Mold

[Demonseed]

I have a mold remediation manual that has a lot of this info already sorted, if Tandy is interested I could send it to him.

[Nick Arrera]

This is all great info .
Is there much call for it ?
Where do i sign up to be Certified ?

[TFP Admin]

Nick Arrera said Where do i sign up to be Certified ?

I have a feeling that the FITS Certified team will be doing a class on this. I certainly don't speak for them, but it does seem a natural calling for them. I hope it happens.

Jim

[Nick Arrera]

I'll second that .

[Tandy Reeves]

Thanks for the offer Demonseed. Since I am retired, I am not adding to my data base.

When I advertised that I do mold testing, I did a lot of testing. However, this was when the mold scare was at its high point. I do a little now from people that know I have the equipment.

I stopped teaching the class because so many shysters and crooks got into the testing and remediation of mold. As a result people were getting ripped off right and left. Demonseed I am sure can verify this. I just did not want FITS and my name involved. Don't get me wrong, there are some very good and honest testers and remediators out there as well as schools. Also, law suites are rampant in this field.

[Tandy Reeves]

I us EMLab for all my test samples. This is a great company and seem always ready to answer questions and help you any way they can. Environmental Microbiology Laboratory is their web address go to this site and click on the different categories for great information.

A VERY SERIOUS WORD OF CAUTION: Never and I mean never look at mold and tell someone what species it is or if it is harmless or dangerous. Of the approximately 63,000 varieties found, only a fraction of them have ever been identified. Fortunately, even fewer are allergenic or cause disease in humans and animals. The goal of sampling is to determine what biological particulates are present in your environment and what effects they would have on individuals. Remember when you get the report back from the lab do not attempt to interpret the result for your client. You are not a microbiologist or a doctor.

I will include a complete analysis of an actual test I conducted about one month ago. It will be coming up soon. Got to get some names and addresses off of it.

[Tandy Reeves]

I would like to ask a favor of all of you installers. Hopefully from reading about mold and other airborne particulates and how easy we breath in material we cannot see.

Now think about that that dirty flooring material, old carpet cushion, and carpet you roll up and lift it to your shoulder to carry it off the job site. When you flop that on your shoulder, can you imagine the germs and filth you cannot see entered the air you are about to walk through breathing in this material.

The favor is ask is when doing this please slip on a face mask to prevent this stuff from entering your lungs and then your system. Also, remember you are carrying these particulates on your clothes when you go home.

Good luck and good health to all of you.

Tandy

[Nick Arrera]

That is the main reason i won't put used cpt in my van Tandy .

[mcbrides]

We refer to some of that debris as dead people's skin cells. Some of our ripouts are that old. You are right, we should be wearing masks. When we ask customers to vacuum first, they look at us like we have two heads.

[Tandy Reeves]

Vacuuming the carpet before take up is a good idea. However, that primarily takes care of only the debris that is large enough to fall out of the carpet and cannot get into your lungs. Unless they have a vacuum with a hepa filter, the micron debris (that can be breathed into your lungs) is going to be airborne the same as when you lift it to your shoulders to carry it out. Remember it is the stuff you cannot see that is entering your lungs. It will absolutely amaze you how rapid these micron particulates can become airborne. We will go into that more later.

[Nick Arrera]

ever notice how you have to empty your pouch of cpt fiber every now and then just from using your knife and putting it back in the pouch .
that tells me you are breathing new fibers when installing also .

[mcbrides]

Amazingly enough, we routinely choke on all of the loose fibre attached to product from our cash & garrry guy, but when we pick up an order from our Carpet One dealer, we immediately notice a lack of loose fibre on the product. They don't vacuum, but do sweep the floor between making cuts.

[Tandy Reeves]

Lets explore some of the micron size particles that can and do wind up in your lungs. After doing certain jobs, do you have headaches, or runny nose, or a cough, or shortness of breath, or dizziness, or sneezing. If so it may have come from you put airborne during the installation procedures.

For example, cat allergy: The major cat allergen, called Fel d 1, is found in cat saliva, dander from sebaceous glands in the skin, fur and anal sebaceous glands.

For more information google Fel d 1 and enjoy (yuck).

Now it is your turn to name an airborne particle

[mcbrides]

Tandy Reeves said For example, cat allergy: The major cat allergen, called Fel d 1, is found in cat saliva, dander from sebaceous glands in the skin, fur and anal sebaceous glands.

Bingo, that's the worst one for us (especially Deb), she never had an issue with cats before working with me in this trade, but since she has suffered so badly working in cat occupied houses, and some not very clean, she abhors them.

[Wesley Holley]

This is one reason when writing inspection reports I never state that I found mold.
I always write "A mold like substance was evident" etc..etc.. Since I don't test for mold.