Air Quality Issues

The Importance of Air Quality

Air quality science is becoming more important to health and even the real estate industry is being impacted by it. Your family spends a huge portion of their time indoors, likely in your home for most of their awake time, but also they sleep there. Assuming most spend about 30-50% of their time home, it is worth considering that air quality can impact your health quickly when there is contamination.

Air Quality Issues

As a homeowner, the last concern about owning a home was about the air in the home. Easily it seems replaceable with the opening of a window, but no, that is not the case. Indoor air quality is a permanent setting of air quality that impacts us when the window is open or closed. The home is not only a shelter to us, it is a trap to all the components that put it together!

Most times, the chemicals used in paints, chemicals used in manufacturing appliances, lumbar moisture sealants, caulking, rubbers, dry wall, carpet glue, cabinet sealants, and other building materials ALL “off gas”, this means they release fumes as they age. Professionals agree that a newly built home takes about 2 years to fully off gas chemicals! The materials used in the creation of your home and the installed new appliances are harmful to your health!

“Are you suffering from chronic health issues and you don’t understand why? It might be time to consider your environmental factors, including your home, that could be contributing to your health. Discussing this with a doctor might be the first step, but do not get discouraged, your health is worth fighting for!”

Indoor Air Quality is Becoming a Real Estate Concern

Beyond the fact that indoor air quality is not the freshest air, the home can become a breeding ground for more toxic air contaminants! Each home is different, but the battles are often the same. Mold can grow in any home, pests will try to get into any home left accessible, most homes are flammable, and all homes cannot have excess moisture or water build up. For most homes, mold, moisture, and pests are more common and likely threats to indoor air quality. This must be why real estate professionals are looking at air quality testing prior to real estate sales.

Suspect Mold in Your Home?

Mold can be very easy to detect by smell or visual inspection, but also a small amount of it can spread rapidly and become very evasive to pinpoint all growth sites. Mold is meant to spread, it spores into the air and spreads its microbial growth to multiple sites to spread even more spores. Mold can also spread by water or moisture, making a home the perfect environment for growth as mold thrives in moist spaces with organic materials.

Consider Consulting a Mold Professional First!

If you believe you have microbial growth, you will want to consider hiring a professional for air quality testing. Do not ignore mold growth! Especially because of the spore’s ability to spread rapidly in your home. Choosing to act might require careful planning; however, it’s essential to prepare before you proceed, do not attempt without adequate time to execute the task thoroughly. We recommend getting professionals involved.

Mold is Not a DIY Project

Each mold has different protocols for cleaning and some molds can be more dangerous to your health. Also, mold cleanup may be more deep rooted than they appear, needing physical barriers removed to ensure full removal. This is a huge reason that a professional inspector is the best place to start for any mold growths in your home.

Imagine doing all the cleaning just to find the mold was actually growing in the walls and the surface was only the tip of the iceberg. Now you have done work on an unknown mold, possibly spreading spores and exposing yourself to the mold as well, and impacting your air quality! Professionals will need to come in and remove drywall, replace it, and test to ensure it was done completely to eradicate the mold.

Ultra Fine Particulate Matter and Microbial Growth size chart comparison to a human hair. As these particles are very small, they can quickly move around the home and impact indoor air quality.

Air Quality Testing

Professional air quality testing is an essential part of the mold and fire remediation process and should be emphasized by homeowners. Most remediation companies will not do their own testing, this should be done by a 3rd party to ensure integral work. Our advice is to find a great remediation team; and an even better testing company! Remediation will be required to continue to work until the testing company has approved the test results.

Avoiding CIRS-WDB

Going back to air quality and suspicions of mold, if you have issues with your air quality at home or at work, you might want to do some air testing. Taking action may become time consuming and feel overwhelming as you fight an enigma of an enemy. If you get moisture testing done and know that your home has moisture problems, you’ll want to get professional air testing done for mold. Any suspicions or water damage should be addressed immediately to avoid any lung health problems, but also for the health of your home.

This exposure makes it so that your home’s air can either be a comforting relief or a contributor to rapid degradation of health. If you discover you have CIRS, you will learn that air quality is very impactful to your own health. In fact, CIRS-WDB is a whole dedicated class of CIRS caused by Water Damaged Buildings. Air quality is of the most importance to those suffering from CIRS.

Health Problems Might Require Medically Sound Remediation

More and more evidence is growing that overall health is impacted by our environments. Air from our home may be deemed the cause of your health ailments. After consulting a doctor and getting professional air testing results showing mycotoxin or mold spores, you are going to have a plan to help guide you to clean air quality once again.

