Category Archives: NYC Mold Removal

How Often Should Your Home or Business be Mold Tested?

It's Time to Get Stern with Your Mold!

It’s Time to Get Stern with Your Mold!

Mold frequently grows in hidden places, remaining undetected until you and your family start experiencing health problems. How often should your home or business undergo mold testing to ensure safety?

Why Seek Professional Mold Testing?

Professional NYC and NJ mold testing should be done once each year. Since moisture creates an ideal environment for mold growth, you may want to have a test done during periods of heavy rain or if your home or business has suffered a water leak.

Mold testing involves examining an air sample using dye and a microscope. This method allows experts to detect the presence of mold even when it’s not visible.

Not All Mold Is the Same

Different types of mold can require different types of treatment. Another benefit of professional NYC and NJ mold testing is the ability to determine specific species.

  • Aspergillus, one of the more common types of indoor mold, is green or black in color and frequently found on toilets or in air ducts.
  • Chaetomium has a powerful musty smell and generally appears on organic materials such as drywall and window frames.
  • Serpula lacrymans is yellow in color and sometimes referred to as “dry rot” because it consumes wood.

While mold infestations are not always visible, they do tend to develop in certain areas. Humid locations such as bathrooms, basements and air conditioners are frequent suspects.

Stern Mold: Your Source for Effective NYC and NJ Mold Remediation

Enjoy peace of mind that comes with a healthy home or business. Our professionally trained technicians can test for mold and remove it thoroughly with our eco-friendly MoldExterm process.

Contact us today to schedule your free mold inspection.

Learn About Mold: What Are The Signs of a Mold Related Illness?

Learn About Mold: What Are The Signs of a Mold Related Illness?

Learn About Mold: What Are The Signs of a Mold Related Illness?

You’ve heard all the news stories and reports about the health risk of exposure to mold. What you might be unclear about is how to recognize the signs of a mold-related illness.

Have you or a family member been experiencing any of these symptoms with seemingly no cause? It might be time to seek professional NYC mold removal for your home or business.

Physical Ailments

• Microscopic mold spores are ingested with every breath you take, so they can trigger upper respiratory allergic reactions even in people who have no history of allergies. Symptoms range from sneezing and runny nose to coughing and wheezing.

• Mold can aggravate existing respiratory problems such as asthma, while people with immune system deficiencies can develop lung infections.

• Some varieties of mold contain mycotoxins that can irritate your digestive system, resulting in nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pains and loss of appetite.

• Unexpected weight gain is a surprising side effect of mold exposure. Mycotoxins can disrupt the balance of leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite.

• If you experience that familiar tingling of your extremities “falling asleep” without obvious cause, it could be mycotoxins affecting sensory nerves.

Mental Symptoms

• Prolonged mold exposure can lead to the disturbing problem known as “brain fog,” involving cognitive difficulties such as memory loss and inability to focus.

Depression can be caused directly by mold exposure or indirectly by perceived lack of control over your environment.

Contact Stern Mold for Professional NYC Mold Removal

Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? Contact us today to schedule a free mold inspection by our helpful and experienced technicians.

Tips on Preparing for Your NYC Mold Inspection

Tips on Preparing for Your NYC Mold Inspection

Tips on Preparing for Your NYC Mold Inspection

If you suspect mold, there’s no harm in requesting a free NYC mold inspection to be certain. In the meantime, protect yourself by staying away from the mold and closing off those rooms, if possible.

Can I Clean Before My NYC Mold Inspection?

We can find mold even after you have wiped up the most visible spots. However, you should stop cleaning and wait for the professionals to arrive.

We ask that you stop cleaning for several reasons:

• DIY cleaning can actually kick up mold spores into the air, spreading the problem.

• It may not be safe for your respiratory health to clean mold yourself.

• Our mold inspector can find hidden mold, but it’s helpful for us to see the full state of the problem when we arrive.

What to Do with the Mold Problem Area

The best way to prepare a site for mold inspection? Leave it alone and seal it off. Mold thrives and spreads when it has moisture and airflow. Close air vents and seal doors and windows with plastic wrap to prevent further mold growth.

Also, try not to remove items from the infected areas. Objects likely have mold spores on them, so you don’t want to transfer them elsewhere in the building.

A Free NYC Mold Inspection—With Faster, Better Mold Treatment!

Stern Mold uses a more efficient method than traditional mold remediation. We don’t tear out walls, so you can avoid remodeling. We use a powerful polymer that contains silver, a natural antimicrobial. Then we seal surfaces with a barrier that prevents mold from growing back.

Get started now by requesting a free NYC mold inspection today!

Leaks in Library and Mold Found in Basement Cause Building Closure

Leaks in Library and Mold Found in Basement Cause Building Closure

Leaks in Library and Mold Found in Basement Cause Building Closure

Staying quiet at the library can be difficult when there’s a major leak problem and mold is growing throughout the building. That’s the case at two public libraries in Jackson, Mississippi, which are facing temporary closures.

The leaks had gotten so bad that staff members relied on dozens of buckets to collect dripping water throughout the library.

In addition to the daily hassle of emptying buckets, staff and visitors had to worry about health risks due to mold. Although the mold was primarily found in the basement, it had spread to the air ducts where it affected everyone in the building.

Children and the elderly are especially prone to mold-related respiratory problems, making a public library an unfortunate place to have an infestation.

Jackson officials tried to remedy the mold problem two years prior. They used standard mold remediation that merely kills the active mold but does not prevent a future outbreak.

If they had used MoldExterm, the two-part mold removal process we use at Stern Mold, the basement’s surfaces could have been sealed off to stop mold spores from reactivating ever again.

Prevent Disaster with NJ Mold Removal

Mold needs very little to grow. A water source such as a roof leak is all mold spores need to activate. That’s why it’s important to look for signs of mold and get a free inspection to be safe. It’s also why our NJ mold removal service finishes the job with a patented polymer seal to stop mold in its tracks, and without the need for ripping out building materials.

For more info on Stern Mold NJ mold removal services, please call or contact us today.

Learn About Mold: The Mold Life Cycle

Mold is Dangerous Be Prepared

Mold is Dangerous Be Prepared

The circle of life can be a beautiful thing, but not when it comes to mold colonies. The mold life cycle can be fascinating on a scientific level, but on the gut level, it’s just gross.

Understanding its life cycle helps shine light on why a scientifically-proven NYC mold removal service is necessary to break that cycle down.

The Life Cycle of Mold

Moisture, nutrients, and oxygen set the stage for the mold life cycle to begin. The cycle can be put on pause for years, then restarted when the spores find hospitable conditions again.

The first life stage of mold begins with a tiny filament called a hypha. Hyphae cells go unnoticed by the naked eye. They feed on wood, paper, food, or whatever organic matter they have found.

Matured hyphae then grow larger structures called mycelium, the hairy or fuzzy part of mold that you see. Mycelia extend into the air so their spores can easily spread.

Spores are the asexual reproductive parts of mold—essentially seeds that can grow new hyphae cells and start the process over again whenever the conditions are favorable.

Break the Cycle with NYC Mold Removal

Routine cleaning does not stop mold. If you spray a multi-purpose cleaner or even douse bleach on the mold spot, you might kill most of the mold but some hyphae and spores will remain.

That’s why our NYC mold removal process includes two steps: killing the fungus with an EPA-registered cleaning agent, then applying a polymer seal to create a lasting barrier.

Stern Mold’s NYC mold removal service is surprisingly affordable, fast, easy, and safe. Contact us today for a free mold inspection.

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