Photo Album: Mold Remediation in Bowling Green, KY

When mold took hold on a home's floor joists due to unmanaged humidity, the owners turned to Frontier for a complete cleanup of their Bowling Green, KY home. Our team deployed specialized soda blasting, a highly effective, non-destructive cleaning method, to strip away fungal growth and restore the wooden joists to their natural state. By eradicating mold spores from the floor frame, we restored the home’s subfloor structure and vastly improved air quality throughout the house.

Humidity Levels

Checking humidity levels in the crawl space during the inspection.

Moisture in Wood

Checking moisture levels on the wooden floor joists.

Mold and Mildew Issues

Much like the basement, the nature of your crawl space lends itself to moisture issues and mildew growth. Crawl spaces are dark and often damp due to moisture from the ground or other causes. Mold forms essentially wherever oxygen and moisture are present, so it's no surprise that crawl spaces can become a breeding ground for mold.

Can a moldy crawl space make me sick?

Mold is a fungal growth that helps break down plant and animal matter, and can be found in a variety of places where oxygen and moisture are present. Mold is an example of an environmental allergen, and, according to the Cleveland Clinic, one in five people in the United States have environmental allergies. So, mold in your crawl space can in fact make you sick, causing runny noses, rashes, and other symptoms.

How Does Mold Growth Happen

When wood is in a humid environment it absorbs moisture from the air. When the moisture content in the wood is elevated for long, mold grows. Active mold in your crawl space produces airborne spores that are circulated through the house into the living areas. People with asthma and allergies will react to the mold. If someone does not have sensitivities to mold, they can develop them by prolonged exposure to mold spores.

Before Mold Treatment

Insulation is removed before the underside of a floor system is treated. The insulation does not need to be replaced if a CleanSpace crawl space encapsulation system is being installed after the soda blasting is done. This is necessary to fix the moisture problem so the mold does not grow back. Insulation can be installed on the crawl space walls instead of under the floor. All exterior vents are sealed up to prevent humidity from the outside from entering.

Treating Mold Growth

Why soda blasting? Sodium Bicarbonate is a granular powder that is non-toxic, food grade, with no vapors or offgassing. It is blown with air at high pressure at the infected lumber. The mold is blown off without damaging the lumber, and falls to the floor. The mold is killed by the blasting action and the soda instantly changes the ph, so what falls is not active mold, but simply inert dust.

After Soda Blasting

After soda blasting the lumber looks almost like new. The mold and it's negative effects are gone. And with the CleanSpace system and Sedona dehumidification system the conditions for mold to grow will not return.

Project Complete

All the mold is gone and the debris from Soda Blasting. Now we can start on controlling the moisture in the crawl space to prevent mold from coming back.