Question: I work in a 100 year old wooden building that suffered from flood conditions last fall. The basement is a dirt floor and has very high spore counts and visible mold. The upstairs suffered from visible mold and high mold counts. The remedial work that has taken place is to put a polythene vapour barrier between the basement and the upstairs. Is this an adequate solution to the problem.

Thank you.

Answer: The solution you’ve described sounds inadequate. Any material with visible mold should have been cleaned or replaced if it could not be easily cleaned. The cause of flooding should also have been investigated and corrected. Since there are no mold remediation standards most mold remediators and restoration contractors follow existing mold guidelines. All the guidelines outline procedures to be followed to clean up the mold. Below are some Mold Guidelines and other useful resources.

• Guidance for Clinicians on the Recognition and
  Management of Health Effects Related to Mold Exposure and
  Moisture Indoors 

   

• Fungal Contamination in Public Buildings:
  Health Effects and Investigation Methods 

  Health Canada – This document is a revision of an
  earlier version published by Health Canada and the
  Federal-Provincial Advisory Committee on Environmental and
  Occupational Health (CEOH) in 1995.

• Mould Guidelines for the Canadian
  Construction Industry 

  Canadian Construction Association (CCA) – Recent
  rerelease of CCA 82. Hard copies can also be purchased from
  your local construction associations.

• Environmental Abatement Council of Ontario (EACO) Mould Abatement Guidelines.
• Guidelines on Assessment and Remediation of Mold in Indoor EnvironmentsNew York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene