FAQs

Our system works on the premise of reducing your home's spore load. That is, once you have mold in your home, it spores out. It sends its spores around your home, into the air and building materials and increases the spore and mold load. Think of cooking bacon in the kitchen-can you smell it in the bedroom? Spores are small and invisible to the naked eye, and once they find moisture, they form new pockets of mold, sending out more spores (and mycotoxins). The spore load in your home now is as low as it is ever going to be- unless they are dealt with. Spores can last hundreds or thousands of years. Even if you have physically removed the fungal growth, you still need to eraidicate the spores.

This VaPure system was originally developed for hospital sterilization. Our patented technology creates very small particles from the sterilant liquid (7 microns) which can dwell in the air for an extended period of time as well as increase the sterilant’s vapor pressure. A perfect circumstance is created for oxidation of mold, bacteria, and other pathogens. For high level details on the chemical and physical processes used during treatment, please see this document.
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Before we can treat your building, we must make sure that everything is dry to some degree. This is because moisture protects mold from the vapor. Additionally, we must make sure that your house does not have reoccurring moisture or humidity issues. For example, if we get rid of the mold in your house, but you have an ongoing moisture intrusion from outside, or if you have a crawl space with no vapor barrier that is creating high humidity inside, our treatment will not be a permanent solution. Of course in any circumstance the mold and spore load in your house will be greatly reduced, but we want this to be the best, most economical option for you.

Because of the dryness of the fog, you do not have to remove any household items. However, as an added safety precaution we recommend taking expensive paintings down or covering them with a blanket or plastic. Brass and real silver might oxidize and tarnish. You can buff this out afterward, or you may wish to cover or remove those items. Although the products we use for treatment are FDA approved for food contact, we ask that people put food into a sealed container. Plan to be gone 8 hours for a typical house.

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The short: Once mold forms in a home, the spores are everywhere.
The longer: Advances in understanding the nature of mold and its mycotoxins has revealed how truly invasive and pervasive they can be. Within a minute of releasing a spore or mycotoxin, they can make their way to the opposite end of the home. When you cook bacon in the kitchen- can you smell it in the bedroom? Over the years the "spore load" in the home increases from various sources until it is significantly higher than outside levels and may contain toxigenic mold species not generally found outdoors. Previous water damage, high humidity, air conditioning, condensation, garbase disposals, small colonies here and there, all these sources add to the home's spore load. Until these spores are dealt with, they do not disappear on their own. Most people today spend 90% or more of their time indoors, so it is important to decrease your home's spore load. Brand new homes can have mold issues, although it is less common. Older homes, however, are very likely to have unhealthy levels of mold and spores. Additionally, a previous mold issue handled incorreclty can affect the air quality for years to come.

Traditional mold remediation companies look for a source of visible mold or moisture in your home or building so that they can do demolition. In a lot of cases they may not find any visible mold, especially if the water source that caused it has dried up or it has been covered over by remodeling. This does not mean that you do not have mold spores embedded into the building and in the air, and mold tests often confirm this. In many cases building occupants still feel ill from mold exposure even after remediation, because they aren't treating the whole home .If the mold remediation company does happen to find mold in an area, here is the method they use to remove it:

       1. They tape off that specific area with plastic, creating “containment.”
       2. They use a combination of demolition, vacuuming, wiping, and air scrubbing to try and physically remove the visible mold and spores in that one contained area.
       3. They run an “air scrubber” in that contained area for 72 hours
      4. They test the air ONLY within that contained area.
      5. As an add on, they can vacuum and wipe the rest of the surfaces of your house, to try and physically remove spores. Never mind possessions.

The problem with this method is that once mold has formed in a building, the spores do not simply go away on their own. They float in your air and land on surfaces, just waiting for a source of moisture (however small) to “bloom,” such as inside a human body. The VaPure process treats and tests your entire home or building as a whole, ensuring increased health and safety for its occupants. We are so confident in our process that we give you a 5 year warranty on our remediation services.

Frequently Asked Questions