Finding and drying mold that started inside wet walls, floors and cavities after a flood in Lafayette and Lafayette Parish.
Fastest: call (833) 490-5225. Or send this and we call you back.
Mold after flood damage grows where moisture stays in wall cavities, subfloors and insulation. The drying plan has to reach those hidden spaces, not only the visible surfaces. Lafayette Water Damage Restoration sends a crew to wet and damp buildings in Lafayette as soon as one is free, and calls are answered 24/7.
Mold needs moisture to start, and a flood leaves moisture in places nobody sees. Wall cavities, the underside of a subfloor and insulation that has soaked up water can all stay damp long enough for growth to begin. A surface that looks dry from the room can still hold the conditions mold needs, which is why mold after a flood is usually a drying problem before it is a cleaning problem.
The earliest sign is often a smell, not a stain. A musty odor in a closed room, a closet or a cavity that was wet is worth reporting, and it is worth reporting even when the surfaces look clean. Visible growth, staining or a patch that feels damp to the touch are later signs, and they mean the moisture has been in the material for some time.
Call (833) 490-5225 at any hour if you suspect moisture or growth behind a wall or under a floor. Tell the person who answers where the water was, how long it stood, when the drying was finished and what you can smell or see. A crew is sent as soon as one is free, and it does not promise an arrival time.
Do not disturb visible growth with a broom, a vacuum or a fan, because that spreads spores into the air. Wear a fitted N95 or better mask, gloves and eye protection if you must enter the affected area. Keep children and anyone with asthma or a weakened immune system away from the room. Do not mix bleach with other cleaning products, and do not use a household vacuum without a HEPA filter to clean up dust from growth.
Growth on painted drywall or trim that was wet for a short time is often confined to the surface. The crew cleans the surface, dries it, and checks the wall behind it. The surface work is only part of the job, because a surface that is cleaned over a wet cavity will return.
Growth that is found behind a wall or under a floor usually means the moisture stayed in the framing or insulation for longer than the surface suggested. The crew opens the cavity, removes the affected insulation, cleans the framing and dries it in place before the wall is closed.
Where a home has a crawl space or a cellar that took water, the framing and the ground-side materials can hold moisture long after the living area is dry. The crew checks those spaces as part of the assessment and records the readings. The crawl space page covers the drying of those areas.
A room that stays humid, or a patch of wall that keeps reading damp, is a sign that the source or the cavity has not been reached. The crew looks for the cause rather than treating the symptom, and it explains what it found and what it did about it.
Call any hour and explain what is going on. You get a clear price before any work starts.
Mold can begin to grow on wet material within a short period, especially where moisture stays in a closed cavity and the air is warm. The exact timing depends on the material, the temperature and how long the material stays wet, so the drying is the control that matters.
Surfaces that dry quickly and are kept in moving air are much less likely to support growth than cavities that stay closed and wet. A wall that was soaked to the top plate and then sealed over is the classic case, because the moisture has nowhere to leave.
This is why the drying plan is measured and not assumed. Readings show whether the moisture is still moving out of the materials, and the crew adjusts the plan until it is. The owner gets the readings, so the progress can be seen.
Framing and subfloors that are sound can often be cleaned and dried, but porous material such as drywall, insulation and carpet cannot be cleaned to a safe standard once growth is established. The crew decides which materials are kept and which are removed, and it records the reasons.
Solid wood framing with a light surface growth can sometimes be cleaned with a brush or a damp cloth and then dried. Deeper growth in wood, or growth on the plates and the sill, may need more work, and the crew explains what it finds before it does more.
Insulation and drywall are different. Once growth is in the paper or the fibers, the material is removed and replaced, because cleaning does not reach it. The crew explains this to the owner before any removal begins, so that the decision rests on what was found.
A professional assessment is worth asking for when growth covers a large area, is inside a wall or under a floor, or returns after cleaning. Ask for the readings and the photographs, and ask who will check the area after the work is finished.
Some owners prefer an independent check of the work, and that is a reasonable request. An assessment can be a separate visit from the cleanup, with its own record. The crew can explain what it looks for and what it would recommend, and the owner decides whether to ask for a second opinion.
Ask any company that offers mold work to show you its credentials, and check any license it names with the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, where a license applies to the work being done.
