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Mold Remediation Process

What Does Mold Remediation or Abatement Look Like?

We decided that it would be helpful to provide some actual footage of some of the mould abatement work as it is in progress. 

Stage One:  Planning 

The preliminary work has already been accomplished:

  • A visual assessment by Super Bee has been completed in order to give the home owner a sense of what is required to remediate the mould problem.
  • Upon our recommendation an independent IEP (Indoor Environmental Professional) is brought in to "perform an 'assessment of the fungal ecology of structures, systems, and contents at the job site, create a sampling strategy, sample the indoor environment, submit to an appropriate laboratory or individual, interpret laboratory data, determine Condition 1,2 and 3, and verify the return of the fungal ecology to condition 1".  (ANSI/IICRC S520-2008, page 59).
  • A Mould Abatement Plan has been developed and made available to the owner and IEP.
  • A Preliminary Hazard Assessment, Elimination and Control Plan has been developed and kept on site.
  • An Emergency and Evacuation Plan has been developed and kept on site. 

 

 

 

 

Stage Two:  Containment

  •  We established a containment of the contaminated area to ensure that the mould does not affect other non-affected areas. This requires a great deal of time sealing off the entrance points with poly and tape in order to create a sealed chamber within which to work. 
  • All that we do in our abatement takes into consideration the employment of engineering controls to lessen the risk to residents and workers. 
  •  Part of preparation to enter the contaminated area is to put on the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment.  The use of a PAPR (Powered Air Purifying Respirator) is preferred because it offers very high protection values. 
  • We double suit with Tyvek and tape it at the cuffs and pant legs.  Rubber gloves are used and in heavy work where tearing might occur, we also place a heavy glove over the lighter rubber gloves.

 

 

 

 

One of the engineering controls that we have implemented recently is by adding the Omniguard 4 to our arsenal of equipment and instruments that we rely on. This instrument proves to be extremely useful because:

  • In mould remediation we ensure that no contaminants are flowing out into the surrounding zones with the creation and maintenance of negative air pressure.  
  • We utilize the Omniguard manometer which measures pressure differential 24/7 to monitor the air differentials on an ongoing basis through out the project. 
  • This instrument is equipped to activate an alarm when certain set pressures are reached and to notify the supervisor by phone link.

 

 

 

The Decontamination Chamber is the entrance point for personnel working on the mould project. 

  • This particular assembly has three separate parts, connected together with double sided tape and with triple cut flaps on the passage ways. 
  • This one was designed for use with asbestos abatement and thus has the capacity for shower installation to wash down the PPE in containment plus donning and doffing of PPE. 
  • In mould abatement, the use of the shower assembly isn't required so we just use unit for personal decontamination by HEPA vacuuming and wipe down of the PPE plus donning and doffing of PPE. 

 

 

 

 

Stage Three:  Cut Out Removal

 

Processes utilized to limit contamination:

  • We are using a Phoenix Guardian negative air machine (HEPA Air Scrubber) to create the negative air pressure and to remove particulate matter from the air.
  •  We strive to limit further cross contamination of the contents by covering them with poly while the cut out phase is going on.  
  • Part of our engineering control plan is to eliminate, as much as is within our capacity, the amount of particulate we have to contend with in the working area.  We do this by cutting the drywall with a utility knife in a controlled fashion while engaging a HEPA vacuum right on the cutting line so that the dust will be removed at the source. 
  • We only cut a section of the wall at a time and then HEPA vacuum the sector and the vapour barrier behind the drywall thoroughly. 
  • A complete vacuuming of the inside of the structure and a wipe down will take place later on, but we want to ensure that we are removing as much particulate as we can as we proceed.

 

 

 

More Engineering Controls Implemented:

  • The mould itself needs to be handled carefully.  Imagine the mould being like a dandelion with the seeds ready to depart in the wind.  If you blow on the dandelion, the seeds detach and catch the wind, depositing themselves in a large area.  The mould spores react in a similar fashion.  Air flow on the mould causes the mould to detach and it is then carried around to land and take seed. 
  • For engineering controls we covered the mould infected areas with 2 layers of 6 mil poly and tuck taped it to the wall.  We did this before the negative air machine was engaged so that the air movement created by the machine and by our movement inside the containment, wouldn't disrupt the contaminants. 
  • Before performing the cut outs, we removed the poly carefully and laid it on the cement.  Any dust which missed the vacuum fell onto the plastic where we vacuumed it up. 
  • The drywall screws were all removed with a power drill before we began the drywall removal.  This allowed for a gentler release of the drywall, thus less disruption of the contaminated areas. 
  • After completing the cut out of an entire wall, the plastic was wrapped up carefully and double bagged for disposal.  
  • When we removed the poly from some of the elevated areas, we tuck taped them directly over the mould before removal.  This minimized the particulate from dropping on us during removal. 

 

 

 

Mould which was originating on the inside of the walls in this project, had also begun to work on the back of the drywall as well.

 

 



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