Mold in your home

January 03 2015
mold

I once was told that the use of air conditioning in the UAE is like “trying to maintain a fridge in an oven”. This is especially true at this time of the year, the outside air is hot, humid and dusty. It is also this time of the year when Mold  in your home is a common issue.

One of the main side effects of poor air conditioning and ventilation is when moisture begins to condense on surfaces. The moisture, if left un-investigated leads to damage of ceilings and walls and will eventually lead to mold growth. 

Mold in your house

Wherever I go in the UAE, when I walk into a building there is an 80% chance that somewhere, on a corridor, a back of house area I will see mold growth. The picture above shows a case in a newer area of Dubai.

Mold or mould growth of any kind is a serious health and safety issue. I am not saying that as soon as you see mold you instantly get tuberculosis, but if a person is predisposed to respiratory illness (asthma, emphysema etc) it makes living in the environment hazardous. In terms of exposure to people without respiratory illness, one may start to develop symptoms related with sick building syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sick_building_syndrome).

So when you see mold what should you do? Well simply call us. We offer free advice and inspections to help remove mold and ensure that it does not occur again. In addition to this, we also provide remediation in line with NADACA ACR 2013  and IICRC S520.

What you should not do is:

Paint over the mold – it will only grow back. Also by painting it, the mold spores become airborne and can be transferred to other ares of the house and also will get inside your lungs

Rub it with bleach or Tee-tree oil – again it may kill the mold on the surface of the wall/ ceiling but it will only come back because the moisture source has not been treated.

If you are reading this and you are a facility manager and you have mold in your corridors, Envida provide a mold removal service as well as mold removal training for your maintenance teams. The first rule for any mold remediation service is the safety of the remediators and the occupants of the premises.

If you have any questions, please call us on 044219510