Photograph the room and the area you suspect, note any smell or stain, and keep the room closed off from the rest of the house. Do not open or tear out a wall yourself, because disturbing growth spreads spores into the air.
Closing the room with the door shut and the air return sealed where you can reach it helps keep the spores in one place. Keep children, older adults and people with breathing problems out of the room until the crew has looked. Mask up if you must enter, and wash your hands and clothes after contact.
The crew uses containment for larger jobs, which means sealing an area off and keeping the air moving in a controlled direction. The method depends on the size of the area and the material, and the crew explains it before the work begins.
Lafayette Water Damage Restoration does not publish a price for mold work. The cost depends on the area, the depth of the growth, the materials that have to come out and the number of visits. The price is explained on site and approved before any work starts.
A price given without seeing the growth would be a guess. The crew measures the moisture, opens what needs opening, and then explains the scope and the cost factors. Nothing is removed or added to the plan without the owner's approval.
Whether an insurer pays for mold depends on the policy, and many policies limit or exclude mold. Read the policy and ask the insurer, and keep the readings and photographs from each visit, because they are the record the insurer will look at.
The technician starts with the record of the water: where it came from, how long it stood, when the drying began and when it was reported dry. The history shows which cavities were wet longest and where growth is most likely to be found.
Moisture is read in the walls, floors and framing, with the readings compared to a dry reference. A surface that reads dry but sits over a wet cavity is flagged, because the cavity is where growth starts.
Where the readings or the smell point to a cavity, the crew opens a small section to look at the framing and the insulation. The cut is photographed, kept small and closed again once the cavity has been checked and dried.
Insulation, drywall and other porous material with visible growth or a persistent smell is removed, because it cannot be cleaned to a safe standard. Hard framing is cleaned and dried, and the removal is recorded in the same way as the rest of the job.
Drying continues until the readings return to the dry reference, and the area is checked again after the equipment is gone. A repeat reading that climbs means the moisture source is not yet closed, and the crew says so.
Growth is most likely where a flood reached the framing and the cavities of a building in Lafayette, and the crew plans its checks around those spots. The August 2016 flood across Lafayette Parish is a reminder that a wet cavity is easy to miss from the room.
Humid summer air in Acadiana can keep a damp cavity damp for longer than a drier climate would, and the crew takes that into account when it sets the drying plan. Doors and windows closed during the drying hold moisture in the air, so the readings are read with the weather in view.
Growth found in Lafayette is handled the same way as anywhere else: the source is closed, the material is assessed and the cavity is dried. The local difference is the weather and the scale of the earlier flood, and both push the drying plan toward more checks rather than fewer.
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Drying the framing, subfloor and wall cavities after water, with moisture readings taken on every visit until the building is dry.
Pumping, cleaning and drying a crawl space and the floor framing above it after flood water has come in from below or through the vents.
Opening, drying and reading wet ceilings and drywall after a leak or flood, with the lowest wet section cut so the cavity can dry.
The moisture readings, photographs and written logs kept on every visit, so that an insurer can see what the water did and what was done about it.
In the first days after a flood, make the building safe, stop the water still coming in, photograph everything before it moves, and then let the crew remove the wet material in order.
Mold after a flood grows where moisture stays in wall cavities, subfloors and insulation, so drying has to reach those spaces and not only the visible surfaces.
Not always. A smell tells you that moisture or growth may be present, and the crew reads the wall to find out how far it goes. Some surfaces can be cleaned and dried, and others have to be removed. The decision is made on the readings and the material, and the crew explains it.
No. Paint over growth or over a wet surface traps the moisture and hides the problem, and it can make the growth worse. Dry the area and have it checked first.
It can, if the moisture source is not closed or the cavity is not fully dried. The crew re-checks the area after the drying and tells you what it found, so that a return can be caught early.
That depends on how large the area is and where it is. For a small area in one room, the rest of the house may stay in use. For larger work, the crew explains which rooms should stay closed and for how long, and it does not promise a timeline.
Bleach is not a reliable fix for porous material, and it should never be mixed with other cleaners. Growth on sound framing can be cleaned with a suitable product applied by the crew, and the crew decides which method fits the surface.
No. A test or a reading tells you what is present, but the moisture still has to be removed, and the material that cannot be cleaned still has to come out. The drying and the removal are the work that solves the problem.