In this case, you will need to consider getting professional help from an Indoor Environmental Professional also known as an IEP. Often with illnesses developing regularly, it is possible to develop Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS). Special care is needed when dealing with a family member or your own CIRS. This will include specialized CIRS Protocol Inspection, Medically Sound Remediation, and strict testing protocol to ensure all areas are addressed in accordance with your IEP’s recommendations.

Air Quality Issues After Fire Damage

Wildfires are known for having harmful effects when near your home, toxic chemicals can be burned, smoke and ash are not good to breathe. All smoke contains carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and particulate matter. Fire and smoke damage remnants can release a variety of chemicals from the previous burning, including acid gasses, aldehydes, benzene, dioxins, metals, nitrogen oxides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), styrene, sulfur dioxide, toluene.

Ultrafine Particles in Indoor Air

These chemical compounds are known to cause numerous health problems when breathed in, but also Ultrafine Particulate matter (UFPs) can be found in the air after fire. These minuscule chemical compounds are so tiny that they can easily infiltrate our families respiratory system, potentially causing a range of health issues.

When it comes to air quality, the adverse effects of UFPs cannot be overstated as they are permanent. Also, their nano size allows them to bypass our body’s natural defense mechanisms, and once inhaled, they can travel deep into our lungs and even enter our bloodstream. Again, remember, this damaging exposure can be permanent health issues for your lungs and overall health.

How do UFPs Impact My Health?

The concern with UFPs goes beyond their size; it extends to their composition and the toxic substances they can carry, especially after a structure fire. These UFPs are often laden with harmful compounds, including heavy metals, carcinogens, and other dangerous elements that can have severe health implications. As a result, exposure to UFPs from fire-related events may lead to various health problems, from respiratory issues to cardiovascular complications.

Efforts to remove these particles should be an integral part of fire damage remediation and indoor air quality management. Specialized techniques and equipment are often required to effectively eliminate UFPs and ensure that the indoor environment is safe and free from these harmful UFPs. Proper testing and analysis can help determine the extent of UFP contamination and guide the remediation process to ensure a healthier and safer home living environment for your family.

Post Remediation Health Implications

After fire damage, water damage, or mold remediation, your health may still be impacted by the microbial or mold growth. If you have had mold contamination of your health, it will take time to fully detox.

We recommend going to your doctor to be fully assessed if you have ongoing symptoms after the mold has been remediated. Be clear with your doctor the remediation state, they may make recommendations not understanding the work has been completed and testing showed mold removal process completed. Understand, those who are more sensitive to mold, CIRS, or have allergies tend to need more support to fully detox. After consulting a healthcare professional if this does not reduce your anxiety, you can also consider re-testing the air quality.

November 20, 2023/29 Comments/by Orange

San Diego Flood Watch

Uncategorized

Considering San Diego County is filled with beautiful landscapes, we also have the infrastructure for disaster! The San Diego community is covered with many mesas, valleys and natural waterways formed from abrupt desert rains. Recently, San Diego has been getting into the record books for rainfall, but also home water damage, leaks from ceiling cracks, and even home or commercial flooding. We have had calls of recent homeowners in Point Loma experiencing a sewage pipe break, flooding their basement! A recent Mission Valley house call from some natural flooding, which is quite common near San Diego River bed. Also, numerous mold and microbial growth service calls, all having some connection to the recent heavy rain San Diego has been experiencing.

San Diego Flood Hot Spots

SoCal is known for its sunny beaches, the San Diego Bay with beautiful blue Coronado Bridge, and of course, the perfect cove found in La Jolla. Still, San Diego has its more gloomy side, but not often. We mean of course, that in San Diego it also rains, and flooding can happen rapidly!

The more moist moldy side of the story comes from the neglect associated with beach front rental properties, infrequent but sporadic heavy rains, and uncleaned flood prevention reservoirs such as rain gutters or French drains. Yes, San Diego is a beautiful place to call home, but for many, this is the perfect vacation destination. If you live in San Diego, and your home has microbial growth, water damage, or even fire damage, Call us! Still so many vacationers and even locals who live a staycation lifestyle.

This means lots of country club style management for locals who do not remember to maintain or prevent issues from occurring. If you have not been maintaining your home or rental property, it is ok! We are here to help in the case of an emergency or for repairs and larger maintenance issues. The best part is that, if you are reading this, you found one of the best remediation and restoration companies in San Diego County. We are highly reputable and have mostly 5 star reviews on most platforms, you can see our 130+ Google reviews, Yelp reviews, Facebook reviews, and even our BBB reviews.

