1/10/2007 - Rutherford - SpringHill Tn

Rutherford Dr., Spring Hill –

Home inspector found mold in the crawlspace.  The dryer vent had come loose and was blowing warm moist air throughout the area creating microbial growth. 

Spray treated all joist, band, plate, gurters, plumbing and duct insulation surface.  The mold sprayed out very well for the most part.  There were heavy areas that did leave some staining on the lumber but no activity was noted.  No damage was found in this crawl space.  NOTE:  No testing is normally done in a crawlspace, it is usually a visual and AMS recommends having the original home inspector to re-inspect for final.  Crawlspaces, attics and garages are considered outside space and since they have outside air flow to eliminate heat and humidity, testing is futile and expensive.

10/4/2006 - Tweeters - Cool Springs

Commercial - Tweeters – 1728 Galleria Blvd.

The cutting room was the area with the most activity.  Even with the removal of most of the effected wood, there were still signs of mold in the wood that remains.  The musty smell associated with mold was not very noticeable.  There is a shipping/receiving bay area before entering this room that shows some signs of mold also.  The only moisture source found has to be from the HVAC registers, condensating when the humidity enters from outside, when the bay door is opened. 

When the bay door is closed and the sun hits it there is a huge heat gain across the entire surface of this door for several hours.  The heat radiates into the room three to four feet.

There is also signs of mold in some of the small media rooms around the supply registers in the ceiling.  In the showroom there are several ceiling tiles with obvious signs of moisture.  It was noted they have had some roof leaks in the past.

Two or more of the ceiling tile stains appear to be where a can light is located near or under an HVAC supply line.  The heat from the can light causes the un-insulated duct to condensate at that point and drip onto the ceiling tile.

This is a 12 hour/3 day accelerated clean up process.  All the spraying shall take place while closed and will be performed while the structure is unoccupied.  Starting at closing (9:00 pm, Saturday Night) and ceasing 1 hour before opening to the public the following day (11:00 am Sunday.)

Final test results indicate no elevated levels exist upon completion.

 

7/17/2006 - Clinic - Franklin TN

Commercial – Childrens Clinic - 9^th Ave. Franklin

Call indicated mold was found in a utility closet where water heater is located.  The utility closet is in a common hall and a small area of mold can be seen on the wall and ceiling.

There were three leaks found in this utility closet.  There are two, on the main valve that comes out of the wall, and drips onto the floor, mops, brooms and dust mops.  The other leak is from the same water line that goes up the wall and makes a 90 degree turn across the ceiling.  There is a slow leak on the sweat joint of that 90degree (elbow) copper fitting.  Also this copper fitting/pipe is against a metal stud, there must be a separation in these two metals.  To my knowledge only brass and silver can be used against copper, any other metals will corrode the copper rapidly.  AMS did place a small green rubber spacer between the pipe and metal stud until repairs can be made.

Containment was set at the end of the hall at the open station area, and also at the stairwell near the exit door.  Containment was broken on Sunday afternoon when the cleaning crew arrived.  Not sure how long these barriers were down.  It does not appear to have affected the remediation or the final testing. 

The drywall in wet areas should be a product called “green board.”  This is a required code in residential applications, in all wet areas, baths, kitchens; laundries etc. must use this green board.  This clean-up process was performed while the structure is unoccupied.  Starting on Saturday, at closing and ending before opening on Monday.

Lab reports indicate NO elevated levels exists upon completion.

June 17, 2006 - Condo's Franklin TN

New Construction – 4 Three Story Condo Units – Franklin, TN

Builder has a mold condition in the basement on the firewalls between units.  Purple fabric covered drywall was suppose to be mold resistant.  Builder had tried a mold killer chemical and was not successful. 

These units were still under construction and not completely dried in, there were no mechanicals and still on temporary power.  The full basements are below grade and allowed the rain to collect, during the construction process and with no power the sump pumps were not operable to eliminate the water.  This has allowed the moisture, as well as the mold, to wick up these fire walls.  There is also visible manifestation on the first floor fire wall.  After a thorough inspection there are several areas of concern.

