Free delivery and setup is included in the rental price, which is discounted by as much as 20% for flooding victims in Nebraska.  Long term rental also is available. 

Call 402-592-4376 (402-592-HERO) for 24/7 emergency service and delivery.

Quickly drying water damaged buildings is the BEST way to control mold growth.  Chemicals and bleach DO NOT prevent mold from growing.  Lowering the moisture content below 16% does and commercial dehumidifiers capable of removing massive amounts of water from the structure is the best way to achieve low structural moisture content.

Attic mold is a result of wet framing and roofing materials.  How these materials get wet varies from roof leaks to poor attic insulation to inadequate attic ventilation.  Regardless of how the materials get water damaged, the result is always the same…attic mold!

Here’s the good news.  The mold can be cleaned and remediated, permanently removed from the attic.  No need to replace the affected framing materials.

How do you prevent mold growth?  Keep materials dry!  Address roof leaks, make sure you have enough insulation and minimize water vapor in the attic via thorough ventilation.

Mold growth can occur in an attic when high water vapor content exists and is not adequately ventilated.  Although poor insulation can contribute to the problem, ventilation is the real problem.

If your attic is properly insulated, ventilated and the bathroom and dryer exhaust do not vent into the attic, mold should not be an issue.  Not sure if you have mold in your attic?  Take a look for yourself.  Look for brown, green, black or even white dusty layers covering the underside of the roof decking and framing.  If you’re not sure, DryHero can inspect your attic for you.  402-438-2379 - Lincoln or 402-592-4376 - Omaha.

If you should have mold in your attic, it’s important to identify the source of moisture and remove the fungal growth.  Unless the roof decking is rotted or deformed, the mold can usually be removed without any roof work of any kind.  This can save a tremendous amount of money over roof replacement.

Springtime in Nebraska brings with it the potential for heavy rains.  When the ground becomes saturated, water has nowhere else to go but into our basements, resulting in potentially significant flooding and water damage.  Basements are not waterproof and any crack or seam is a potential access point for rain water to enter the basement.

Time is your enemy when you have a flooded or water damaged basement.  The longer it sits wet, the more damage you’ll have.  The two primay concerns with water damage are structural integrity and microbial or mold growth.  So how do we treat your flooded basement?  We simply follow these basic protocols:
1.  Pump, extract and remove the bulk water.
2.  Dry it out using industrial dehumidifiers and fans/airmovers.
3.  Inspect and treat the structure for microbial contamination.

Whenever you have water intrusion, wet building materials and a warm environment, you have the formula for mold growth.  The key is to act promptly.  Many of our water damage projects are dried out before mold has a chance to grow and require zero demolition.  Other times, if the water damage wasn’t discovered quickly enough or dried thoroughly, it can become more of a mold removal project where suspect materials are removed and the remaining structure is treated.

It’s important to have your water damaged home inspected and evaluated for hidden damage.  We have access to a variety of sensitive instrumentation designed specifically to detect trapped or hidden moisture.  In most instances, it is not possible to determine if a material is wet or not.  Carpet and pad is about the only material that you can feel the moisture with your bare hand.  Drywall, plaster, wood flooring, concrete, etc. are dense and almost impossible to determine if they’re wet, much less the specific moisture content.

If materials are left wet long enough, some level of mold growth is inevitable.  When in doubt consider having a professional look at it.  You can always call DryHero at 402-438-2379 (Lincoln) or 402-592-4376 (Omaha) for an inspection or advice on how to avoid mold growth in your water damaged home.

Nebraska mold removal is an unfortunate necessity when water damage goes undiscovered in your home or business. The reality is that most Lincoln and Omaha homes have some level of hidden mold growth in them.  So, should you be concerned about this “hidden killer mold”?  Read on…

It’s most important that water leaks or water intrusions be identified and corrected.  Recurrent water leaks and active mold growth is a situation that I consider urgent due to the potential for toxins being emitted.  If you have a stale, musty odor, consider having a restoration professional look at it.

For the balance of everyday mold hiding in your house, it’s very possible that the there are no more mold spores floating around your air than any other house.  And that’s really what you’re concerned about: what am I breathing?  If you have a small pocket of dormant mold growth that’s been locked away inside some wall cavity for twenty years, is it really something to worry about?  Probably not.  Mold is not radioactive and will not creep up on you while you’re asleep! 

Keep your home dry, fix leaks when you find them and don’t defer maintenance.  Keep an eye on (and nose) on your water-prone areas and you’ll probably never have to worry about mold growth in your Nebraska home.

Without additional water added to your home’s structure, mold simply can’t grow.  Additional sources of water include failures of the plumbing system (corroded water heater, burst pipes, frozen pipes, toilet overflow), ground water (caused by bad gutters, missing or damaged sump pump, grade issues), failures of the building envelope (roof leaks, window/door leaks, trapped water vapor) or condensation caused by thermal bridges or inadequate insulation.  Regardless of where the water is coming from, the end result is the same:  mold growth.

