Monthly Archives: July 2018

Mold Can Destroy Building Materials Making Properties Uninhabitable

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Mold Can Destroy Building Materials

Mold Can Destroy Building Materials

Do you worry that excessive mold is contaminating your health, your family members’ quality of life, even your property’s livability? Moisture permeating the air or leaks soaking into your building’s materials carries with it the threat of mold growth. What can you do to stop this from happening? Our NYC mold remediation crew can help you determine what to do next to prevent mold from damaging all you hold dear.

Putting Mold at the Stern

At Stern Mold, our NYC mold remediation experts help your property steer clear of the threat of immoderate mold growth. Below are some of the steps you can take to keep mold from destroying your personal property.

– Stop the moisture from penetrating your space. Utilize exhaust fans in areas that generate the most water vapor. Bathrooms, kitchens even laundry areas can produce mold-producing conditions.

– Test the amount of humidity in your home. Hygrometers determine the relative amount of humidity in the tested area. A rule of thumb is to keep your relative humidity below 60 percent.

– Study your surroundings. Look for moisture under sinks, note dark spots on walls, and feel for damp areas along the floor. Broken pipes, basement areas, and rooflines are susceptible to leaking. Check these areas periodically to keep on top of the mold!

– Sniff around. How does your building smell? Overpowering musty scents are a sign that mold growth is already occurring.

Get Property Protection

You can keep mold from becoming a serious threat to your property. Ensure your environment is a safe and healthy one. It starts with you! Contact our NYC mold remediation team and get some valuable information to guard your investment!

Posted in Mold Identification, Mold Information, News

What is Aspergillosis – Is it Caused by Inhaling Mold Spores?

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What is Aspergillosis - Is it Caused by Inhaling Mold Spores?

What is Aspergillosis – Is it Caused by Inhaling Mold Spores?

Are you or someone you care about suffering from constant health problems? Could it be due to mold? Aspergillosis is a troubling infection triggered by exposure to mold spores. Sadly, it wreaks havoc on our most vulnerable. Across the nation, more than half of all residences and commercial buildings have some form of mold and damage due to water.

New York is particularly susceptible to the growth of mold. The high levels of humidity in the area make New York buildings the prime environment for mold growth. Investing in NYC mold remediation can safeguard against debilitating illness.

Who are the Most Vulnerable?

Aspergillosis affects those who are prone to infection due to a weakened immune system. Those who have undergone chemotherapy are particularly susceptible. If you’ve received an organ, have lung problems or other similar maladies, the threat of Aspergillosis is real. For households with people who have serious health problems already, it’s important to get schooled on the mold facts.

Check Your Symptom List

Mold (otherwise known as fungus) hides in obvious places. Ground spaces, dust particles, plants, rotting food, soil and materials in the walls, ceilings, floors are all known to contain mold. If you have experienced any of the symptoms below you may have contracted a type of Aspergillosis infection:

– Mucous/Blood Cough

– Chills

– Fever

– Wheezing

– Shock

– Chest Pain

Stay Strong and Stern

Our NYC mold remediation team at Stern Mold can keep the most vulnerable from the suffering mold illnesses every day. Do you know enough to safeguard your family against the unseen? Visit our informative website today! We’ll help you ask the right questions, so you can finally find a solution!

Posted in Mold & Your Health, Mold Identification, News

Could Mold be One Cause of Sick Building Syndrome?

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Could Mold be One Cause of Sick Building Syndrome?

Could Mold be One Cause of Sick Building Syndrome?

NYC mold remediation specialists get a lot of questions about mold and sick building syndrome (SBS). Is there a link?

A Controversial Diagnosis
SBS goes by many other names, including building-related illness and multiple chemical sensitivity. A controversial diagnosis, the role mold plays in the picture blossoms from two schools of thought:

– SBS doesn’t exist…
Symptoms are nonspecific with no proven cause or specific test for diagnosis, but believed to result from an unknown source inside a building (gases, bacteria, mold), leading to OSHA, EPA, and CDC intervention in which indoor air quality and work environment as related to the cause of workers’ illness must be investigated.

– SBS is a true disease…
Practitioners believing in the existence of this condition speculate causes could result from compounds within a building, including smoke, VOCs, radon, bacteria, and fungi, such as black mold, with reactions varying based on patient health/allergies/sensitivity.