An abandoned car its trapped on the street in overflow water from the San Diego River in San Diego, Calif., on Jan. 16, 2023.
Mike Blake/Reuters

Frequent Flooding Areas in San Diego

San Diego locals know Mission Valley is the first place they will mention when they think of flooding, due to the proximity of San Diego River. So many homes along the water way have seen flooding after the rains. When you live in Mission Valley and know it is going to rain, you should consider taking some notes from the hurricane prevention tips we provided in previous blogs.

San Diego River Floods Mission Valley Area

Mission Valley is surrounded by all the “mesa” of San Diego including La Mesa, Serra mesa, Kearny Mesa, and the suburbs south including Hillcrest, University Heights, Normal Heights all on one large mesa. These large mesa neighborhoods create the perfect flood conditions for Mission Valley as their massive hills send water to the door steps of the valley homes. In the past, Mission Valley was grazing land for cattle, which later became a rock quarry, and most recently was redeveloped into Civita. Civita is a new mixed-use development with multi-family homes, commercial shopping, the new Nipaquay Elementary school, and Civita park.

Hard Obstacles Create Integral Community Leaders

Civita development is part of the future solution, as their development has been focused on storm water control systems. One example is their adding in water exhibits like their creek that is made to re-use reclaimed water, but also buffer the influx of water impacting the Mission Valley area. Civita also plans to add a water treatment plant by 2025 to help with storm control irrigation systems. This is all to keep their properties free from flooding and excess water build up that might lead to property damage.

La Jolla Homes get Muddy Floods

La Jolla Shores and other beach areas often experience flooding due to coastal waters. Imperial Beach is known for constant flooding due to higher than normal tides. Often the coastline homes face unique problems, one of the many are mudslides. La Jolla being right on a fault line doesn’t help the city much to avoid disasters, back in 2007 there was a sinkhole, and mudslides due to rain in 2008, 2009 and 2010, plus more recent smaller cases.

“Currently, the biggest flood threat to La Jolla occurs during El Niño events like the one in 2015-16 that knocked out the top portion of the stairs leading down to Horseshoe Beach.” -La Jolla Light

Orange Restoration On Call 24/7 for La Jolla Emergencies

We have helped in numerous La Jolla flood emergencies for water mitigation and other projects that waited to call resulting in mold formations. Currently, we are actually completing a mold project in La Jolla where the mold was left to grow for over 27 years!

The La Jolla homeowner had some water damage and did not choose to manage the situation, abandoning the home. Then 27 years later we were called in to explore the very large colony of microbial growths throughout the property. We were able to contract to completely restore the home and the property from the mold outbreak. We discourage procrastination on any water damage or mold development in your home. Take action immediately and appropriately with each mold case. When you need help, call a professional mold expert. Read more on Mold Remediation tips for after the rainy season.

Orange Restoration Wrap Up

With water damage, the first thing we want to encourage is to take action promptly. If you do not want to abandon your home, let’s work together to remove the burden. And before the mold growth begins! Do not let your problem get bigger, especially for years.

For floods, your number one tool is prevention and proper maintenance. In most cases, floods begin from pipe bursts due to human error or component failures. These cannot be predicted, nor prevented in most cases. On the other side, most homes even in southern California are equipped to handle rain and shelter the home from flood risks. The maintenance you do to unclog French drains, clean rain gutters, and create barriers from natural watersheds to direct outside water towards drains or away from home.

Also, keep Orange Restoration’s phone number handy in your phone, on your fridge, or in your vacation property. You can call us for all water damages; flood emergencies including burst pipes or natural disasters; mold or fire damages needing remediation and restoration. Orange is a complete restoration service, as we do remediation and restoration of fire damage, mold damage and flood or water damage. Call us now! 1-619-376-6838

November 9, 2023/7 Comments/by Orange

Fire Damage Remediation

Fire Damage, Smoke Damage, Uncategorized

Introduction to Fire Damage Remediation

The fire damage remediation process is about assessing the property, starting with removal of all debris including furniture, doors, un-repairables, and any damaged portions of the home that are complete losses. The next step is the cleaning of chemicals left from fire crews, cleaning of any hazards left from appliances that were destroyed in the fire, and possibly more in depth cleaning depending on who you contract to do the work.

