Fire damage in your home can be a very traumatic experience. It can also be a very confusing one. While it is the hope that a fire will never happen, if you experience one there are certain steps you can take to make the situation easier to manage.

Homeowners often believe that once the fire is extinguished there is little to be done until their insurance company has an adjuster onsite. This is not the case. What is a chaotic and traumatic time can be made more manageable by contacting a mitigation contractor who is IICRC certified in fire / smoke damage. A qualified firm can begin crucial procedures to restore your property. The IICRC is the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification. This is the group responsible for the standards by which restoration specialists are trained and certified.

Qualified mitigation contractors can aid in cleaning or removing fire damaged areas of the home, deodorization and neutralization of odors from smoke, and effective communication with the insurance adjuster assigned to the claim. What does this mean for you? A less stressful situation (despite the emotional impact you suffer) and a hassle free process of fire / smoke clean up and restoration of your home or business.

Typically, soft goods are the most susceptible to odors and must be handled by a qualified restorative textile specialist. All surfaces within the building should be thoroughly cleaned and deodorized. Some finished materials may be damaged beyond repair and must be removed. Soot must be addressed as soon as possible to minimize secondary damages such as surface corrosion. For example, tub and shower units can be permanently discolored if they are not cleaned as soon as possible.

Fire damage is devastating whether confined to an area or affecting the entire home. When the suppression is complete it is imperative to begin the process of mitigation as quickly as possible.

While the experience of fire damage is not one that is easily faded from memory, it is one that can be made more manageable by choosing an IICRC firm with fire / smoke certified technicians.

Written By:  Heather Ricker, Project Manager Octagon Restoration

For any fire / smoke damage and removal questions, please post on our Facebook page and we will try to help!

Proper water damage mitigation and clean up is essential to save your home or business after flooding, ice dams, or burst pipes.  In each of these cases the damage can be extensive and can include damaged drywall, insulation, wet hardwood floors, wet ceilings, wet carpets, etc. It is critical to act quickly when water damage situations arise to preserve and protect your property from mold and other secondary damage. In fact your insurance policy requires you as the property owner to act quickly to mitigate the loss.

Let’s explore some of the most common water damage situations we run into and discuss the differences in procedures:

Water Damage from Burst Pipes

Water Damage from Ice Dams

Most Common Water Damage in Maine:  Water Damage from Ground Water Intrusion

Crawl Space Venting Often Causes Condensation, Mold Growth, Poor Indoor Air Quality and Higher Energy Bills.

Venting on a Hot Summer Day

When we say relative humidity we mean how full of water the air is relative to the maximum amount of water it can hold at a certain temperature. Think of what happens when you take a soda can out of a refrigerator on a warm summer day. Water droplets form on the exterior of the can and the can "sweats."  This is because you have reached dew point on the cans surface.

When you allow warm moist air into a cool damp or moderately damp crawlspace through vents you are overwhelming the crawlspace air with excess water vapor. You will eventually reach dew which causes water droplets to form on pipes, concrete, framing, wiring, etc.  The eventual result will usually mean severe water damage, mold damage and dangerous mold growth in the crawlspace.

The source of the cooling air in the crawl space is the earth, and the source of the warm air coming in is the crawl space vents or doors, so the surfaces in your crawl space are always colder than the air in a crawl space.

Now, on a summer day, there is condensation and the crawl space walls get wet, the dirt surface of the floor gets wet, the air ducts get wet - especially if we have the air conditioning on because the ducts are cold – and the cold water pipes get wet. These surfaces are the coldest. Our floor joists, girders, sill plates and insulation all get wet as well.  And as the insulation gets wet, it often develops mold on the paper backing and eventually falls down to the crawl space floor.

High humidity in a crawl space causes any porous materials to soak up water vapor from the air. There is a direct link between the relative humidity and wood moisture content. Wood in a damp environment will become damp too – and damp wood will also support mold growth.

All of these wet surfaces in a crawl space will eventually have to dry too at some point. So say you have the hot summer days that cause condensation in the crawl space, then you have four or five days that are cooler and mild. Is the problem over? Not a chance. After the hot days we are left with an area with multiple wet saturated surfaces. They dry into the crawl space air over the next weeks and months, and meanwhile, mold and wood destroying fungi are taking over your house.

Venting on a Spring or Fall Day

If a day is 72 degrees outside and it is humid out such as 80%, then allowing this air into a crawl space will also cause condensation. 80% relative humidity (RH) air cooled ten degrees increases its RH by 22%, which added to the 80% RH is over 100%.  This means condensation in the crawl space. Is this an extremely hot day? Absolutely not, it's a typical room-temperature day, yet we are left with a wet crawl space. Any time humidity levels exceed 60% there is a significant risk of mold activity occurring.