Well-Known Health Consequences
Though SBS remains controversial, the deleterious health consequences of mold are not. Mold exposure is known to cause health issues, with the Institute of Medicine recognizing the link between indoor mold exposure and upper respiratory issues in otherwise healthy people.

Furthermore, the EPA recognizes building-related illnesses, using this terminology to identify health problems found in buildings where complaints of the negative health impact of buildings have been reported. They also recognize the need to identify the compounds in buildings that are at the root of the cause of complaints, including toxic gases, bacteria, mildew and mold.

Concerned that mold in your home or work environment is causing health issues? Contact the NYC mold remediation at Stern Mold for a free inspection today.

Posted in Mold & Your Health, News

Yikes – Mold Can Grow in Water and in Water Pipes

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portrait of caucasian plumber at work

Mold May Be Growing in Your Plumbing

NYC mold remediation specialists have seen all kinds of interesting things. Including mold in water pipes. Yes folks, lurking deep in the depths of your plumbing system, you may have a mold situation.

Could there be Mold in the Pipes at Your Home?

Mold needs 3 things to survive: Water, oxygen, and food. Luckily, most properly sealed and functioning water lines don’t have this grand trifecta. But some do. What puts your home’s water pipes at risk of mold infiltration?

How Mold Gets into Water Pipes

Those whose homes suffer mold issues often wonder why they were so unlucky, or what they did wrong. The truth is, mold is everywhere. Spores that are transported through the air can land in any location. And this includes improperly sealed pipes, such as a damaged or improperly sealed well cap. Once there, pending the right variables, your pipes could become contaminated by mold.

Factors that Encourage the Growth of Mold

Once inside your plumbing, mold can find a hospitable home in pipes with copious leaks, cracks, and air infiltration, which provide the oxygen necessary to survive. Some water sources themselves, including city water, are also high in oxygen. In homes with in-line filters and paper/cellulose filter cartridges, they find a copious food source, moving in to stay without careful treatment.

Ugh – There’s Mold in My Pipes – Now What?

To successfully clear mold from pipes, disinfection via shock chlorination or UV light may be necessary. The issues contributing to mold exposure, such as leaks/cracks, must also be addressed.

Unwanted visitor in your home? Kick mold out with the professional NYC mold remediation services of SternMold today.

Posted in Mold Identification, Mold Information, Mold Remediation, Mold Tips, Mold Treatment, News

Could the Gym You’re Using be the Source of Your Mold Sickness?

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Young People Spinning in the fitness gym

Could You Gym Have Mold?

Concerns about mold-related illness have you giving your office the side-eye? It may actually be your gym. Recent studies have shown gyms commonly experience unacknowledged mold problems. If your gym smells like sweat socks, it may be time to skip the workout and let your local fitness manager know it may be wise to schedule a free preliminary NYC mold remediation inspection.

Is Your Gym Harboring Mold?

Far more common than asbestos or lead, mold is a prevalent problem in NYC buildings. However gyms are especially susceptible, given their propensity to warm, moist air. Molds and fungi love moisture-rich environments. Swimming pools, saunas, showers, sweat, and the increased respiration of individuals exercising all contribute to an environment at the gym that’s far more humid than that of offices and homes. If your gym smells especially funky, trust your nose. Mold is probably present.

Signs of Mold Related Illness

The World Health Organization has found a strong correlation between mold exposure and health. Far more harmful than ingested mold toxins, inhaled mold toxins can cause serious health issues, including:

– Eye irritation

– Allergic reactions

– Asthma & upper respiratory issues

– Aspergillosis, allergic reaction and/or lung infection resulting from breathing in Apergillus spores, a common indoor/outdoor mold

– Hypersensitivity pneumonitis – inflammation of the lungs from mold allergen exposure that can lead to pulmonary fibrosis if untreated

– Digestive issues and weight gain (if ingested)

– Muscle pain and numbness

– Depression

Whether you’re sweating it out in your home or in the gym, ensure clean, healthful air with the professional NYC mold remediation services of Stern Mold today.

Posted in Mold & Your Health, Mold Information, Mold Remediation, News
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