What is the Meaning of Fire Remediation?

Fire Damage Remediation is often included in the definition of fire restoration process, but in fact, some fire remediation companies do not do fire restoration work. The meaning of fire damage remediation is handling cleanup and debris removal, but not including anything from the fire restoration process.

Often, other problems will be created from the work done putting out the fire. For example, the water used causes damages, often flood remediation, and even mold remediation will be needed. This is partially why a remediation company can be vital to a project, and also why another restoration company may be called in for later work. Be sure to make sure what parts of the work will be covered in your contract for any part of the fire restoration project. Orange Restoration is a full service restoration company with remediation experts for fire, mold, and water damages.

Fire Damage Remediation Safety Considerations

Safety should always be a top priority in any fire damage situation. Emphasizing this is critical to prevent further harm or damages to your property. We do not recommend doing your own fire restoration, but we do have some resources for how to use cleaners and proper use of PPE on our various blogs. If you have a small project, please take a look at our DIY Soot Cleaning article, there are lots of pointers there that can help for smaller projects. Also, make sure before dealing with any fire damage that you understand the threats associated with Ultrafine Particulates (UFPs) that can come from fires, fire crews, or smoke damages.

Hiring Fire Damage Remediation Professionals

It’s vital to stress the importance of hiring reputable professionals for fire damage remediation and restoration to ensure a successful outcome of returning your home to normal. While we constantly steer homeowners away from doing any of this without a professional, we understand you want your home back. Hiring our team will be the quickest way to get your project through all the insurance, the process of cleaning, and restoring your property to a new beginning.

Fire Damage Assessment and Damage Extent

The fire damage assessment and the extent of the damage is very important for managing timelines, expectations, and costs. Each fire is sporadically created differently, and in how it causes damages, and the various conditions make each fire damage work site unique. Many times, fire damage work sites will have hidden surprises. Some surprises might be flooded compartments due to fire sprinkler malfunctions. There are also project examples where sprinklers worked well to preserve the interior of the home. In this case, all the exterior looks horrible, and water damage restoration needs to be done internally, while most of the fire restoration is external to the home.

Getting an assessment of the state of the property and the extent of the damage is important. In some cases, for the safety of the property, you may need to consider getting board up services. Board up services can protect your home from further damages, liabilities and from unwanted intruders. Part of the assessment should consider future risks of liabilities, more loss, more damage, and how to protect professionals or anyone else who may need to access the property.

Hiring restoration professionals will really help to speed up all this process. Our team has completed many projects of all sizes, from small fire restoration jobs to responding to wildfires with extensive damage for multiple homes. We know how to assess, avoid surprises as we know the process, and the costs for managing the fire damage restoration from all aspects. Our team can look at a section of damage and make quick and accurate assessments for damage repairs.

Frequently, smoke damage has a way of exaggerating the appearance of things. Our professionals can assess the depth of the damage and make educated assessments on if the repair costs outweigh the costs of replacing. You can look at our extensive list of fire damage and smoke damage restoration services on our fire damage services page.

Documentation and Costs Associated with Fire Damage Remediation

Orange Restoration is known for the quality level of documentation and photography of the damages and work in progress. Also, we handle multiple trades, so when we need documentation from a plumber, electrician, or flood mitigation, we handle all these services! So our clients can expect all files, documents, notes, and photos to be in the right format, organized professionally, and expedited to the insurance company for their assessors. We want you to get paid by insurance ASAP!

Over the 20+ years of service, we modified our business and created partnerships to make sure we act as a solid support for your life being rapidly restored to normal as soon as humanly possible. Along the way through the restoration process we will work to be transparent via clear documentation, photos, plans and financial needs for completion. Our team is known for this transparency with both insurance and local customer base. We are 5 stars rating on nearly every platform including Google, Yelp, BBB, and also Facebook.

Timelines and Expectations for Repairs

After professional assessment, our team will provide information on when it’s safe to return and the variability in restoration timeline. We understand, getting the information on the timeline is important for those dealing with fire damage. Your insurance company, our team, your family, your work and neighbors will probably all be asking far too many questions, and you may only have one.

“When Will My Home Be Normal Again?”

We truly understand that waiting for answers, getting different answers, and unclear outlines for the process of restoring your home can be frustrating. The timeline on a project may be a little complex for other companies to assess, this is often because they need to count on multiple contractors to do various things, and they need to wait. While our team may not have perfect accuracy in our timelines, we will be able to more rapidly assess the timeline.

