One of the great gifts we had in the early days of our flood relief efforts was a large corp of volunteers who came to help. What they lacked in training they made up in enthusiasm, and our goal in the early stages was to start drying as quickly as possible, which has allowed us to clear over 130 houses in a three week period.
However, that demolition wasn’t always the most thorough, leaving nails in studs, pieces of drywall and insulation, and sometimes cuts in the drywall that weren’t very even. Thus the second phase of our recovery efforts will involve two parts: detailing and treatment.
Detailing involves going back to a house to clean up the clean up, ensuring that all materials are removed, that all nails are pulled from the studs, and that everything is prepared for treatment and rebuilding.
Treatment involves the use of chemicals and and a wood sealer to kill bacteria and mold, and make sure there is no medium for growth in the future.
Thus, our protocol for phase 2 is as follows:
Step 1 — Detailing
Removal of nails and extra material as well as ensuring all cuts in drywall and paneling are straight and ready for rebuilding.
Step 2 — Bleach/Water Treatment
Our partners with Samaritan’s Purse have brought in a flood remediation expert who has done testing in houses throughout Nashville. That testing has show that while mold is always a problem, the bigger issue in our flood is bacteria from sewage. Thus while our normal tendency is to resist the use of bleach, the experts suggest that a bleach wash is in fact the best bacterial treatment currently available. This wash should be done with a diluted bleach solution mixed at 1 cup bleach to 1 gallon of water, with proper scrubbing of all surfaces. Power washers are not recommended as these put more water into the wood, delaying drying even further. Following this treatment, the house should be allowed to dry for three or four days before moving to the next step in order to avoid toxicity. The United Methodist Flood Relief effort is pursuing a grant with FEMA to discern a less toxic means of treatment, but it is currently not available.
Step 3 — Moldicide Treatment
The experts from Samaritan’s Purse have suggested that this may not be necessary depending on the situation, but past and current experience tells us that mold is likely to continue to be a problem, so we are recommending a treatment with a moldicide, such as Moldblaster or Shockwave. These chemicals are ammonia based and must not be mixed directly with bleach as toxic fumes will result. This is why we urge adequate drying from step 2 before one moves to the third step. Again, these chemicals work best when mold spores are scrubbed and colonies removed.
Step 4 — Sealing
Experience in Mississippi and Louisiana suggests that the best way to ensure that mold will not appear in wood structures is to paint all studs will oil-based Kilz primer. This can be applied with a sprayer, although the chalky nature of this “paint” can tend to gum up a sprayer, or a brush. All surfaces of the wood should be painted so as to ensure adequate protection. However, this treatment should only be done after the moisture level in the beams and studs has decreased to below 20%.
We believe that this protocol is the best option for ensuring that your house is safe and sound for many years in the future.
