Mold starts with water you can find
Mold in a Lafayette house is rarely a mystery once someone traces it back. Spores ride in on every breeze and every pair of shoes, so they are present in any home. Wood framing, drywall paper, ceiling tile, carpet backing and plain household dust give them food. What decides whether a stain on the closet wall stays a stain or spreads across a room is water: how much reaches the material, and how long it stays there.
That is the core idea behind every sensible remediation job. Wiping or spraying growth off a surface that is still damp only resets the clock. The lasting fix has three parts, in this order: find the moisture, stop it, then dry and clean what it touched.
The station numbers for Lafayette
NOAA keeps engineering weather data for a station at Lafayette, at an elevation of 43 feet. Two parts of that record matter for a house.
First, wet-bulb hours. In an average year at the Lafayette station, NOAA counts about 2,531 hours with the wet-bulb temperature above 73°F and about 4,176 hours above 67°F. Wet-bulb temperature reflects how much water vapor the air holds, which is why engineers who size air conditioners and dehumidifiers look at it.
Second, design temperatures. The same Lafayette data gives a 1% summer design temperature of 92°F with a mean coincident wet-bulb temperature of 78°F, and a 99% winter design temperature of 32°F. Those are the conditions an HVAC designer plans a system around.
Indoors, the cooling system does most of the work of pulling that moisture out. When it can't keep up, or isn't running, the extra water ends up in the coolest, least ventilated places in the house.
Where moisture tends to hide indoors
Ask a remediation company to look in the places where water collects quietly:
- The air handler and its drain. A condensate line that clogs with sludge can back up into the pan, then into a closet floor or the ceiling below an attic unit.
- Supply ducts and registers. Cold ducts passing through a hot attic or crawlspace can sweat. Drips land on insulation and drywall, and registers can drip into the room.
- An oversized or short-cycling system. A unit that cools the rooms in a few minutes and shuts off may not run long enough to dry the air.
- Plumbing. Slow drips under sinks, behind the dishwasher and refrigerator, around toilet seals and at the water heater can soak a cabinet base for months.
- The building shell. Worn caulk, failed window seals, gaps at siding trim and roof flashing let rain into wall cavities, where it can't be seen.
- Bathrooms and laundry rooms. Exhaust fans that are missing, undersized or vented into the attic leave steam behind.
- Rooms that are closed off. Spare bedrooms, storage closets and a house left shut with the system turned off can grow mold on walls, furniture and stored boxes.
Louisiana's Mold Remediation license
The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors requires a Mold Remediation license for remediation projects valued at $7,500 or more, and to qualify, the license's qualifying party must have 24 hours of training in mold remediation and basic mold assessment from a board-approved provider.
Two practical steps follow from that:
1. Before you sign, look the company up on the LSLBC's license search and read what license types it holds. 2. Ask the company what the total value of your project is likely to be and, if it reaches $7,500 or more, which of its licenses covers the work.
Separately from the license, ask every bidder for proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation, and call your own insurer to find out what your policy says about mold and the water damage behind it.
Signs that call for a closer look
- a musty smell that comes back after cleaning;
- dark or greenish spotting on ceilings near vents, in closet corners or around windows;
- paint that blisters or drywall that feels soft;
- baseboards that swell or pull away from the wall;
- water stains on the ceiling below the air handler;
- condensation on supply registers or window glass.
None of these confirms how far growth has spread behind a surface. They are reasons to find the moisture and get the area opened and checked.
Keeping yourself out of harm's way
If you lift a corner of carpet or pull a panel to look, wear gloves, eye protection and a well-fitting disposable respirator, keep children and pets out of the room, and skip dry brushing or fans aimed at visible growth, which can move spores into other rooms. Anyone with health concerns about mold exposure should talk with their own doctor.
Questions for a remediation company
- What is causing the moisture, and who will fix it before cleanup begins?
- How will you seal the work area, and will you run filtered negative air?
- Which materials will come out, and which can be cleaned and kept?
- How will you dry the structure, and what moisture readings will show it is dry?
- What does the final report include before walls are closed?
- If the project is valued at $7,500 or more, which license on the LSLBC's search covers it?
- Can I see your proof of liability coverage and workers' compensation?
Get the scope on paper
Ask for a written scope listing rooms, materials, containment, drying targets and how the company will show the job is complete. Compare quotes against that same scope rather than a single total. Keep photos, reports and invoices together in one place.