Steamatic of Sacramento Healthy Home Blog

Hot off the Presses: Mold Standard for New Construction

Best practices for preventing moisture and mold damage in new construction have been rolled out in a new national standard. 

 

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has approved the GREENGUARD Mold and Moisture Management Standard for New Construction, according to a recent press release from the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI). An electronic or hard copy version of the standard is now available for purchase at this link.

 

ANSI approved a similar standard for the restoration industry in 2008. Adhering to the ANSI/IICRC S520 Standard and Reference Guild for Professional Mold Remediationis a must when performing mold remediation work in existing buildings, according to Charles Cassani, the owner of Steamatic of Sacramento. “It’s all about risk management.” 

Cassani believes the new best practices guidelines will be a godsend to restoration reconstruction companies, remodeling contractors, architects and builders.
 

Moisture, and in turn mold, can ruin indoor environmental quality, compromise building materials  and building systems and cost thousands of dollars to fix. The new construction standard details design, construction and maintenance practices for preventing the harmful growth of mold, according to GEI.

 

ANSI doesn’t develop national standards itself. Rather, it facilitates development by establishing consensus among qualified groups.

 

Founded in 2001, GEI is a third-party organization that oversees the GREENGUARD Certification program. The institute’s mission is to protect human health and the quality of life through programs that improve indoor air.

 

Cleaning up sh**! What property managers need to know

Having a sewer backup or a toilet overflow at one of your properties stinks ─ literally or figuratively.  But with some basic knowledge about cleanup you will come up smelling like roses. Clichés aside, the best way to clean up contaminated water is following the standard of care outlined in the S500 water damage standard.

 

Here are the four steps.

 

1. Unsanitary water is a health hazard. Make sure your restoration contractor or custodian wears protective gear and keeps people away during the cleanup. Depending on the size affected, containment with negative pressurization may be warranted.

 

2. Know that using air movers for the initial drying will spew unseen contaminants into the air. Use dehumidifiers instead!

 

3. Realize that porous materials like drywall and carpet that have been affected by the black water should be cut out, not cleaned. Non porous surfaces like tile floors should be cleaned with hot water before anti microbials are applied.  

 

4. Once the dry down is finished, have the job site sampled for the presence of E Coli and fecal coliform. This is an inexpensive test for quality assurance. The last phase is the build back if replacement of drywall or carpet is required.

 

As with any water damage repair, doing the job right is good risk management. And, given the potential of bacteria contamination on top of mold growth, it will save money in the long run.

 

As a preferred vendor for the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District for more than 10 years, Steamatic of Sacramento has more experience cleaning up sewage than any restoration company in Sacramento.

 

Company owner Charles Cassani also teaches water damage restoration classes to insurance adjusters and property managers. With 38 years in the business, there isn’t much he hasn’t seen. Feel free to email him or to phone him for advice.

 

Steamatic of Sacramento’s 24-hour number is 916-386-8191. The website is here:

Small Business v. Insurance Giants

After Assemblyman and small business owner Roger Niello's editorial in the Sacramento Bee on October 3, 2009 about government regulations affect on small business, I felt compelled to weigh in on the matter.  Most of us small business owners feel there is nothing we can do about our day-to-day regulation issues.  Today there was another article in the Sacramento Bee about a business issue with a bigger giant - insurance companies.  A group of 40 Northern California body shop owners gathered with the intent of filing a class action suit against State Farm Insurance: One individual, with the fortitude to take a stand, rightly or wrongly, is pleading his case to yet a higher authority, the justice system, and he seeks numbers to enhance his case.  He claims the insurance company representatives guide their claimants to "preferred" vendors and thereby deny an equal playing field for all qualified vendors.  Of course, the management of the carrier denies this and paints a rather negative picture of the accuser.  Here are the facts as I see them.

First, the claims handling model of this insurance carrier is simple and effective: Hire bright, college graduates, provide a moderate income, extol the well-established virtues of a large, financially sound American Institution, isolate them from the local claims communities (adjuster-vendor educational associations, educational events offered by associated organizations) and let them experience the day-to-day questionable claims with insureds who justify their behavior with "I've paid premiums for 20 years and this is my first claim."  It does not take long for claims personnel to sour on the job and their desire to persuade the claimant to use someone of their choosing and whom they control.  Of course, management stays blind to this reality and can empower their mid-west, Protestant Ethics, along with a good dose of naivete to plead their very well financed and legally represented case.  

Second, giants like State Farm Insurance, can squash a small operator or 40 small operators if they so desire.  They are exempt from antitrust laws that are designed to encourage competition in the marketplace; their accuser(s) are not.  If 40 independent body shop owners organize to discuss prices lower than what the Farm pays, discuss that they would guarantee the work in all 40 locations and claim that their behavior was unsanctioned and not intended to harm State Farm, they would likely be charged for violating the Sherman Act, the federal antitrust law, also known as the "competition law."

Lastly, it may be possible to win a battle but you could likely lose the war.  One of our brightest and most honorable national association members fronted the move to pass legislation known as the Colorado Insurance Consumer Freedom Of Choice Bill in 2007 that prevents insurance companies from dictating which restoration company must be used in covered property repair insurance losses. House and Senate concurred that passage of bill would safeguard public against monopolies, trusts and market barriers, as well as foster and encourage competition. This gentleman's business nearly went broke since then in spite of his national reputation for superior, ethical service to his customers.

(Download Colorado Governor Signs Consumer Freedom of Choice Bill)

Consequences of over-regulating samll businesses - my thoughts

Assemblyman Niello aptly points out that small businesses take the brunt of over-regulation intended for the "greedy" corporations and aimed at protecting consumers, workers and the environment.  He also indicates that the large corporations have the resources and ability to stay "a step" ahead of the regulators.  Once again, government misses the target of its intended legislation and it falls literally on the backs of 99.2% of the "employer" or small businesses.

