Mold can be tricky to handle – sometimes it can be seen, other times it hinds in and around your pipes. What can someone do when this occurs? Call a professional mold removal service like GCD Restoration? Pour something around the pipes to kill the mold? In this text we’ll be discussing what appropriate actions to take to remove mold in or around your plumbing.
Best Course of Action When Mildew Around your Plumbing
There are many solutions to a problem like this. Some are short term others provide a more-long term solution, but are dangerous due to the chemicals that are necessary to carry them out. The best solution seems to be the one which prevents mold from growing behind the wall in the first place.
What Fungi Need to Grow on Your Pipes?
In order to prevent mold from growing, it’s good to understand what the circumstances under which this happens are. Most often mildew is associated with moisture and having some around the pipes is a good indication of two things:
- Leaky pipes
- Condensation due to temperature difference
So in dealing with mold one must also address the presence of moisture around the pipes. For this you’d need a professional plumber, who can provide you with a certified service. This not only gives you a peace of mind, but also acts as help with insurance in case there’s a problem with the plumbing job done on your property.
How to Deal with Leaky Pipes
Leaky pipes are quite often in buildings older than 60 years. The materials used back then tend to experience quite a lot of wear and tear and are prone to cracks, leaks and other malfunction.
A seismically active area such as the Greater Bay Area, also provides quite a lot of stress on plumbing. As buildings move due to the tremors of the tectonic plates, the frigid structure of plumbing may give way to the movement.
This opens the possibility of pipe leaks behind the wall which invites mold. The way to deal with that is to have a certified plumber deal with the leak, then sign GCD Restoration for full mildew removal.
As a certified company, we can provide the necessary treatment with further mold growth prevention treatments. However, the only true way to get rid of mold is to have its favorite environment removed – remove the water and you remove the mold.
How to Deal with Condensation
Condensation on pipes is most common during the winter, when the incoming water in a property is barely above freezing. The difference of the outside temperature of the pipe, and that of the inside, creates the perfect conditions for moisture trapping around the chilly pipes.
One solution is to have the water heated by a special water heater which brings the cold water temperature to a good standard. A cheaper way is to have the pipes insulated, even the ones inside the property.
This insulation creates a moisture barrier, preventing hot air touching the cold pipe. It further provides a bit more heat for the pipe itself.
The combined effort of insulated pipes and a water intake heater gives you the best results against moisture traps in behind the walls of your property. This solution completely eliminates the presence of condensation on your pipes.
Where Does Mold Come From?
Mold is all around us, most of it is harmless, some of it is not – it’s considered toxic mold and it can be quite dangerous. Mildew and fungi spores are miniscule and cannot be seen by the naked eye. They are very light and have evolved to travel great distances just by a single gust of wind, so confining them in one space may very difficult.
There can be as many as 15 types of mold and fungal spores in the air you are breathing 94% of which are normal, grow-on-your-apples mildew. So restricting it, confiding it or removing it from the air is quite impractical and would require industrial grade equipment operating 24/7.
There are air purification systems which utilizing ozone, which kills all bacteria and organic forms of matter which it catches. However, they have limited use and have not yet been utilized to their fullest potential.
Don’t Treat the Symptoms, Treat the Illness
In focusing on the spores you would be missing the bigger picture, which is – remove moisture from your property and you won’t have a mold problem. When it comes down to it – protected and well maintained pipes and plumbing are the key to solving your inside-walls mold problem.
GCD Restoration provides a full interior air quality test to verify if and what kinds of fungi spores are in your property’s air stream. Depending on the saturation and variety, we can recommend some solutions, which can involve property drying and full mildew removal from affected areas.
If you have suspicions regarding the safety of your property and want peace of mind – GCD Restoration is the company for you. Contact us at any time of the day, we are here for you 24/7.
