mold testing

FREE REPORT - the 12 common mold growers (and how to stop them)

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enNovember 07, 2019

10: Just Keep Going - Julie's Story (Part 2)

In this episode, we’ll continue with the second part our the interview with Julie Brahan, a homeowner who outlived the presence of mold in her household and the inconvenient consequences that this situation brought to her health. After 20 years of constant search, Julie finally found the key factor influencing her sickness inside her own house.

The battle against mold is never as simple as just getting rid of it, if you don’t receive the right help on time, you’ll end up running in circles and spending considerable amounts of money without solving any of the issues that you started with. Tune in and start collecting the key pieces for your own puzzle so you can start your journey back to a healthy home.

Key points discussed:

Julie goes for her second remediation (01:54)
The key features in a substantial remediation service (02:53)
The impact of remediation in Julie’s basement (05:32)
Moving forward after a basement’s sanitation, making sure your home is safe (07:40)
Letting go all of our preconceived ideas about mold growth (09:16)
Taking all precautions to maintain our air clean (13:18)

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FREE REPORT - the 12 common mold growers (and how to stop them)

You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

enOctober 31, 2019

09: Just Keep Going - Julie's Story (Part 1)

In today’s episode, we will be listening to Julie’s testimony about how she dealt with 20 years of health issues caused by air pollution inside her home, the various processes she had to face along the way and how she finally made the connection between water damage and her health condition.

When something is threatening our well being, finding out the real cause behind those issues becomes a timed race that, not always ends up giving us the answers we need. That’s basically what happened to Julie, a former client who has an amazing story about mold inspections and the consequences of mold appearance in our homes. Tune in and discover what made her realized just how important it is to follow your gut in these situations.

Keynotes discussed:

The story of how Julie met Dean (02:49)
Julie’s health journey: the background story behind Jullie’s mold issues (04:14)
The importance of stepping out of the bare minimum effort in remediation (07:58)
Connecting all the dots: the relation between water damage and Julie’s health issues (09:01)
Going for a second round of remediations (11:14)
Following your gut instinct during the inspection process (16:43)

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FREE REPORT - the 12 common mold growers (and how to stop them)

You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

enOctober 24, 2019

08: The Top 2 Ways To Grow Mold In Your Home

There are so many factors we still ignore about the incidence of mold on air pollution that, most people have simply normalized the presence of respiratory diseases in their lives when, in fact, there are plenty actions we can take to recognize and prevent all the damages that mold can cause in our houses and in our health.

Tune in and let’s study all the basic knowledge there is to know about mold, mold inspection and how this particular problem could be solved from prevention.

Key Points Discussed

All about: water activity levels and their role in the mold growth (03:12)
Understanding the similarities between grass seeds and mold spores (04:43)
What does mold feed on? (07:15)
Learn to recognize these commonly mistaken areas of mold growth (08:05)
The problems with modern basements systems in mold management (10:27)
The importance of acknowledging the real magnitude of waterscapes before mold inspections (25:05)

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FREE REPORT - the 12 common mold growers (and how to stop them)

You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

enOctober 17, 2019

07: Water Damage - It's Not What You Think...

In this episode, we are going to study the most common misconceptions of water damage. Why are some of these damages are so difficult to address when we ask for help and how do we evaluate the real impact of water damages in our spaces?

To really understand the possible effects of the presence of water within our buildings, first, we have to understand water itself and for that, I have brought to the table some of the most reliable definitions written about this vital resource, for you to start recognizing its incredible force and power and never underestimate its reach again.

Tune in and join me through this exceptional road of teachings, that will lead you to the point of conscience that you need to start improving the environment where you and your family live in.

Key points discussed:

The most common misconceptions of water damage (01:06)
Water: how it was conceived then, how we understand it now (04:57)
The three areas of convenience for running water in your building (12:30)
The top 23 major categories that could be responsible for your water damage (15:23)
Water and concrete: a dangerous love affair (19:32)
The basics concepts of water damage: Relative Humidity (24:12)

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https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/water

The Merriam Webster’s Definition of Water:

FREE REPORT - the 12 common mold growers (and how to stop them)

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If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

enOctober 10, 2019

06: 1919 Vs. 2019 - Why Is Mold Such A Problem Today?

In today's episode, I’ll take you through one of our most infamous passages of history to discover two transcendental incidents that have impacted our society in terms of safety measures and city planning, the Chicago Fire and the Peshtigo Fire, what went wrong and how are we failing in preventing a new event?

How is our society advancing regarding building plans? Are they advancing at all? Get to know the modern and yet equally harmful materials and methods that are making the air we breathe indoors even more toxic than you think.

Key Takeaways:

The Peshtigo Fire, a painful case of poor city planning hidden in history (5:17)
The threat of living in a remodelled/refurbished house and the problem with the modern build planning (6:44)
New materials, new risks, the rise of health issues due to modern construction methods (12:03)
Why are you constantly getting sick when you into your house? (15:02)
Understanding the real notion of your exposure to mold in daily life (16:45)
The prognostics of the real mold impacts in our future (20:09)
InstaScope versus traditional sampling (29:45)

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FREE REPORT - the 12 common mold growers (and how to stop them)

You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

enOctober 03, 2019

05: Air Tells About Your Home Like Blood Tells About Your Body

In this episode, we feature an interview with Matt Coghill, President of DetectionTek, a company based in Boulder, Colorado. They are the manufacturers of InstaScope instant microscope.

