Who can I hire to identify the cause of a mildewy smell in my house?
Question:I replaced the flooring, but the smell is seeping up from the foundation. Who does this kind of work? How much it cost to hire these pros to identify and fix it?
Answers:
My friend lives in Florida and discovered mold & mildew in her bathroom, from the toilet leaking under the flooring.. It has spread all through out the bathroom. She has a company taking care of it for $1300.00, but then she has to have the bathroom entirely re-done, as all the flooring, tiles counters, everything, have to be removed.
In Florida, mold & mildew is common and you can look up people that take care of it in the Yellow Pages. They advertise on the TV all the time, too.
If you cannot locate a company in your phone book, contact your local County Environmental agency and they will help guide you.
It can turn into a serious health problem, so this is something you want to have a professional ( licensed, bonded, insured ), take care of for you. You definitely don't want to think you can just "live with it", as it will spread and is potentially harmful to your respiratory system.
I don't know what country you are from but here in the United States we learned about mildew in middle school. Simply water, under foundation is increasing in germs untill it makes a smell. That is the cause. Now, repair is done by repairing cracks in the foundation to prevent the water from reaching air. It is not expensive, less than $10000 or $15000 to repair the foundation plus the cost of replacing every floor covering.
Have you tried a dehumidifier? It should help cost a little over a hundred dollard..
You can call a plumber but that will cost way too much. I suggest you get a dehumidifier and place it in the basement or in your home to draw out the moisture. It sounds like the foundation & wood are wet which smell like mildew. If you suck the moisture out, the smell will go away.
If you have wood floors, they can attract mold and the moisture will seep through the cracks and keep the carpeting damp (if that is what you have) and it can cause deterioration of the fibers and cause mold to form, thus sinus, and breathing infections.
Try closing off what furnace vents you do not use to keep the moisture from coming through the vents. Change the furnace filters often and the mildew and mold particles reduce.
Call Lowes or someplace to find out how much the humidifier might cost.
Mine was on sale for about $125 for a good sized one. It works and the air is cleaner too. Your air conditioning won't work as hard either since the humidity is gone.
You might get a hold of a contractor that installs gutters and see if maybe the water can be carried away from the foundation when it rains.
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