The first step in How to Decontaminate A House after a flood or fire is to establish what you need to do. There’s no one-step process that will work for every situation, but these steps should help you get started:
Establish ways to decontaminate.
Once you’ve determined that there’s mould in your home, it’s time to get serious about decontaminating the area. There are several different ways you can do this, which will depend on how much mould is present and what kind of surface it’s growing on.
- If a HEPA vacuum or steam cleaner doesn’t get rid of all the visible mold, try using a wet/dry vacuum or disinfectant spray.
- If these methods don’t work either, mix up an equal solution of water and bleach (1 cup per gallon) and use that as a final method for removing any remaining spores from your furniture or floors.
If possible, keep the house closed up for at least 24 hours after treatment so that any remaining spores have time to die before being released into the air again by being disturbed by opening doors or windows.
Inspect and clean the air duct system.
The last step to decontaminating a house is to inspect and clean the air duct system. This may still be mouldy, even if you’ve cleaned up the rest of your home. Mould growth in the air ducts can pose serious health risks for anyone who breathes in these spores, so it’s important that you take care of this area as well.
To clean your air duct system:
Inspect it for signs of mould or mildew; if you find any, take care of those first before cleaning out the entire system.
Clean out with a vacuum designed for HEPA filters (you can get one at any hardware store). Make sure that there are no holes or cracks in which bacteria could enter through after vacuuming! If there are holes or cracks, patch them up with some epoxy glue and let dry overnight before finishing up work on this step tomorrow morning so nothing else leaks into our clean environment during this process…
Deal with pests in your home.
If there are any pests in your home, you’ll need to clean them up before you can begin decontamination. Use a vacuum to clean up any insects or spiders and then disinfect the vacuum with an appropriate disinfectant.
You should also use an appropriate disinfectant on any carpets or rugs that have been contaminated by pests. If you have air ducts, vents or fans in your home (which are common places for bugs to hide), be sure to clean these out as well.
Next, you should use an appropriate disinfectant to clean any surfaces that have been contaminated by pests. For example, if there are bugs on the floor or walls in your home, you’ll need to spray these areas with a disinfectant after vacuuming them up.
Vacuum the carpet and rugs.
You should use a HEPA vacuum cleaner for this step. You want to clean all carpets and rugs, as well as upholstery and all other surfaces that could collect dirt.
Vacuum each room thoroughly, including closets and cabinets. Make sure to vacuum around baseboards, vents and other areas where dirt can collect.
Once you’ve finished vacuuming, empty your vacuum cleaner’s bag or bin into a sealed plastic container that can be disposed of with other household trash (or if you’re using bagless technology, make sure the filter is clean before storing it away).
Conclusion
We hope that you found this How to Decontaminate A House blog post helpful. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to ask away in the comments section. We’re here to help!