Learning one your addresses has mold can cause instant panic because solving this major health hazard requires time and money that wasn’t budgeted.
The best way to prevent mold in new homes is to be extra careful during the early stages. Once the drywall is installed, mold can thrive unnoticed and create a nightmare for the homeowner and expensive callbacks for you.
Unfortunately, even the most seasoned homebuilders can be affected by mold.
If you’re in a situation where multiple new builds are suddenly plagued with mold, bringing in the experts at DPIS can save you big time and money on the backend.
Our region’s warm temperatures and high humidity is the perfect recipe for mold, but the weather isn’t the only problem.
Modern homes are built to be energy efficient and are increasingly “tight” which reduces the number of natural air changes per hour and makes the HVAC system almost solely responsible for ventilating and dehumidifying the home. In addition to designing HVAC systems, we thoroughly inspect areas where moisture can wreak havoc.
Our approach starts by inspecting the wood. Rain and morning humidity can seep into your stacks of lumber and even if you cover it with a tarp, there can still be moisture between the boards.
If your lumber has a higher than 19 percent moisture content and construction continues past drywall, you can have sheetrock cracks above windows and doors, nail “pops” and you guessed it, mold.
So, we check moisture content and look for visible mold as part of our thorough inspection process.
Typical sources of moisture which leads to mold are roof leaks, plumbing leaks, and air conditioning duct or condensate line leakage.
We thoroughly examine the roof, exterior siding, and windows to ensure all gaps are sealed before giving the go-ahead to start the next stage.
Good airflow hinders mold growth. As a trusted engineering and inspection partner, we don’t just identify errors, we create solutions.
We now offer HVAC Design to include Manual’s J (Heat Load), D (Duct Design), and S (System Selection). Our ducting layouts are integrated with engineering to ensure that all structural components will coincide with the mechanical system equipment and ducting, so the frame and building envelop are protected and there’s for the correct system.
If you’re ready to protect your reputation, timeline, and bottom line, by minimizing the chances of mold in new homes, then give DPIS a call.
