Englishtown, NJ's Expert Mold Solutions

Recently, a two-person crew from Cowleys Mold Solutions division was sent to a home in Englishtown, NJ  to treat a mold problem that had developed in the garage. This was one of those cases that highlight that the water or moisture intrusion event that triggers mold growth can be almost anything. Here, the homeowners had a pinhole leak in their dryer vent that vented into the garage instead of venting outside. 

When the warm dryer air hit the cool garage wall, the moisture condensed and formed water droplets. That was enough to trigger mold growth. Once there is water and the right temperature, all mold needs is some organic material to feed on. Mold “food” includes processed building materials like sheetrock. As you can see from the attached photos, speckled black mold had formed on the wall. This homeowners replaced the dryer vent and contacted Cowleys to resolve the mold problem. Even though the mold was in the garage, the microscopic mold spores can circulate anywhere and eventually find their way into the living areas of the home. The mold had to be treated or it would continue to spread. 

Generally, when treating mold with our process, it is not necessary to remove building materials, including sheetrock, unless they are water-damaged and there is a loss of structural integrity. Here, the underlying sheetrock was still in good condition despite the mold growth.  As such, the homeowners were able to avoid an extensive tear out/renovation project. Instead, we were able to treat the mold directly and leave the building materials alone. 

We treated the mold-affected areas of the garage with two different applications. First, we applied an EPA-registered antimicrobial (MAPS 1). We then followed that application with a patented proprietary sealant (MAPS 2). This product, available only to authorized licensees, encapsulates the mold and kills it on contact. Any mold treated with this sealant is rendered harmless and non-allergenic. The sealant kills not only the existing mold. It is moisture-sensitive and has the ability to reactivate and kill any future mold growth as well. 

With this particular assignment, we were able to successfully and completely treat the mold in less than a day. These homeowners, like many, have heard horror stories about finding mold in homes and they were worried about what may be entailed to rid their home of mold. Needless to say, these homeowners were relieved to find a mold treatment process that effectively and permanently treated the mold while avoiding the expense and hassle of removing the mold-affected sheetrock.  

The owner of a pet resort in Englishtown that offers pet daycare and overnight boarding became aware, in a somewhat unusual way, that mold was growing inside a section of their building’s interior walls. A dog that was boarding there had dog scratched away a part of the wall, exposing the hidden mold. The dog had likely smelled the mold and was curious to see what on earth could be causing such a foul-smelling odor. Dogs have an incredibly keen sense of smell, so for them, identifying mold hidden behind walls would be pretty easy. A for may not know what it is, but they sure know it stinks. The owner quickly made the call to Mold Solutions By Cowleys for whatever mold remediation work was necessary to protect their health and the health of the pets that they care for.

The Mold Solutions team went to work using our MAPS system. We area that we treated was a room used for holding pens. First, using electrostatic fogging, we applied an anti-microbial that kills surface mold and airborne mold spores. Although the walls had mold growth, they were still structurally sound. In these situations, Mold Solutions can successfully and permanently resolve a mold problem while avoiding a costly and extensive tear-out of perfectly good building materials. Instead, with our process, we treat the mold itself. After the anti-microbial application, we used electrostatic fogging to apply our patented, proprietary sealant that coats and kills the mold, and prevents the spores from further spreading. Any microorganism, including mold, viruses, and bacteria that comes into contact with this sealant immediately dies. However, what makes this sealant unique is its built-in “moisture intelligence.” This sealant has the ability to travel through any surface water and seek out the moisture in mold spores where it then reactivates to prevent any future mold growth. The MAPS system and its patented sealant not only kill today’s mold but tomorrow’s mold as well. When mold spores come into contact with this sealant, they are destroyed at the cellular level. The mold is no longer allergenic or otherwise harmful. So, when the Mold Solutions team finishes a mold project, we’ve not only removed the existing mold, but we’ve laid the groundwork to prevent mold from returning to those areas that we’ve treated.

When we treated the mold, the building materials were dry, so further inspection will be required to determine the source of the water intrusion. Because mold requires water or moisture to grow, it is essential to identify the underlying water or moisture issue that caused the mold growth in the first place. Our objective is to permanently resolve a mold problem, and that requires identifying and repairing the underlying water problem. If the underlying conditions causing the mold growth are not resolved, there is always the potential for mold to return. With hidden mold growth inside walls, the problem is usually either a slow leaky pipe or a roof leak causing seepage from above. If the volume of water is not enough to stain or seep through the drywall or acoustic tile, the problem often remains undetected unless someone can smell the mold or an occupant of the structure starts to develop allergy symptoms. If someone has chronic allergies, it is important to rule out mold as the underlying cause. The owner of this pet facility was fortunate that one of his “guests” had such a refined sense of smell and took it upon himself to “do some digging” in order to satisfy his curiosity about the offending odor.