture Out Of Your Home Is The Only Way To Prevent Mold While you can’t do a lot to keep mold spores out of your home, you can take steps to keep moisture out. This is the other key ingredient needed to allow mold to thrive. Typically speaking a mold problem arises in a home either after flooding, or after a long term low level leak has been discovered. In the event of flooding the advantage is that a homeowner will know right away that there is a problem and can work to resolve it. It only takes a few days of having water present for mold spores to become active, which gives a homeowner a short window of time where they can act to help prevent a mold problem. Unfortunately even when a professional mold inspection and removal company is used for flood cleanup and to remove mold from wood at your home, there’s still a good chance you will have some mold issues due to moisture being missed during the cleanup process. That just means you have to be vigilant, and if you really want to cover yourself you should strongly consider hiring a professional mold remediation company to inspect your home for problems. Take care of the amount of moisture in your home The other way that mold becomes a problem in a home is from a small amount of moisture manages to enter your home unnoticed for a long period of time. This is problematic because in the vast majority of these cases a homeowner has no idea that there is a problem. That means that there could potentially be mold in their home for a long period of time. While a flood causes a lot of damage to a home, it’s the small unnoticed leaks that often cause the most damaging mold problems. Whether it’s from a leaky roof or a leaky pipe, moisture left in your home for a long time will lead to a mold problem. Unfortunately by the time that most of these leaks are found there will be significant mold present that will likely require the efforts of a professional to remove mold from wood in an event of flooding. Start Out By Addressing The Underlying Problem That Is Allowing Water Into Your Home If you would like to know how to remove mold from wood the first step you need to take is to determine where the moisture that got into your home came from. This is the first problem you have to resolve first. If you have a leaking pipe or bad roof that is allowed water in you need to correct these issues first. After all what is the point in spending time and money to correct a problem when the underlying cause is still present? Whether you fix the leaking pipe or roof yourself, or hire a professional, make sure that the job is done right before you begin to attempt to address the mold problem. Top Tips On How To Remove Mold From Wood Without A Specialist As far as trying to clean up the mold problem yourself goes, whether or not this is a wise decision depends upon the situation. The reality is that in most cases hiring a professional company to remove mold from wood furniture at your home for you is well worth it. Will it cost you more money that trying to handle the cleanup yourself? It will, but that extra cost is really insignificant when you think about how much damage mold can do if it is allowed to remain in your home furniture. It’s possible to remove all of the mold yourself, but if at any point during the cleanup you doubt that you are getting all of it, or feel you are in over your head, then it’s time to call in the professionals. Do a very thorough inspection The first step in removing the mold from the wood in your home is to do a very thorough inspection. You need to determine the extent of the problem before you start to attempt the clean up process. If during the inspection you determine that the mold problem is much larger than you thought is was you can always call in a professional for help. If you aren’t sure that you found all the mold you can also call for help. The point here is that you have to be sure you get all of the mold cleaned out. If you don’t get all of it all you are doing is delaying the problem since any mold you miss will grow and spread.

Keep Yourself Protected When You Are Going To Be Cleaning Up Black Mold

It’s also important to keep in mind that black mold is toxic and you don’t want to touch it more than you have to, and you certainly do not want to breathe it in. So make sure that before you start the inspection or cleaning process that you have the right protective equipment. This means rubber gloves as well as a breathing mask to keep yourself from accidentally inhaling the spores. Once you have the right protective clothing and have completed an inspection you are now ready to get down to the hard part and start cleaning out the mold.

Products For Mold Cleaning On Wood

It’s going to take a lot of hard work, but it’s also going to take the right types of cleaning products to get the job done the right way. There are two ways you can approach this process. You can either make your own cleaning solutions, or you can buy a product that was created to work as a mold removing cleanser. The following are a list of options you have when it comes to mold removing cleansers. Please note that there are separate options listed for finished wood and unfinished wood.

For Finished Wood

1. Baking soda solution consisting of 1/2 cup of baking soda, 1 cup of water, and 1 tablespoon of mild dish detergent.

2. Distilled vinegar.

3. Bleach solution consisting of 1 part bleach to 16 parts water.

4. Mixture of dish or laundry detergent and water.

5. A commercial cleaning product. If you do decide to buy a commercial cleaning product, make sure that you do a little research so you can ensure you buy a product that is both safe and effective.

For Unfinished Wood

1. A commercial mold removal product, please use the same guidelines listed above when choosing the right one.

2. Rubbing or denatured alcohol.

3. A bleach and detergent solution with a ratio of 1 part bleach to 2 parts water.

One thing you have to keep in mind is that while some of these cleaning solutions and cleaning products may work pretty well, they are not going to be as effective as any commercial grade cleaning solutions. Companies that specialize in mold remediation have tools, cleansers and equipment that the public does not have access to. It is the combination of training, experience, and these tools, equipment, and cleansers that allow a professional company to be so thorough when they are cleaning mold out of a house.

Two Types of Wood

Another important point you have to keep in mind is that you are going to have to learn the difference between wood that can be saved and wood that must be replaced. There are times that even a professional mold remediation company will tell you that some of the wood and other materials in your home are damaged beyond repair. If this happens then those materials are going to have to be replaced.

This is another example of a time when calling a professional would definitely be in your best interest. On the other hand if you have experience working as a carpenter or doing other such work around the house then you may be able to handle the material repair and replacement yourself. Just remember not to let your pride get in the way and don’t attempt a job that you aren’t certain you can complete.

When Do You Need A Mold Cleaning Specialist?

1. If the extent of the molding is extensive then you are probably going to be better off calling in a professional mold remediation company. The definition of extensive is going to vary from person to person depending upon their experience and their willingness to get their hands dirty by taking care of the cleanup themselves. As a general rule of thumb if you think that the job is going to be too much for you then it probably will be. So when you are doing an assessment of the damage and extent of mold in your home be honest with yourself. If you don’t think you can handle the problem on your own then don’t hesitate to call in the professionals.

2. If you notice that there is a significant amount of wood, insulation, and other types of materials in your home that are wet and there is mold, then you should probably call in a professional. A mold remediation company can assess the damage and let you know what you can save and what do you need to replace. In many cases mold remediation companies offer rebuilding options as part of their services. Even if they don’t do any of the general contractor type of work to remove mold from wood, they can usually refer you to someone that can do it for you.

What To Look For In A Mold Remediation Company

If you’ve decided that your best option to handle the mold cleanup in your house is to hire a professional, then you’ve probably made the right decision. Keep in mind that to remove mood from wood is a lot of work for you. You will expose yourself to it during the cleaning process and it can make you very sick too. So now that you’ve decided to hire a professional company there are a few things you need to keep in mind. By looking for these qualities in a professional mold remediation company you can make sure that they will do the job right.

Only hire a real and experienced professional mold remediation company

This advice actually pertains to anybody that you hire to do any type of work around your home. If you allow a mold remediation company to work on your home, and they don’t have a license and insurance, then you are opening yourself up for a lot of potential headaches. Not only could they do a poor job, they could also damage your home. Оr even worse yet get hurt and sue you for their medical expenses.

Only hire a professional mold remediation company that has experience.

While every company has to start out somewhere you really don’t want to be the first client they ever help. So do yourself a favor and look for companies that have been doing this type of work for a few years at least. You should also do a quick online search of any company you are thinking about hiring to remove mold from wood in your home. This is to ensure you don’t end up hiring a company that has done a poor job in the past.