 All active growing molds were treated with an oxidizing solution, which burns  the mold and kills it and bubbles it out of the pores it has grown into.  When this process occurs the mold spores very rapidly trying to reproduce as fast as it can and it appears to be smoking.  The total cubic feet of air is also cleaned during the entire spraying process and continued until final test results are received from the lab.  The air sanitization equipment used creates hydroxyls, which oxidizes all living airborne contaminants such as mold spores, germs, bacteria, viruses etc.  The ionization of the air sanitizers utilizes the moisture in the air to clump all the fine contaminants together to make them heavier than air and drops to the floor. 

Each unit was cleaned and cleared by the lab and flipped back to the builder in 15 days.  This was a huge job since there was no HVAC for air circulation, so 12 20" box fans were used per unit.  It is close to impossible to clean stagnant air so keeping all the fans running plus the air sanitizers and air scrubbers just using temporary power was hard until the builder added a second temporary electric box to handle the load.

Lab reports indicate no elevated or toxic molds exist upon completion. of each unit.

 

 

 

 

February 1, 2006 - Porter Ave.

 

Porter Ave., Nashville, TN

Stachybotrys mold was reported in the bathroom area.  Also possibly the kitchen cabinets.

Definite mold growth on the wall around the tub and floor where vinyl was pulled back.  There is also mold on the floor of the kitchen sink cabinet. 

The swab/tape test in the kitchen and bathroom passed on first testing.  The first whole house air test failed, which indicates there are airborne spores throughout the home not just in the contained areas.  Containment had to be dropped and the total cubic air sanitized within the home to eliminate the stachybotrys mold spores that had permeated the entire area.

·    AMS did have to put plastic over to roof to try to prevent melting snow from dripping into the powder room.  This was only temporary, after the weather broke AMS was able to tar patch around the bathroom vents to eliminate any water infiltration and complete the remediation.

2006 - 9th St Nashville

N. 9^th Street, Nashville: 1/27/06

Home buyers home inspector reported microbial growth around the window unit and the wall above the fireplace.

Also found mold on the floor system under the carpet the location of the window unit and above the water heater that was located in the crawlspace.  Water runs down and all areas around the visual mold has to be checked.

Over the fireplace once the wall was sprayed the paint pealed off indicating the moisture had penetrated the drywall, removed the drywall and exposed the brick chimney and cleaned all the brick and mortar joints accordingly.  The framing members on both sides of the chimney was deteriorated and had to be removed.  We were able to clean and save the old mantle to be reused.

The window unit had to be condemmed and disposed of because of contamination, we had to remove the baseboard, drywall, window stool and trim to expose the framing members for cleaning.  Pulled back the carpet and the hardwood was also contaminated to the point we had to remove that section of hardwood.  And surprisingly there was a second layer of hardwood that had to be removed back to the original floor decking.  Cleaned the floor decking as well as both layers of hardwood that had been removed so it could be reused to save home buyer material cost to replace. 

No upfront testing was performed on this home since it was vacant and visual mold was present.

Confirmation from the Lab that remediation was successful.

NOTE:  EPA Mold Guideline Booklet “A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home” states on page 13, In most cases, if visible mold growth is present, sampling is unnecessary.  Unless health issues are present AMS chooses to save the funds for upfront testing and apply them to the final to reassure all parties there is no longer elevated levels.

 

12/5/2005 - Westhaven

Westhaven - State Blvd. Franklin, TN – 12/5/2005

Builder called and needs the microbial growth, found by the home inspector, in the crawlspace to be removed.  This happens during new construction until you get the home dried in water can and will get into the crawlspace, builder had to remove the water and eliminate off site drainage. 

NOTE:  No testing is normally done in a crawlspace, it is usually a visual and AMS recommends having the original home inspector to re-inspect for final.  Crawlspaces, attics and garages are considered outside space and since they have outside air flow to eliminate heat and humidity, testing is futile and expensive.