This Isla Vista client called saying that after every rain, the facilities manager responsible for their apartment would come and put towels down near the wall, informing them that it “always leaked when it rained.” This led our client to worry about possible mold problems. They had been in the unit for two years and consistently suffered from brain fog, headaches, and allergies – all common symptoms of mold sickness.
We performed air-spore mold-trap testing throughout their apartment. We found high levels of mold (2,493 spores / m3) in the main bedroom, elevated levels elsewhere (427 / m3, especially of Aspergillus/Penicillium), and a substantial number of hypha fragments throughout, which indicate active mold.
The tenant passed our information to their landlord, who was prompt to call and book us for a visual inspection that included moisture meter readings to help determine the source of the water intrusion. We discovered grading problems along the building’s wall where this apartment was. This grading caused water to pool up against the wall, saturate the building components and cause moisture to wick inside the wall’s cavity framing, a phenomenon called “rising damp.”
The landlord was very responsive and put the tenants in a hotel while we restored their space. We moved our client’s belongings to a POD, removed the drywall (2′ around all affected areas), and dehumidified the environment. We advised the landlord to fix the grading issue so the problem would not reoccur.
Following our repairs and moving the clients’ belongings back into the home, we treated the apartment with our dry-vapor mold remediation process. Our post-treatment mold testing returned with results boasting ZERO culturable mold spores!
For the pre-treatment testing report, click here.
For the post-treatment testing report, click here.
