Mold Remediation
Healing & Thriving After Toxic Mold
Toxic mold is a subject I had heard about but never thought I’d have direct experience with — at least I certainly hoped not! However, in 2022 my husband and I discovered our home was hiding several species of molds that were causing our health to decline.
Although the process of finding mold, letting go of many belongings, cleaning and rebuilding the home is an arduous process, the blessings of finding it far outweigh the inconvenience. I won’t say it was easy, it wasn’t. It was a most stressful experience. What I’ll say is that we had more things than we needed. Letting go was a fulfilling process of fear, detachment, then acceptance — which led to immense gratitude.
I live in Florida and hear many people say, “there’s mold in every home”. When I hear that, I now realize how little people know about the different species of molds and their dangers. Each have a cost. As an example, Black mold should never be present inside your home. Never. Testing options available today are priceless. With hurricane damage so prevalent, this information has never been more necessary.
Below is a list of the Companies and items we used to get our home "clean" and our health back! I list the company, contact person if applicable, and what their role was in the process. I hope this is helpful.
Dehumidifier
Keeping humidity around 50% is ideal to not “feed” mold and a dehumidifier works wonders! This is the one we use so we can control where we place it and what setting to use:
Air Doctor Air Cleaner
Clean indoor air has many benefits and we love our Air Doctor!
Air Doctor AD5000 - https://amzn.to/40C7UCv
Air Doctor AD300 - https://amzn.to/42MDTSr
Step 1: Test to see if your body has Mycotoxins
Dr. Peter Osborne
https://www.drpeterosborne.com
There is a test called a Mycotoxin test that can identify if your body is excreting any toxic mold mycotoxins and which species are present. I got mine through my functional medicine doctor, Dr. Peter Osborne, founder of www.GlutenFreeSociety.org
Dr. Osborne guided me through each step of healing my body by recommending several functional lab tests and evaluating the findings to create a customized plan designed specifically for ME.
Rev. Jayme Westrom, M.Ed, RMT, RYT - Wellness Educator, QRA Practitioner
Jayme utilizes cutting edge technology with the ZYTO Scan! This scan indicated an extremely high toxic burden relating to mycotoxins. This is one quick, easy, and affordable way to learn what’s happening inside the body.
https://biofieldexpert.com/products/traveling-zyto-scanner?_pos=1&_sid=a0745532c&_ss=r
Quantum Reflex Analysis + Zyto
QRA ℠ is an effective and exciting way of communicating with your body and its specific needs – unlike any other healthcare technique on the planet. Quickly pinpoint your areas of nutritional deficiency, determine precise nutrients or formulas and the exact amounts needed to support optimal nutritional resonance for each specific organ or gland. The ultimate goal is to support your body’s best structure and function for optimal health and longevity. Click here to Learn more about how I can help you with QRA and Zyto Scans.
Step 2: Test to see if Mycotoxins are coming from House
Dr. Peter Osborne
https://www.drpeterosborne.com
There is a test called an ERMI that can identify if your home has any toxic mold mycotoxins in dust samples and which species are present. I got mine through my functional medicine doctor, Dr. Peter Osborne, founder of https://www.GlutenFreeSociety.org If you test positive for Mycotoxins AND the House ERMI shows species are present, then you know the home is the source. (other sources could be work, car)
ERMI Test (purchase directly)
https://www.mycometrics.com/ermi.html
The Dust Test (purchase directly) Modern alternative to the ERMI test.
Step 3: Identify Water & Mold in Home
CMA (Certified Mold Assessment)
https://certifiedmoldassessments.com
Al Rabin
CMA brought in equipment to locate water and/or mold inside the walls, ceiling, flooring, etc. They run tests on mold samples to identify the type and species so they can recommend remediation. Some molds can be professionally cleaned and some need to be removed entirely by taking out the walls, etc. Their test identifies what areas need to be addressed. The report they create is then used by the Remediation Company so they know what work needs to be done.
Step 4: Pause and Evaluate the Situation
Consider IF you should remain in your home based on the test results.
We moved out. We had several types of mold plus our health was suffering. No question - take care of your health and well-being!
We were able to wash most of our clothes using special products designed to kill mold spores. For laundry I used EC3 Laundry Additive (https://amzn.to/3Z3emC9) .
When we came back to dispose of items in the house, we wore Tyvek suits and N95 or Respirator Masks. We “let go of” all items in our home that could not be cleaned based on mold spores and mycotoxins present. For us, this meant discarding all paper, rugs, mattresses, padded items, sofas, particle board furniture, pictures, file cabinet contents, open packages of food, open spices, etc. Basically, the toxic molds we had could not be cleaned on paper or padding. Solid wood, glass and metal items could be cleaned. For this we used Benefect Decon 30 (https://amzn.to/3kv8IJX).
We also needed a HEPA vacuum so chose the best we could find, a Miele Complete Canister (https://amzn.to/3KAwBuh).
Step 5: Remediation
Lightning Restoration & Construction
Luis or John
Lightning took the CMA report and worked out a plan with us to uncover the areas identified by the tests, remove hazardous materials, and professionally coordin off each area of the house using special high performance air scrubbers, etc to avoid cross contamination. They cleaned what they could and removed what was necessary. It’s important to remove all mold!
TIES 360
Our AC ductwork got wet so it all needed to be replaced. TIES worked in conjunction with Lightning and replaced all ductwork during the remediation phase. They clean ductwork if possible also.
Step 6: Post Remediation Testing
CMA (Certified Mold Assessment)
https://certifiedmoldassessments.com
Al Rabin
CMA retests areas that have been remediated utilizing swab and air samples. Swab testing is essential at this stage to verify areas are free of mold. Post remediation testing could be the most valuable tool!
Unfortunately, we did not remove the shower in the master bathroom the first time around. After we moved back home health symptoms came crawling back. We retested the house and found out the shower was still a problem. The second go around with remediation a year later unveiled a crack in the shower pan that was feeding black mold hiding underneath it. That was not pretty!
As I said, swab and air samples together are priceless! (the first time around we used a different company and only performed air tests that did not catch the additional mold issue)
Step 7: Rebuild Home!
Renew Restoration
https://renewrestorationfl.com
Adam Grant
Renew put our house back together! They handled all aspects of rebuild including drywall, paint, reassembling if needed, plumbing, flooring, etc.
RESOURCE: Surviving Toxic Mold
https://survivingtoxicmold.com
This site is a valuable resource for all things mold.
Photos
Below are a few photos showing the tree that blew onto our home during Hurricane Ian, examples of testing for water/mold, the remediation process of removing contaminated areas, our belongings along the street ready for special pick up, the rebuilding of our great room, the rainbow outside by our pool that appeared after the remediation was complete, and the “after” pictures (including being back to sprouting)!
It was all worth it — I’ve never felt better in my home!
