As a homeowner, finding mold in your home can be very concerning. All types of thoughts start to run through your head such as: is the mold toxic or harmless, how much is this going to cost to fix, is this going to be a huge disruption to my life and will my homeowners insurance pay for it? Fortunately, there are now many companies that actually specialize in mold damage restoration, and finding one that you feel comfortable with should not be a difficult task.
Contacting Your Insurance Company
The first thing that you should do once you have found mold in your home is contact your insurance company. They will oftentimes have several mold damage restoration companies that they have previously worked with that you can contact. The insurance company may also give you a few tips to stop any further mold damage from occurring. You should also ask exactly what your policy covers when it comes to clean up and if there are any deductibles that you will need to pay.
As with most service companies you want to find the company that you feel comfortable with so start by calling the insurance company recommendations, remember these are only recommendations you are free to use any licensed and insured clean-up company you choose so don’t feel like these are your only choices. In fact, if you know someone that has recently had mold damage and had a good experience you may want to consider also calling this company for a quote.
Finding a Certified Restoration Company
When you call make sure you give each company as much information as possible so they can give you their best opinion on how to proceed. Ask lots of questions such as, how long will the process take, do you work with my insurance company, what do I do to get the process going, and most importantly will they be able to reduce the moisture levels that actually caused the problem to begin with?
When you have those questions answered ask about what types of certifications they have acquired. This is important to know because being certified means that they have gone through vigorous training and screening in order to get that certification. There are several very high quality certifications to look for such as the IICRC (Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification), which certifies the company to deal with a variety of situations including microbial remediation training.
Finding mold in your home may be unpleasant but having the mold damage restoration process completed does not have to be, so find a company that has good training, good certifications and will work with you and your insurance company, so the work can be completed properly and with little inconvenience to your everyday routine.