It can be difficult to identify mold in a house if it’s hidden or has been covered up.  The following video link illustrates the problem:  Hidden Mold

So how can you determine if you’re new home has been water damaged in the past?  Here’s a simple list:

1. Water stains; look for water stains on ceilings, around windows and doors, around plumbing fixtures and on your basement walls.
2. Deformed materials; look for bubbles, blisters or any other anomalies in the finished materials.  Many materials will swell and react to water, especially after repeated or chronic exposure.
3. Unusual transitions in materials; look for odd drywall patches, changes in the drywall surface, differences in the ceiling texture finish or mismatched woodwork.  This is often a sign of a past attempt to repair or hide the damage.
4. Strange odors; if you smell stale, damp or earthy odors, it can be an indication of mold or bacteria growth.  Both require water to thrive.
5. Sick building syndrome; do you feel worse when you’re in the home or when you spend time in a certain room?  May be a sign of hidden mold.
6. Ask the neighbor; neighbors can be a very reliable source when it comes to restoration contractors that may have worked on the home in the past.

If you’re looking at buying a house and want to do your own inspection, go to the high risk areas for mold growth.  Some of the most likely places to find mold are:

1. Basement foundation walls; the exterior walls are prime real estate for water exposure and mold growth.  The most common location is the drywall surface directly behind the base trim.
2. Consider how the finished basement is insulated.  If the basement was finished off prior to the new building code changes, there could be a vapor barrier installed over the wall insulation that can trap water vapor.  Condensation and mold growth will follow.
3. The laundry or mechanical room is another great place to look at carefully.  These areas often have fixtures or appliances that can leak for a long time before being discovered.
4. Attic; attic mold is pretty common in Nebraska.  The challenging extremes in Nebraska weather can allow water vapor to condensate on the attic framing.  Over time, this moisture can result in significant mold growth.
Not sure if you have water damage or mold growth?  Call us at 402-438-2379 or 1-888-DryHero from anywhere in the Lincoln or Omaha Nebraska metro area and we’ll provide you a free courtesy inspection.

by Ritch Paprocki - DryHero

Mold is common in both indoor and outdoor environments and plays a vital role in the earth’s ecology by decomposing organic matter such as dead trees and leaves.  As a result, we all have routine mold exposure to mold, which may occur through inhalation, ingestion, and touching moldy surfaces.  The most common source of mold exposure for people living or working in moldy indoor environments is inhalation of spores.

When indoor environments are impacted by water damage and subsequent mold growth, our health can be affected.  Adverse health effects may include: allergic reactions; toxic effects and irritation; and even infections.

The mere presence of mold growth does not necessarily mean that people present in the area will suffer health effects.  However, as the amount of mold contaminated materials increases, so do potential exposures.  Certain exposures may represent a significant risk to individuals with underlying health conditions such as asthma, compromised immune systems, or allergies.

Evidence linking mold exposures to severe human health effects is documented in reports of occupational disease, particularly in forestry and agricultural settings where inhalation exposures were typically high and/or chronic.  The intensity of mold exposure and associated health effects experienced in undisturbed indoor environments is usually much less severe than that experienced by agricultural or forestry workers.  With the possible exception of exposures from mold remediation work, such high-level exposures are not expected indoors.

Although high-level exposures are unlikely to occur in undisturbed indoor settings, chronic exposures to lower levels may still raise health concerns.  Several factors influence the likelihood that individuals might experience health effects following exposure to mold in indoor environments.  These include: the nature of the type of mold (e.g., allergenic, toxic/irritant, or infectious), the degree of exposure (amount and duration); and the susceptibility of exposed people. 

Susceptibility varies with genetic predisposition, age, state of health, concurrent exposures, and previous sensitization.  It is not possible to determine “safe” or “unsafe” levels of exposure for the general public because of
variation of individual susceptibility, lack of standardized and validated environmental exposure sampling methods, and lack of reliable biological markers.

In addition to the adverse health effects associated with exposure to mold, in 2004, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported health risks associated with living in damp indoor environments.  The IOM reported evidence suggesting an association between damp indoor environments and the development of asthma. Reported respiratory symptoms included, wheezing, coughing, and exacerbation of asthma.

The Good Old Days
The history of flood damage restoration is an interesting one.  Back in the mid 1980’s I worked as a restoration technician for ServiceMaster.  On water and flood damaged homes, one of the first things we did was cut out and remove the wet carpet.  We would transport the carpet to a warehouse and hang it over a large rack and “dry” it.  And yes, we brought it back and had it reinstalled in your home…with a few more seams.

Wet carpet pad would always be disposed and wet drywall or base trim was usually left to air dry.  We didn’t use a single moisture meter or piece of moisture testing equipment.  We used our eyes and hands to determine how damaged something was and if it could be salvaged.

Restoration equipment such as dehumidifiers and fans were very basic and used sparingly.  Within a couple of days a 50 pint dehumidifier and a few fans dried everything that had been flood damaged.
Moisture meters eventually allowed restorers to identify more flood damaged materials and remove them.  But fans and dehumidifiers were mostly unchanged. If you removed everything that was wet, drying out a wet basement wasn’t real difficult.

