Re: black mold?? i really need some advice.

I am a Council-certified Indoor Environmental Consultant. I'm not sure where you are located, so I'll stick to the Standard of Care that is univerally recognized in the United States, namely: The IICRC S520 Standard & Reference Guide for Professional Mold Remediation.

Categorize content items by their likely restorability, a professional can help you with this. I would do this prior to moving them from their present location.

Determining the basic composition of content materials helps. Porous materials easily absorb moisture and, if organic, can easily support fungal growth; semi-porous materials that absorb moisture do so slower than porous ones, and if organic can support fungal growth; while, non-porous materials do not absorbe moisture or are materials that have been treated and do not support mold growth.

Determining cleaning requirements can help determine the cost of cleaning versus the cost of replacement. Some items may need to be discarded even if they can be cleaned.

Finally, the S520 says that communicated with an IEP (Independent Environmental Professional) can help when regarding issues of sampling, analysis, and verification testing. If you look for an IEP look for someone that does not clean or remediate their own work. This is a conflict of interest. Also, look for someone that will write an Analytical Report with Protocol so you don't pay them to sample w/o an empowering report and protocol; otherwise, you may find yourself with incomplete information and controversal opinions of remediation contractors.

It is important to not only know what mold growth you can see on the surface of a material, but what microbial fragments and by-products may be present on or within the content materials (bacteria, mold, etc.), as these things can be transported from one place to another - cross contamination. For more information on IEPs see http://www.iaqcouncil.org
or http://www.iaqa.org.


I'll stop here. This is getting long. If I can be of any help, let me know and I'll do my best. Best wishes.