Herron Enterprises and the Environmental Hygienists Association recommends that property owners, managers, and tenants take all ten of these proven steps in the order listed for perfect do-it-yourself or professionally-done toxic mold removal.

1. Mold Inspection and Mold Testing. Do thorough and complete mold inspection and testing to find all areas of both visible and mold growth hidden inside ceilings, walls, floors, heating/cooling equipment and ducts, crawl spaces, basements, and attics. Use a moisture meter, hygrometer humidity meter, and fiber optics inspection to help find hard-to-find mold infestation.

After the completion of all mold removal steps, use do it yourself or professional clearance mold testing of the air of remediated rooms, the outward air flow from heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) duct registers, and horizontal and vertical surfaces inside the mold work area. For independent mold clearance testing in the USA, Canada, Asia, Europe, and worldwide, please visit Mold Consultants and Certified Mold Inspectors.

2. Proper Containment. Seal off the room or area to be mold remediated with 6 mil thick floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall, clear plastic sheeting so that mold spores released during mold removal do not travel to and mold cross-contaminate other areas.

3. Proper Worker Protection. Mold removal workers should wear a 3M or comparable breathing respirator mask with organic vapor filters rated P100, available for about $40 from a large hardware or home improvement store, plus eye goggles with no holes (“chem splash” type), disposable vinyl gloves, and EnviroFry protective coveralls with built-in parka hood.

4. Ozone Treatment.  The first and last mold kill steps should be to operate a high output ozone generator for at least six to eight hours inside the building’s heating/cooling equipment and ducts and inside the rooms or areas being mold remediated. The best value, high output ozone generator is the EnviroFry ozone generator, available at Ozone Generator. There can be no people, pets, or live plants inside the area being ozone treated. Follow up the ozone treatment with a special enzyme that neutralizes and prevents mold growth---visit PREVENT & CONTROL MOLD & BACTERIA GROWTH with Do-It-Yourself Mold Enzyme Spray.

5. For and Spray with an EPA-Registered Fungicide. Fog and spray all surfaces with an EPA-registered fungicide after the initial ozone treatment, after removal of moldy building materials, and before rebuilding and replacing removed building materials. To buy the best EPA-fungicides.

6. HEPA Air Scrubbing and Vacuuming. After the completion of the ozone and mold enzyme treatments, run one or more HEPA industrial-sized air scrubbers inside the contained mold work area to establish negative air pressure therein to collect airborne mold spores, with the HEPA exhaust air duct going directly to the outdoors. Use one or more HEPA vacuums to vacuum walls, floors, carpeting, and furnishing surfaces three ways---horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. You can buy a powerful, 6 horsepower Ridgid-brand vacuum cleaner with a HEPA allergen filter for about $130 at any Home Depot store.

7. Physical Mold Removal. While operating a HEPA air scrubber inside the mold work area, remove all visible mold growth by removing and discarding materials such as moldy drywall, curtains, and carpeting, and by cleaning wood timbers to visibly mold-free with the use of a power grinder with wire brush attachment, power sander, power planer, and/or hand held wire brushes and sanding blocks.

8. Safe Disposal of Moldy Materials. While inside the contained mold work area, place all removed moldy materials into 6 mil thick garbage disposal bags. Then, put each full bag inside a second 6 mil thick bag (known as “double bagging”). Then, wipe off the outside of the outer bag with a cloth lightly damp with hydrogen peroxide or borax laundry detergent dissolved into water to remove any landed or deposited mold spores. Then remove the bags to the outdoors through windows or doors without taking the bags through building areas that are outside of the contained work area.

9. Encapsulation of Wood Timbers.  After completion of the above steps, paint all exposed and remediated wood timber surfaces with white, glossy latex enamel paint into which one half pound of the EPA-registered fungicide Tim-Bor has been thoroughly mixed. Tim-Bor is a long-term preservative of wood against both mold and wood-destroying insects such as termites. The glossy latex paint coating will also help to protect the wood against water penetration in the event of a future plumbing leak, roof leak, or other water intrusion.

10. Clean and Disinfect HVAC Ducts.  If there has been a mold problem inside a building, its heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) ducts are likely to be contaminated with elevated levels of airborne mold spores and mold growth.  Clean and disinfect HVAC ducts with these procedures: (a) hire an experienced air duct cleaning company to do thorough HVAC duct cleaning;  (b) after duct cleaning, do a second ozone treatment with at least four to eight hours of high output ozone treatment into the return air duct to get mold-killing ozone everywhere in the HVAC system and throughout the entire building; and (c) after ozone treatment, use a fogging machine to fog thoroughly the HVAC ducts with Sporicidin Disinfectant Solution, one of the few fungicides approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for use inside air ducts.