Our team does absolutely everything needed for the fire damage restoration process while having multiple vendors in-house which speeds up the process. We are prepared to get it done quicker than any other restoration company because of our partnerships and continued education in our trade services.

Complete Home Restoration

While the initial steps of fire damage remediation are crucial for cleaning up and securing your property, it’s essential to recognize that comprehensive home restoration goes beyond these initial measures. Fire damage remediation focuses on removing debris, cleaning chemicals, and addressing immediate hazards, but it often doesn’t cover the broader scope of restoring your home to its pre-fire condition. Additional challenges may arise from the aftermath, such as water damages and air quality issues such as the presence of ultrafine particles (UFPs), necessitating the specialized attention and expertise of a pro.

To ensure a successful and expedited recovery process, it’s vital to hire experienced professionals who can handle the entire spectrum of fire damage restoration work. This comprehensive approach considers assessment, mitigation of hidden surprises, board-up services, and expert documentation, all of which contribute to a more transparent and efficient process.

Our team at Orange Restoration is well-equipped to provide you with a holistic solution, not just for fire damage remediation but for complete home restoration! Offering clarity on timelines and expectations while maintaining a focus on safety and quality work. Our commitment to transparency, extensive documentation, and partnerships ensures that your life can be restored to normal as quickly as possible, backed by our track record of 5-star ratings and customer satisfaction.

Restoring your home after a fire is not just about addressing the visible damage but also about returning your life to a state of normalcy, and that’s precisely what our team is here to help you achieve.

November 7, 2023/0 Comments/by Orange

Microbial Growth & Ultrafine Particulate Matter Removal

Mold, Uncategorized

Recently, because of the extra rainy season that San Diego has been experiencing, we have been getting reports of more mold in our community than ever. While Orange Restoration is IICRC certified for mold remediation, often times in San Diego homes, they need more extreme mold services. Orange restoration has been performing small particle mold remediation for decades, teaming up with clinicians and hygienists to remediate people’s homes and get back to a healthy life. We have been doing some of the techniques to properly remediate microbial growths of all kinds for well over 10 years and consider ourselves ultrafine particulate matter removal experts.

Ultrafine Particulate Matter Removal

The home is where we hang our hat, so to speak, but mostly we breathe air from this space more frequently than from any other space we are in daily. We may leave the home, but like most homeowners they return at the end of their day to enjoy the peace that shelter provides. If you are a homeowner, you probably are familiar with all the unseen risks associated with any home. To be clear, these unseen risks include water damage, hidden structural damage, asbestos, pests, and finally, microbial growths including: fungi, algae, rusts, yeasts, and bacteria.

So, while there is a lot to visually inspect in your home, getting a professional inspector involved is advisable for the long-term viability and health of your home. Many unseen damages or microbial growths can be lurking in a home, this is partially why so many rules and regulations exist in real estate. Still, just like others have discovered, inspectors can miss something! Home inspectors are often working under deadlines and massive pressure to pass inspections by real estate agents, brokers, and homeowners who want to sell, as well as the new home buyers. This is why we suggest going further to do testing relevant to the health of your home, and your family’s health.

Normal impacts on indoor air quality that are not associated with the ultrafine particulate matter removal or microbial growths.

The Importance of Air Quality in Your Home

Your guests come to your home for an experience. Your family lives in your home to escape the dangers of the outside world. Even the plan to buy a home was to support the comfort needed to build a healthy life. The time you spent to create this luxury should not be wasted!

So allowing microbial growth to take it all over would be a shame, as simple maintenance can help! Your home should foster a beautiful life and one where your family and guests gain a fresh perspective from your home. No one wants to have a home that gets them sick, takes away from their lives health, or continues to have large financial costs due to mold remediation efforts.

Does Microbial Growth Impact Indoor Air Quality?

Yes, is the easy answer, but the more complex answer is that microbial growths will almost always impact the air quality if there are spores or moisture. The only way to know for sure is through professional testing. Still, if you do not maintain your home regularly, you and your guests will smell it. So, if the mold is not impacting your health, it will be impacting your comfort.

Also, worth noting, fewer guests will want to visit a second time to see if the musty smell got worse. Also, this would impact your homes value as mold is one of the greatest fears for new home buyers due to the ambiguity of the problem source or resolution. In addition to the mold’s musty smell, this unpleasant smell will attract pests looking for an easy way to get into your home or will sense the mold smell as evidence of access to moisture that they need near their nesting place.