He’s going to talk about the finer points of getting to know about the air in our buildings, and how it all pans out when it comes to our health and that of our children. He’s also going to tell us about the stark reality of traditional sampling methods being woefully inadequate.

Matt believes that knowing what's in the air that you breathe should be a basic consumer right; a product that provides this info should be one that people can get; it shouldn't be the privilege of the rich or the sick. Stay tuned as we clear the air on a number of related issues.

Key Points Discussed

My quest for something handy with which I could find the mold (5:39)
Why do we care about the air? (7:57)
A disconnect between your gut feeling and traditional air sampling (13:25)
What do you do to resolve suspicion? You provide information (18:44)
If it's growing, it's because there's water there somewhere (25:09)
InstaScope versus traditional sampling (29:45)

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Additional Resources:

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FREE REPORT - the 12 common mold growers (and how to stop them)

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enSeptember 26, 2019

04: How Do I Know If I Have Mold In My Home - Professional Assessment

“How do I know if I have mold in my home today?”

In our continuing answer to that question, we're going to talk about the professionals... You've gone through your home, looked for some of the signs we talked about a little bit earlier and you just can't seem to locate what your gut says is going on.

So what do you do?

Well, you start looking for a professional, and I'm going to go through a list of the possible professionals that you could find or that you might run across. Some may be more qualified than others and you may be surprised how that plays out.

Forewarned is forearmed, so stay tuned.

Key Takeaways:

Industrial hygienists often don't understand water intrusion & mold issues (2:26)
There are many excellent inspectors certified through the ACAC (5:22)
Certifications in the restoration industry (5:42)
I am a member of the Indoor Air Quality Association (8:10)
Building biologists have intuitive ways to find problems and propose fixes (9:41)
Have they dealt with these issues in their home? Are they cutting edge? (14:13)

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Additional Resources:

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FREE REPORT - the 12 common mold growers (and how to stop them)

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You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

enSeptember 20, 2019

03: How Do I Know If I Have Mold In My Home - DIY Solutions

In this episode, I am going to give you a bird’s eye view of the solutions when you find there’s a problem - you find there’s mold in your home. We'll be going through the principles, concepts, and cutting edge techniques that are available today.

We’ll share all this info with you so that you can be as smart as you can to be the hero of your own story. And as always, we want to elevate and not devastate, so stay tuned.

Key Takeaways:

Recording water & storm damage, flooding and water spills history (10:30)
Making sure that no rain or snow is stuck in the landscaping (11:32)
Doing an interior check to find water stains that are signs of water leaks (14:39)
As for sampling, using sterile materials is important (23:38)
You can buy those little petri dishes available and follow label directions (27:09)
Consumers can access resources and tools available for professionals (39:59)

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FREE REPORT - the 12 common mold growers (and how to stop them)

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You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

enSeptember 19, 2019

02: How Do I Know If I Have Mold In My Home - Identifying The Problem

In this episode, we are going to deal with one of the primary questions that we are continually asked - How do I find mold in my own house? I'm going to walk through some of these things that are pretty important for us to understand.

We have to ask, why is the mold there in the first place? Where is the mold? How did it get there?

We want to guide you with info gained over the last seven-eight years helping our clients solve their mold issues, so stay tuned.

Key Takeaways

In most homes we look at, mold is invisible, hiding. It is actually very small (4:17)
Flooding, weather-related, and plumbing issues can cause mold damage (8:07)
Basements have problems with high moisture and mold contamination (10:40)
Many crawl spaces having issues with excess moisture account for mold (10:37)
Building materials, cardboard, paper, cloth, carpet - all come in (16:31)
A look at measuring and sampling tools used (21:02)

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FREE REPORT - the 12 common mold growers (and how to stop them)

You can find the podcast on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

If you haven’t already, please rate and review the podcast on Apple Podcasts!

enSeptember 18, 2019

01: The Mahlstedt Mold Story

In this episode, I’ll take you on a journey with me to see how a young family become involved in the restoration and cleaning industry and ran into a huge set of hurdles, dealing with mold issues, Lyme disease and issues with their home.

In all of this, we aim to guide and help people who are going through the things our family had to go through. We want this to be the resource that we wish we had when we were dealing with all our health issues that resulted from mold in the home. We intend to elevate and not devastate, so stay tuned.

Key Points in the Story:

Partnering with friends into the cleaning industry and then buying a firm (2:44)
Learning that my wife had a tumor; I recovered from a terrible mishap (8:09)
95% of our business assets ruined in a fire; we sailed through all of that (10:37)
Mold damage issue in a house, Lyme disease and co-infections (16:53)
Selling off a business segment that was becoming unmanageable (27:30)
Switching over to safer, healthier and more efficient business practices (29:55)

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FREE REPORT - the 12 common mold growers (and how to stop them)