Condensation mold, basement and stairs in Glen Ellyn, IL

Not every mold job starts with a leak. In this Glen Ellyn basement the growth on the walls came from condensation, and the job record lists no water loss at all. Dylan, our project manager, wrote a scope with no drying in it. The work was cleaning and removal, done under air filtration.

The affected area was the basement main room, the hallway and the stairs. The growth showed up as mold and mildew on the wall surfaces, and the carpet and pad across those spaces had to go. The scope called for the carpet and pad to come out of all three areas while the tack strip stayed in place.

The crew ran an air scrubber the whole time they worked. An air scrubber pulls room air through a filter, so spores knocked loose during demolition are captured instead of drifting up the stairs into the rest of the house. With it running, the crew moved the contents, tore out the carpet and pad, and pulled every staple left on the stair treads. The bare floor was sprayed with antimicrobial and mopped. The walls were scrubbed and cleaned with antimicrobial and a mold stain remover.

Because there was nothing to dry, no equipment stayed behind and no pickup had to be scheduled. The crew finished in a single visit, and the certificate of completion was signed before they left.

Condensation mold tends to return wherever humid air meets a cool surface, and basement walls are often the coolest surface in a house. Cleaning removes the growth that is there. Keeping the humidity in a basement like this one low is what keeps it from coming back.