Air Quality Testing is Becoming More Important in San Diego Real Estate!

As a mold remediation company we are constantly working with an Indoor Environmental Professional (IEP) such as Anna Branch. Anna Branch is known to be one of the best mold experts in San Diego in regards to Mold-Specific Quantitative (MSQPCR) PCR Analysis. This analysis is similar, but more in-depth to the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI) to create a value for the mold ratio in the air. The ERMI was originally made to help create standard to report and record the ratio of various mold spores to air and other particles. This helps determine how the air may be impacting your family.

For example, households with higher ERMI values are associated with an increased risk of asthma. Home buyers in San Diego real estate market are often very health conscious, meticulous, and have plenty of options for their new home elsewhere. The choice alone to live in San Diego might be about health as many new San Diego home owners claim they made the move for a better healthy life.

Understanding Microbial Growth

Microbial growth refers to the proliferation of various microorganisms, including fungi, bacteria, algae, yeasts, and more, within an indoor environment. These microorganisms can thrive in indoor areas, especially with elevated moisture levels. What makes microbial growth particularly insidious is its ability to remain hidden from plain sight, anywhere in your home or business. These microorganisms can colonize within walls, ceilings, under flooring, or in hidden corners, making them difficult to detect by visual inspection alone.

The need for a professional inspection becomes more evident as microbial growth poses both structural risks to your home and health risks to its occupants. Trained professionals have the expertise and tools necessary to uncover these hidden dangers, allowing for timely remediation to protect both your property and your well-being. Health and home should be your first priority.

mold health affects from microbial growth in home.

Health Implications of Microbial Growth

Exposure to microbial growth in your home can have serious health implications, and even worse if you already have a compromised health. Mold, bacteria, and other microorganisms release mycotoxins, which can trigger a wide range of health problems. Symptoms of exposure to these mycotoxins and source contaminants can vary but often include respiratory issues, skin rashes, allergic reactions, skin reactions such as hives, itchy skin, and eye irritation.

Additionally, mycotoxins are known to be particularly harmful to those with mold sensitivity, leading to more severe symptoms like nausea, headaches, brain fog, exhaustion, and sinus issues. Unfortunately, these symptoms can be subtle, making it easy to overlook the root cause. Often, occupants of the home will attribute these discomforts to other factors, not realizing that the indoor air quality is the underlying factor contributing to the issue. This is why professional inspection and testing are essential in identifying and addressing the problem, ensuring a healthy living environment for you and your family.

What Are The Symptoms of Poor Air Quality In A House?

Contaminates to air quality can produce odors; or can go unnoticed by smell and simply cause symptoms such as nausea, headaches, eye irritation, fatigue, dry throat, sinus issues, and dizziness. Often the homeowners or tenants will notice either the smell from the odor produced by the mold or they will be uncomfortable due to the various symptoms that seem to have no cause, but exposure to the home.

When you have a home with unseen contamination, it is important to make sure to figure out the root cause of the problem, but when you cannot see it, this becomes more difficult. Unseen particles also known as Ultrafine Particulate (UFP) matter, require professionals to get involved. After you decide that your home has contaminated air, you might want to start with actions. Many try to do it themselves because the idea of getting professionals involved is daunting. Trying to fight micro-sized particles in the air seems like a simple fight at first, many will use ventilation techniques and even try to filter it in their own ways.

removing small mold growth. an example of microbial growth on the walls.

Do Air Purifiers Remove Particulate Matter?

Without going too far into this, the attempt to do anything to clean the air may cause some desired results to occur, but they may not be permanent. So, while the home air purifiers with a High Efficiency Particulate Arrestor (HEPA filter) may scrub the air for any free radicals, the source can not be identified or changed by the use of an air filter.

So, the air purification processing may just be allowing for the mold to slowly grow, making it more powerful each day and eventually, the air filter will need to be replaced. Also, as you allow contamination to spread, the air purification may just be helping mold spores to spread! In addition, it is possible the air purification system will need a full decontamination cleaning after it has done this work. For these reasons, we do not suggest using an air purifier or filtration system to help you to procrastinate fixing your microbial growth problem.

Health Effects of Ultrafine Particles

Ultrafine particles can impact health in various ways, but a large part of it is the inflammation of airways, lungs, and blood vessels. These issues can cause for other health issue to worsen, making for chronic problems. For example, if someone in the home already has asthma, they will be more sensitive to the particles. This person can have numerous negative health issues while their partners get the same exposure and are not impacted. Often times, this will cause the issue to worsen because the assumption is the problems are isolated to one person and not something coming from the environmental factors.

