Check out this preview for a documentary called “The Creeping Garden”. Watch how some of these slime mold’s figure out simple problems, make decisions and operate a simple form of intelligence. Read More »

Watch this HD rendering of aspergillus growth and how easily spores separate and become airborne. This may help us understand how easy it is for mold to spread in a home once disturbed.

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All the conditions needed for mold growth are present in your home except water.

Mold loves cellulose. Drywall and wood are cellulose and the temperature range in our Florida environment is optimal for mold to grow. But we keep the moisture (humidity) low when we air condition our homes.

Check out this awesome time-lapse video of mold growing after the break!

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A condo tenant in Tampa has a unit that he rents out during the “season” to help pay his mortgage and insurance expenses. Last month his renter called him to say that the cold water supply hose on the washing machine burst during the night. Before he could wake up, find the main water shut off and stop the flooding there was 1 inch of water in the hallway to the front door, the kitchen and guest bathroom were flooded and water was beginning to soak the living room and guest bedroom carpets.
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HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Arresting. A HEPA filter effectively extracts 99.97% of all particles greater than 0.3 micrometers from the air flowing through it. Read More »

Water Damage Safety in your Home

It can happen in the blink of an eye, a pipe bursts, the washing machine breaks, the toilet or sink tubes crack, a falling branch shatters a window during a downpour etc. The list goes on and on. Read More »

Don’t Let Mold Take Over Your Home

Mold and moisture go hand in hand. Whenever you have an abundance of moisture, mold is sure to develop. Add humidity to the mix and you’ve a quick cocktail for growth that if left unchecked can quickly take over your home. In Florida moisture and humidity are both as common as sunny days and oranges.

There are ways to keep mold from taking over.

• If you have any leaking plumbing fixtures in your home, getting them fixed as quickly as possible can help curb potential mold issues.
• Standing water and flooding can also help them spring up. Use a good home dehumidifier to remove excessive moisture from the air. The ideal humidity level should be between 40% to 60%.
• Use fans or vents in your kitchen and bathrooms to quickly push excess moisture in the air to the outside.

Molds spread by releasing tiny spores into the air. When these land in a moist and inviting area, they begin naturally breaking down the materials they are on. Nature’s unpopular clean up crew, they have been around for millions of years and are extremely vital to maintaining healthy ecosystems in nature.

Still, in your home they can be anything from an annoyance to extremely hazardous. They can decay everything from wood to carpet. If they grow numerous before detection, great care should be taken during clean-up as disturbing already established areas could release spores to re-populate after cleaning is completed, beginning the whole process over again.

Also, some individuals can be very sensitive to molds and should avoid breathing them if possible. These people can suffer from breathing issues, eye irritation, congestion and skin irritation. Some may even have severe allergic reactions.

Having a fire in your home is completely devastating. Personal treasures such as wedding albums and family heirlooms can be lost forever. No amount of money can replace those items. To make matters worse, anything the fire does not destroy is consumed with the smell of smoke. This can be a very difficult time for a family. Not only do they need to find temporary housing, but they basically need to start from scratch! The things we take for granted every day, such as reaching under the cabinet to grab a pot to start dinner, going into our dresser to find something to wear, or just grabbing our favorite book to read before bed may now be temporarily impossible.

Fortunately, living like that is just temporary. How temporary depends on a few factors such as:

How fast can you perform the Fire Restoration?

1)      Was the fire isolated to one room or area?

2)      How quickly was the fire extinguished?

3)      Were firefighters needed to put the fire out? This can cause secondary damages like                    flooding

4)      What type of fire was it? Grease fire, electrical fire, etc

5)      Was the A/C running?

6)      How fast can the company you hire repair your fire damage? Always ask for references!!

Fire Restoration Contractors in Tampa

When performing bids for fire restoration we always tell our clients to ask for references from each company that comes out to bid. In this day and time, it seems like more and more companies over promise and under deliver. Make sure you ask the references if the work was completed on time and if all the subcontractors were paid. The last thing you need is a subcontractor liening your restored home because the contractor never paid him!

Performing a fire or smoke restoration can take a few days or a few weeks depending on the scope of the project. We just recently completed a kitchen fire restoration in Tampa within three weeks. This included cleaning all the contents in the home from smoke damage, ordering two new kitchen appliances, ordering and installing new custom kitchen cabinets, painting a few of the rooms, and installing new carpet.

