A Look At The Mold Removal Process When Your Home Has Water Damage From A Leaky Air Handler

If you've noticed a musty odor in your home recently, and it seems to be coming from around your air handler equipment, check your floor and wall for water damage. It's possible for condensation to back up and run on the floor near the air handler. If that goes on long enough, the floor, wall, and anything that gets wet could get moldy and have water damage. If the floor feels soggy or saggy, it's probably damaged and the mold might be hidden under the floor or behind a wall. The mold could also be highly visible, and that gives you an indication of how bad the problem is. In either case, call a mold removal company to handle the problem so mold spores don't spread around your home. Here are some mold removal steps they may take.

Find The Mold And Remove Disposable Materials

Depending on where your air handler is located, there may or may not be disposable materials such as drywall, flooring, and carpet that are wet and moldy. If your air handler is in the basement, the mold may be on the concrete floor and wall. If the air handler is upstairs, the mold removal contractor may need to cut out drywall and flooring so it can be thrown out. 

Before work begins, the contractor will probably set up a ventilation system and block off the area with plastic sheeting so the spores don't spread. Then they can cut out and double bag all materials that are to be thrown away.

Remove The Mold From Concrete

If the contractor is dealing with concrete, they may use mold-killing chemicals to kill the mold before scrubbing the walls and floor vigorously to get rid of the mold stains. If possible, they may use a power washer to rinse the mold off, too, as long as your basement isn't finished and it has a sump pump for drainage. They can leave the equipment outside and just bring the hose and nozzle indoors. After killing and cleaning the mold, the contractor might seal the concrete to keep mold from coming back.

Replace The Water-Damaged Floor And Wall

Once the mold is removed or sealed, the contractor can restore the water-damaged materials by putting down new flooring or new drywall. However, they may need to work with an HVAC contractor if the floor under the air handler needs to be replaced. The HVAC contractor may need to move the equipment temporarily. Plus, they'll need to fix the condensation problem so water doesn't leak on the new floor.


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