Are Ultrafine Particles Bad for You?

Most outside particles gaining access to your lungs are going to be bad for your health. When it comes to ultrafine particles, there is added complexity as these particles begin to disrupt the organ’s function. The 0.1 micro sized particles are capable of entering the bloodstream as they can easily pass through lung tissue. Larger sized particles are capable of getting stuck in the lung tissues and causing blockages or other problems.

What Does Ultrafine Particles Do to Your Body?

They contaminate the entire body, and sometimes it is irreversible! Ultra fine particulate matter (PM0.1) enters the lungs and can fast track to any other part of the body, often into organs to stick around there. The particles, at the larger sized particulate matter (PM2.5), are often found in the lungs or the heart, and can cause inflammation in both and can be stuck in the lungs for a longer time than the ultra fine particulate matter (PM0.1). This inflammation can lead to various problems and can even cause death for some who have extreme or even particular mold allergies.

What are Ultrafine Particles in Indoor Air?

As seen in the chart above, ultrafine particles are the smallest particles on the right side. The larger particles, for example asbestos is between 2.5μm and 10μm, which are very dangerous to our health, while other ultra fine particles can be more troublesome as the smaller the particulate, the more easily it is to travel within the body. Some 2.5μm are known to cause more pulmonary inflammation and are stuck in the lung tissue for longer than the smaller particles. PM is known to enter the body through breathing, so it all starts in the lungs.

How Do You Remove Particulate Matter From Air at Home?

Some may recommend using standard HEPA filters in your HVAC system. This can help improve air quality temporarily, but if you have any real threats to your air quality, you will want to remove any potential microbial growth and other particulate matter sources completely. If you already suspect a mold problem, instead of circulating the air and getting the spores into new rooms and contaminating your entire HVAC system, you should call a professional and get mold testing done.

After testing to confirm the microbial growth or particulate matter, you’ll want to target its source, and work with a professional to remediate it. For the remediation process, professionals will use proper commercial grade dehumidifiers with proper HEPA filters and up to date maintenance to ensure the best results for removal. After having professionals do this work, you may want to upgrade your HVAC air filters to capture any remaining particulate matter to keep your home healthy.

Call Orange Restoration for any Microbial Growths or Ultrafine Particulate Matter Removal Projects

Our remediation team has been trusted all over! From preserving historical treasures with local Natural History Museum, at Balboa Park, where we decontaminated 1000s of specimens in a 8 month decontamination project. Also, we have worked for local Mira Mar Airforce base that needed specific ultrafine particulate matter removal services at their data center.

We are seeking bigger projects like this in the San Diego County as our team is the most equipped local remediation company. If you suspect a project has any PM contamination issues, rather than call a sub-par mold remediator, call one known for handling international projects, local military grade messes, and even fragile projects that require handling specimens from our history. Our expertise is at your service!

CALL US NOW AT (619) 376-6838

November 1, 2023/0 Comments/by Orange

#1 Emergency Water Mitigation Services

Uncategorized

Orange Restoration is known internationally for Emergency Water Mitigation Services as they have served at natural disasters around the globe. If you need mold mitigation or flood mitigation, Orange has seen some of the worst projects in some of the world’s largest disasters! Orange is known for working in many of the past major hurricanes like Hurricane Katrina, but also many of the disaster zones where many do not hear about. Whether commercial business or home flooding, Orange has the experts to manage the flood, the plumbing problem, the electrical issues, and the rebuilding needed to restore it to normal.

Emergency Water Mitigation Services

Given Orange’s extensive work in this niche, they are also great at mitigating the insurance paperwork as well. Many homeowners do not want to manage the insurance claim of their restoration, we understand this headache is a large one. Professionalism from our team comes from our many years in business, but more than one trade. Orange also has experts in specific problem areas such as plumbing, electrical, re-construction, and they do it all with one administration team!

This means that when insurance needs a plumber’s estimate, an electrical estimate and a rebuild estimate Orange Restoration can provide it all in one swoop and the quality of the work is the same, all photos are organized and communications with insurance for any updates are easy. The emergency water mitigation services should be called “Insurance Mitigation services after a Flood” because with out Orange Restoration, you will be stuck managing claims adjusters who strike without warning or mercy.

Great Floods Can Be Stopped If Leaks are Spotted in Time!