Flood Damage Restoration Today
Today, the advancements in the flood damage restoration industry is inspiring.  Robust moisture meters allow us to detect water in places we couldn’t even access in the past.  Structural drying has become a true science and almost an art form. 

Restorers have the ability to predict from the beginning of the restoration project which materials can be saved, which will have to be removed and how long it should take to accomplish.  We can actually prove that a flooded home has been thoroughly dried and document actual moisture content.

Dehumidifiers and fans are continuously improved, allowing them to evaporate more water in less time.  Restorers can dry almost any material that is structurally damaged by water and surgically remove those that are. 

The end result of this constant evolution is that flood damaged homes are restored more quickly, for less money and with higher customer satisfaction levels. 

Recently, many mold infestations have occurred in newly constructed buildings. The theory is that this is due primarily to poor construction practices, the use of substandard materials, and increased air tightness of new construction techniques. Increased air-tightness of newly buildt structures can trap moisture in exterior walls, creating an environment for mold growth. In buildings with mold problems, centralized heating and air-conditioning systems can pick up contaminants and re-circulate them throughout the building.

Regardless of construction practices, certain climate related events, such as heavy rains, cold winters and extremes in Nebraska’s seasons, can cause even the most carefully constructed building to support mold growth. With regard to indoor air quality, mold has been suspected in office buildings, schools, and residences as contributing to the cause of illness in humans.

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS)

Although not attributed exclusively to mold, this is a term used to describe situations in which building occupants experience acute health and comfort effects that appear to be linked to time spent in a building because all other probable causes have been ruled out. Symptoms include headaches; eye, nose, and throat irritation; dry cough; dry or itchy skin; dizziness and nausea; difficulty in concentrating; fatigue; and sensitivity to odors.

Sick building syndrome is attributed to poor or inadequate ventilation, chemical contaminants, and biological contaminants such as mold, bacteria, pollen, and viruses.  Increased air tightness of buildings in the 1970s in an effort to reduce energy consumption created environmental conditions conducive to the proliferation of microorganisms indoors.  Those same organisms can then be spread by ventilation systems.

What About Climate?

While mold is known to grow in warm, moist environments, research proves that mold can grow in any climate. Since 1991 the U.S. EPA has conducted research to determine what environmental conditions allow mold growth. The focus of their investigation has been on material properties, climate conditions, and microorganism interactions. According to the executive summary, “One of the most significant technical results from this project is that the effect of relative humidity is indirect and that very small amounts of moisture, well below those commonly cited, will permit growth.” Therefore, Lincoln and Omaha Nebraska homes are certainly not immune to mold growth.

If left untreated for a long period of time, this excess water vapor will result in odors, mold growth and even structural damage (wet rot/dry rot).  Mold will begin to grow and spread. The wood framing can even start to rot. If there is foundation damage, even more water can be allowed in.  The longer crawlspace water issues are neglected, the more costly the eventual repairs.

The first step to correcting crawlspace mold growth and potential rot is to find the source of the moisture or water. If it condenses because there isn’t enough air flow in the crawlspace, determine if the crawlspace vents are blocked. If so, remove obstructions. If the vent covers are damaged replace them. You may also consider having a vent with an exhaust fan installed.

If better ventilation in the crawlspace doesn’t fix the water problem, determine where the water is entering the crawlspace and remedy it. If ground water is entering the crawlspace, this can cause significant water damage, mold grwoth and wood rot.  Although not always necessary for most crawlspaces, you may consider installing a sump pump system to remove water if there is actual crawlspace flooding.

One of the best things you can do for your wet crawlspace is to seal off the exterior vents and install dehumidification. A quality dehumidifer engineered to operate in the crawl will be effective in controlling water vapor, humidity and air quality. This will prevent the moisture from condensing and sticking to the wood and additional surfaces producing mold. It will also be a good idea to cover any exposed soil with plastic or visqueen to keep water out.

There are a few things you should do to address the water that is transmitting through the concrete foundation walls of the crawl space. Inspect the building’s gutters and confirm they are chanelling the water away from the foundation. Verify that they are clean, free of debris and fix any leaks. Make sure that the gutter downspouts drain several feet (I like to see them at least 6’ - 8’ long on homes with ground water problems) from the base of the house. Finally, as obvious as it may sound, make sure that the grade of the ground is sloping away from the house.

If the crawl space is still having water vapor issues, painting the walls with a product like Dry-lock may help. This is a product that is similar to paint, cement, and rubber all mixed in one. It is pricey but does a good job of sealing the walls. If that is not something you want to deal with, you could put in a vapor obstacle around the substructure walls and across the earthen ground of the area. The fence may also be put in under the sub flooring so the complete crawl space has been shielded by the vapor barrier. This will probably control the water vapor problem.

You can always call DryHero at 888-DryHero (888-379-4376) for professional advice.