Mold in Punta Gorda homes
Punta Gorda sits on Charlotte Harbor, and for most of the year the air around it is warm and full of water. Mold needs moisture, warmth and something to feed on, such as drywall paper, wood or dust. A Punta Gorda house supplies the warmth and food all year. Moisture is the variable, and it usually arrives through a storm-damaged roof, a leaking window, a plumbing drip, an air conditioner drain that backs up, or a house closed up for months while its owners are away.
What Florida counts as mold remediation
Florida law defines mold remediation as the removal, cleaning, sanitizing, demolition or other treatment of mold or mold-contaminated matter covering more than 10 square feet that was not purposely grown there, and bars anyone from performing or offering it without meeting the state's mold-services licensing law.
Ten square feet is a small area, a patch a little over three feet on each side. Anything beyond that is work for a company that meets the state's mold-services law.
Two roles, kept apart
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation licenses mold remediators who pass the licensing exam and have documented training in water, mold and respiratory protection. A mold remediator may not perform a mold assessment on a structure its company remediated within the previous 12 months, and a mold assessor may not remediate a structure it assessed in that period, with an exception for certain Division I contractors.
In practice, that often means two companies:
- An assessor inspects, finds the extent of the growth and the moisture behind it, and writes up what needs to be done.
- A remediator sets up containment, removes and cleans materials, and dries the area.
Ask each company which role it is playing on your job, and look up its license on DBPR's search at myfloridalicense.com.
The humidity
NOAA has no engineering weather station in Punta Gorda. The nearest is at Fort Myers, about 25 miles south. In an average year it counts about 3,353 hours with the wet-bulb temperature above 73°F and about 5,545 hours above 67°F, the measure engineers use to flag a humid climate. Those figures describe the region, not readings taken in Punta Gorda.
Air that wet doesn't dry a house out on its own. Indoors, the air conditioner is the main dehumidifier. A system that is oversized, short-cycles, or is turned off while a house sits empty lets humidity build, and mold can follow in closets, behind furniture and on the backs of cabinets.
Storms and leaks
On August 13, 2004, the eye of Hurricane Charley passed over Punta Gorda, and the National Hurricane Center reported that the eyewall struck the city and neighboring Port Charlotte with devastating results, causing catastrophic wind damage in Charlotte County. NOAA's data for Fort Myers lists a 50-year basic wind speed of 140 mph and a 100-year rainfall rate of 4.5 inches per hour.
After any storm, the mold risk is in what stays wet: ceiling drywall under a damaged roof, insulation in a wall behind a broken window, carpet and pad. Get the water stopped and the wet materials out or dried within a day or two if you can, and photograph everything first.
Questions for a remediation company
- Who did the assessment, and is your company separate from it?
- How will you contain the work area, and will you use filtered negative air pressure?
- Which materials come out, and which can be cleaned?
- How will you dry the space, and what moisture readings will show it is dry?
- What will the final paperwork show before the walls are closed?
- What caused the moisture, and who will fix it?
Insurance disputes
If your claim is disputed, Florida's Division of Consumer Services, in the Department of Financial Services, advocates for policyholders free of charge through its Insurance Consumer Helpline, 1-877-693-5236, and offers a free, non-binding mediation program for residential property insurance claim disputes. Read your policy's mold terms, keep every report and invoice, and don't sign over your benefits before you understand the scope.
Before you hire
Get the scope in writing from both the assessor and the remediator, with rooms, materials, containment and how completion will be shown. Compare remediation quotes on that same scope.