top of page

Current Project

Draft book cover for Mold Controlled by John C Banta

Mold Controlled

Mold Controlled is a practical guide to find, avoid and fix problems in water damaged homes. The book will focus on both prevention methods, and how to identify existing problems and how to proceed.

 

With so much at stake, which may include our own health, this book aims to provide the reader with tools and knowledge to arm him or her against the issues in a dynamic and ever present threat.

Excerpt from Mold Controlled:
How to Clean your Home Effectively

​

Most home cleaning fixates on how good your home looks afterwards and ignores how clean your home actually is. Small particles such as residual mold spores and fungal fragments persist even after normal cleaning methods. For example, typical sweeping or mopping spreads the spores from one place to another but doesn’t remove them from the home. Vacuums can also spread particulate matter around. While they are good at sucking up filth, including mold, the majority of vacuums then spit the really small particles, like mold spores, back into the air. Over time the particles dispersed in the air will settle throughout the surfaces of your home.

​

This chapter will provide you with some simple changes to your cleaning practices that will help you eliminate these particles from your home. There are 10 simple changes you can make, and I will explain each one in greater detail:​

Drawing of mold spores

​

  1. Ban the broom

  2. Always use a properly functioning true HEPA vacuum cleaner

  3. Vacuum from all directions

  4. Remove and empty the vacuum collection bag or canister outside

  5. Check to see how much dirt you miss when you vacuum

  6. HEPA vacuum before performing wet or damp cleaning

  7. Clean hard surfaces with microfiber cleaning cloths

  8. Monitor how effectively you have cleaned hard surfaces

  9. Use common, safe household products for cleaning effectively

  10. Avoid dangerous ineffective products

 

Cleaning practices are beneficial in all homes and critical in damaged homes. Mold is present almost everywhere in the outdoor environment. Inevitably spores work their way into and settle inside your home. There is no home currently being built that can prevent the migration of mold spores. Spores can float on tiny air currents through cracks and crevices or by way of other pathways such as electrical switches, outlets and other penetrations found in walls, ceilings and floors. A crack the size of a human hair is like a freeway for mold spores.

​

​

Table of Contents
Sneak Peak

  • Section I - About Mold

    • Chapter One - Outdoor Molds

    • Chapter Two - Normal Indoor Molds

    • Chapter Three - Mold Growth in Wet Buildings

    • Chapter Four - Problem Buildings

​

  • Section II - Mold Investigations and Water Damage Evaluations

    • Chapter Five - Responding to Emergency Water Damage

    • Chapter Six - Mold and Health

    • Chapter Seven - The Mold Inspection Process

    • Chapter Eight - Mold Sampling and Analysis

    • Chapter Nine - What Does it All Mean, Interpreting Results

​

  • Section III - Mold Remediation

    • Chapter Ten - Developing a Plan

    • Chapter Eleven - Mold Mitigation

    • Chapter Twelve - Remediation

    • Chapter Thirteen - When Remediation Fails

​

  • Section IV - Personal Possessions

    • Chapter Fourteen - The Things You Own

​

  • Section V - After the Remediation

    • Chapter Fifteen - Before the Reconstruction

    • Chapter Sixteen - Reconstruction

    • Chapter Seventeen - Effective Cleaning   *Now Posted

    • Chapter Seventeen and a half - Microfibers *Available to Contributors

    • Chapter Eighteen - Review of Air Filters, Purifiers and Other Devices

    • Chapter Nineteen - Renting a Home

    • Chapter Twenty - Buying a Home or Condominium

bottom of page