Venting on a Cool or Winter Day

If the RH of air goes up when we cool it, it goes down when we heat it. If a crawl space is vented in the winter and 35 degree air is mixed with 60% RH and air is warmed in a 62 degree crawl space, the RH goes to 3%. With this dry air we can begin to dry our crawl space. The dry cold air mixes with the crawl space air and cools the crawl space.  As a result we have water evaporating from the earth into the crawl space air so we never actually achieve 3% RH in our crawl space, but materials dry out and there is no condensation. The new problem now is cold floors, cold drafts, freezing pipes and increased energy costs.

 
Exposed earth contributes a lot of water vapor into the crawl space air. The earth is damp, and as that damp soil releases moisture into the air, the water vapor moves upward into the house. In most climates where there are dirt crawl spaces, you can never dry the earth and this invisible stream of water vapor from the exposed soils in a crawl space goes on indefinitely. In fact, water itself does very little to destroy a home with a dirt crawl space. The water seldom - if ever - touches any of the parts of a house that gets ruined, like floor joists, sub floor, and sill plates. It's the water vapor, also known as relative humidity (RH), that causes mold and destroys the house.

 
The solution?  In our experience a permanent vapor barrier sealed at the seams combined with an adequate dehumidifier system set to a humidistat is the best approach to prevent moisture from taking over your home. It is usually best to close all vents and air seal the perimeter around rim joist and sills. Also make sure the area is free of leaking pipes and if needed have a working sump pump in low areas. It is also wise to improve exterior drainage and to install gutters to drive water away from the structure.

To learn more check out this article from www.advancedenergy.org:  To Vent or Not to Vent

Do you have a question about your crawl space ventilation?  Like us on Facebook and post your question to our wall to get a response.

Getting rid of attic mold is crucial to protecting your home’s value and to protecting the health and safety of your family. At the same time, your home’s ventilation systems must be updated or improved to keep moisture out and away from your home. This is essential to prevent recurring attic mold issues.

Proper attic ventilation is critical to maintaining even attic temperatures throughout the entire year. In the summer, proper ventilation removes excess heat. In the winter, it prevents the buildup of excess moisture/heat and accumulation of water condensation.

Unless there is an actual leak in the roof, it is during the late Fall, Winter, and early Spring that moisture - which can lead to attic mold growth - tends to occur. During cold weather, warm air and moisture from the house can escape to the cold attic area. When the warm moist air meets the cold surface of the roof sheathing, it can create frost and water damage that will eventually lead to mold growth and expensive mold removal and remediation. This damp environment creates the perfect conditions for wood rot and attic mold which over time will degrade the roof sheathing.

A common ventilation mistake is the combined use of different ventilation systems. Incoming air enters the attic through soffit vents, which are installed in the roof’s overhang. Exhaust air ventilation takes several different forms:  Gable vents, ridge vents, and sometimes power vents. Mixing different types of ventilation systems can cause problems. For example, using a ridge vent and a gable vent together can cause a ridge vent to draw in moisture-laden air from the outside. When this happens, it can cause a damaging cycle of attic moisture accumulation and can confuse air flow.

There is a significant risk posed by bathroom fans that vent directly into the attic or soffit areas rather than to the outside of the home. In many cases, moisture from bathroom fans is the primary source of attic mold damage.

It is important to have a proper, balanced, ventilation system using equal amounts of incoming air and outgoing air. For bathroom vent fans it is important to use insulated ducting and to insulate around the vent pipe exiting the fan to prevent moisture from condensing inside of the pipe. If moisture condenses inside the pipe it can eventually lead to costly water damage.

In many cases there will be some level of moisture that accumulates in an attic space. This is due to extreme temperature differences between your home and the environment outside. If attic mold is suspected, give us a call to remove mold in your home. We can clean/treat the attic area and remove mold with a system designed to prevent future growth. Each situation is different, but dry ice blasting followed by aggressive cleaning is a preferred approach in many cases to remove mold growth and staining. Mold releases powerful enzymes that can decay and destroy wood framing. Mold contaminants can cause a wide range of potential health problems to your homes occupants, so don't take any chances.

Download this free Mold Guide from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to learn about mold clean up and answer these important questions: 

• Why is mold growing in my home?
• Can mold cause health problems?
• How do I get rid of mold?