When the flooding is too great, the first person you want to call is a master plumber! A good Master Plumber can be found if you look hard enough. For example, Pro Plumber San Diego has an exceptional Master Plumber named Corey. Corey, the Master Plumber, mentioned the best way to avoid massive flooding in the home is through regular inspections and leak detection. However, after the flood is already gushing, you may just want to find the master shut off valve. Also, before entering a flood, you’ll definitely need to cut the power!

“If you do NOT think you can shut off power or the flow of water, call a professional immediately!” –Pro Plumber San Diego

Finding the Master Water Shut-Off Valve

Near most homes’ water meters, you can find the water shut-off valve. This valve looks like a simple handle and when you turn it 90 degrees the water for the home is turned on or off. The master supply shut off valve is probably the best valve to know as a property owner or tenant. After you turn the shut off valve, you can expect a drastic change as no water in the enter home should be running.

Orange Restoration has Electrical Covered!

With Flooding, electrical work is the last thing you want to worry about, but not handling it can be deadly. Before entering a flood, you’ll definitely need to cut the power! If you are a homeowner, you probably know where your master breaker is, but if not, you’ll want to find the main breaker box of the home, usually pretty obvious. Hopefully you will have a flashlight to view around the outside of the home to find this box.

Once you find the box, look for the double wide switch located at top of the panel and make sure it is in the off position. Beyond that, the only real help an electrician can provide is solutions after the flood damage has been mitigated properly by the Orange Restoration’s flood clean up team. Once we have a dry structure and no immediate flooding risks, repairing electrical and restoring power could be the next step. After the flood, some rewiring may be needed, so having an electrician review all your wires, outlets, major appliances and the major electrical panels should be done before restoring power.

Other Plumbing Surprises

Many emergency water mitigation services just come out to do demolition, remove the flood and create a mess for the next team to clean up. Hiring a company that does it all may help to keep the costs of services down. Many emergency water mitigation services are not conditioned to professional needs for other trades, thus they create new problems. If you work with Orange Restoration, you will get professionally trained mitigation techs who are looking to ease the transfer from one team to another.

Emergency Water Mitigation Services Team

Our team does this because the next team to the property trained them to look for things and communicate particular issues or conditions so that they are properly managed. The notes from all teams will be accessible easily as one admin team has made sure all note from each technician are properly accessible for the entire site work team. Orange Restoration team is positioned to make sure you have no surprises by professionally connecting you with all the progress and any important details that arise during the emergency water mitigation services to your property.

When Floods Start in the Attic

When water comes from above, you already know you are under water on repairs!! Emergency water mitigation services are going to be essential when the roof leaking causes a major flood to occur in your home. Many things will need to be evaluated before you can access your home again. If you have not already done so, make sure the power is off! Flooding in the attic can lead to a host of unique concerns, making it crucial to address the situation promptly and effectively.

From potential damage to the attic’s structural integrity to compromising insulation and ventilation systems, the consequences of attic floods can be far-reaching. Don’t worry, we have plenty of experience in attics! We also do attic cleaning for commercial and residential clients, and we don’t forget to give the crawlspace attention too!

Flooding can start from above too! If so, you will need emergency water mitigation services before you should call the plumber, we need to protect his safety also.

Prevent Flooding from Above

To mitigate these risks and prevent attic flooding, we offer a comprehensive approach that starts with an Attic Inspection. Our team of experts thoroughly assesses the attic’s condition, identifying vulnerabilities such as large cracks, weakened roofing materials, or leaking pipes that could lead to water intrusion during heavy rainfall or plumbing mishaps. By proactively addressing these issues, we implement tailored solutions to fortify your attic against flooding, ensuring the safety and protection of your property. From reinforcing roof structures to fixing faulty plumbing, our prevention strategies provide homeowners with peace of mind, knowing that their attics are resilient and ready to withstand potential flooding challenges.

Emergency Flood Preparedness & Flood Mitigation

While there are many emergency water mitigation service companies, the best thing a homeowner can do to be ready for a flood is to prepare for it. One preparation may be to have the residents of the household simply know what to do in the case of a flood, fire, earthquake, or otherwise disaster.

Knowing the shut off valve or switch for power and water would be a huge advantage. More advanced options would be probably best to be created by a professional. For example, many things can go wrong with your home, hiring a professional to regularly inspect your home for electrical issues, roof leaks, and any plumbing leaks could be a great solution. Too many try to DIY but they do not always get the best advice on how to complete the task entirely.

October 30, 2023/0 Comments/by Orange

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