Every fire restoration is different. I sincerely hope that you never experience a fire in your home. If you do, we are here for you. We perform fire cleanup and fire restoration in Tampa and the surrounding counties. Give us a call and we can come out and give you a free estimate to repair and restore your home after fire or smoke damage.

We recently responded to a business in Tampa that needed sewage clean up. Someone had flushed something down the toilet that didn’t belong there and it caused major issues inside this business. The toilet started overflowing with raw sewage and didn’t stop until it had flooded about three thousand square feet of carpet and tile. You can’t imagine the smell coming out of this business. This happened on a Friday afternoon (thankfully) and they wanted to be re-opening for business on Monday. That’s a challenge!

Cleaning up Sewage Damage

Please do not try to clean up sewage damage unless you know what you’re doing. Sewage damage is classified Category 3 water, the worst type according to the IICRC. This type of water can carry diseases. This type of water can cause serious illness and even death! Always wear appropriate personal protective equipment when cleaning up sewage water. For instance, our employees were fitted with full face respirators, Tyvek suits, goggles, gloves, and rubber boots. Any porous items that sewage water touches must be disposed of if it cannot be cleaned sufficiently (this can be complicated, call us with any specific questions). Non-porous items may be cleaned with the appropriate cleaning techniques. If sewage water touches your carpet, your carpet and padding must be disposed of. No cleaning will adequately disinfect it! As strange as it sounds, drywall must be cut out and thrown away also. Why is this? Drywall is porous and will thus be contaminated and there is no way to clean behind the drywall where the sewage water might be trapped.

Successful Sewage Cleanup

This client had a goal; he wanted to be back in business by Monday morning. We brought in crews to fine clean all the non-porous sewage damaged items. We placed equipment to dry out the wood studs and clean the air. We had a hygienist test before he reopened to make sure there were no bacteria left. The project went well and the client was very happy to be back in business so quickly. Sewage cleanup is a gross, disgusting, and potentially life threatening job that is best left to the experts. If you have a sewage cleanup in Tampa give us a call. Even if you just have some questions, we can help. We have trained technicians that answer the phones 24 hours a day. We’ve performed hundreds of sewage clean ups through the years, we’re here to help if you need us!

Tampa Indoor Air Quality Addressed

Rep. David McKinley has said to Congress that Indoor Air Quality can be up to 96 times more harmful to a person’s health than outdoor air.How can this be possible? Because many of the items we have in our homes emit dangerous fumes such as formaldehyde!

Do you know the levels of gases that are being emitted from your furniture? Rep. McKinley wants to create legislation that requires manufacturers to place a sticker on each item that emits dangerous fumes.

It seems there are more people than ever becoming sick because of the air quality in their home or place of work. Part of the reason why is because homes and businesses are built so quickly that some of the building materials do not have time to dry properly. With some of the materials still wet, and because buildings are now built much “tighter” than they used to be, it can create problems inside the newly renovated/built structure.

Symptoms of a problem within your home or work may be a persistent irritation of your eyes or throat, skin irritation, and odor and taste changes or sensations.  Many times multiple people will have the same symptoms. If you have any of these symptoms, seek the advice of your doctor and an Indoor Air Quality Professional. An Indoor Air Quality Professional can oftentimes track down the source of the problem and help you find a way to eliminate it.

If you are experiencing symptoms, here are a few questions to ask yourself:

1)      Do my symptoms get better when I leave the home/building?

2)      Is anyone else experiencing these issues?

3)      Is there anything noticeably wrong? Do you see mildew/mold or heavy amounts of dust?

4)      Have you purchased a new piece of furniture? Are you spending large amounts of time near it? Perhaps it’s emitting a large amount of formaldehyde!

Millions suffer from Mold allergies every day. Wouldn’t it be nice if some of these people didn’t have to suffer? DRIRITE Tampa is licensed through the State of Florida for Mold Assessment and Remediation. We can answer your questions on mold and mold removal. We have removed mold from thousands of homes throughout Tampa and the surrounding counties. We have two Council Certified Indoor Air Environmentalists on staff at all times. We respond to emergencies 24/7. Call us day or night if you need mold removed and a mold inspection performed or just need air quality testing in Tampa.