My perspective of this tragedy is based on 40 years as a small business owner and one who is attempting to survive the worst economic conditions in those 40 years.

Principled and Character-Based Businesses Owners Suffer The Most

Historically, here's what happens to owners with integrity and principles - they loose out to unscrupulous business entities that undercut prices and disregard regulations, labor laws, and every other civility desired in a business organization, especially in difficult economic times.

I live on a dead end street where people routinely drop off their garbage, unwanted pets (most get adopted - we have two) and other unmentionables.  I see it on a regular basis.  We have posted signage from the county about the fines for illegal dumping but it continues since no one monitors the street from 12:00 a.m. until 3:00 a.m. when most of it occurs.   Homeowners all pay a utility fee for garbage and other disposal services - dumpers do not.  We collective pay for them since the County provides the clean-up and includes the price in our fees.

Same goes for shell businesses with contract or illegal labor who disregard the regulations, do not have insurance and bid a job for half the price as a legitimate business.  Shopping the lowest price without due diligence is no different than dumping your garbage and having someone else clean it up at your neighbor's expense.  Due diligence? Check the status of business or contractor licenses, Better Business Bureau; asking for and checking references, ask for proof of insurance, especially Worker's Compensation so it does not end up a claim on your Homeowner's Policy.  If your cheapest bid contractor doesn't have Worker's Comp - his staff is your responsibility by law in California.  If we take this a step further, when anyone is hurt on a job, the medical staff initiate a barrage of questions (and sometimes innuendos) that it is a work relate injury (happens to me frequently) so they can collect from the employers or the homeowners insurance company and not tap into the patient's fees (do they ever offer a rebate on fees if someone else pays?).  One step further, once a claim is filed, the California Applicants' Attorneys Association (CAAA) often contacts the injured worker to assist them with maximizing their claim and often sues the employer on behalf of the claimant.  Some workers need this type of help but this organization is a bit over-zealous in it pursuit of justice, often for the sake of fees.  All of the processes mentioned, insurance, medical coverage, worker's compensation insurance and Applicant's Attorneys are all regulated by California Law so what started out as a half-price bid ends up costing everyone considerably more money than the full-cost bid by an ethical and established contractor.

The Consumer assumes the brunt of the responsibility for controlling the cost of business in California by demanding and receiving information confirming the legitimacy of businesses they chose to employ.  There are an abundance of organizations (government and private) and services to assist the consumer in this endeavor.

Charles E. Cassani, Steamatic of Sacramento

Wow - what a family. What an experience!

A new and very experienced customer contacted me recently from our website via Google.  In fact, Google and our website produce more leads for our company than any other advertising or marketing activity within our organization.

This is an amazing family who previously purchased an "unhealthy" home.  Through trial and error they learned the hard and expensive lessons of removing very small and harmful contaminants from their home: Mold spores that range in size from 2 to 10 microns.  The head of a straight pin is approximately 2 millimeters in diameter.  Five hundred 2 micron spores will fit on the head of a pin.  We're talking small. 

The trials and tribulations that the family experienced would cause a divorce between most married couples.  In fact, we see this often with our clients.  Yet, on the phone shopping for a better price, was this positive woman who only relayed a small portion of her story during our conversation.  Then I found her web site, met her husband at the job site and worked well into the evening preparing a competitive bid that was several thousand dollars above her current bid! 

It is imperative that whoever gets this job coordinate with a demanding schedule that includes the complete removal of stucco off a two-story new home; removal and replacement of all windows; removing inside water and mold damage under several windows and providing selected cleaning of the balance of this 3200 square foot dwelling.  I want to work for this family - they are unique and I am very good at the services they need.  Besides, they are in for some more learning on this new project (can you say fenestration?).

I am going to relieve one of my competitors, an abatement contractor, of this opportunity hopefully.  Abatement (hazardous materials) contractors understand a limited amount of the total procedures required for cleaning and remediation.  Cleaning, restoration and remediation contractors (fire, water and environmental services) are best equipped to manage the total building envelope since they practice these services on a daily basis. 

If you want more control in this type of project, after you have received a bid for any environmental work that requires third party evaluation, let it be known that you will manage your own quality control testing (e.g. post remediation testing to determine the efficacy of the work process).  This testing takes someone trained and or certified by a government agency that can provide air quality testing and provide the results based on airborne material per square meter or volume of air tested.  With mold, bacteria, virus or gases, different testing is required. Your contractor will know they have to provide a thorough cleaning if you control the post project testing.  Need help finding a quality, competent environmental testing professional - call us, we have a list that we can provide to anyone that asks.

If I have more to report on this matter, I will keep you posted.

Charles E. Cassani, CR

Steamatic of Sacramento

8200 Berry Ave, Ste 160

Sacramento, CA 95828

www.steamaticofsacramento.com

916.386.8191 Voice

916.386.0501 Fax

800.564.1846 Toll Free

37 Years of Excellence in Sacramento 1972 – 2009

Uncle, HELP!!! I have mold under my carpet and in my wall and I think I have spread it to the rest of the house!

My niece recently called me with the following apology: "I hate calling you when I need help but I didn’t know what else to do."  She explained that while one of her children was showering, she discovered wet carpet and pad by the shower and there was mold on the subfloor of her second story bathroom. The drywall was also rotted at the base and there was mold on the exterior and in the wall cavity.

Next she anxiously explained that she probably compounded the problem by removing the water, the moldy pad, cleaned the subfloor and placed a fan in the area for drying. After doing these normal homeowner activities (I assured her) she called her insurance company.  They informed her that she probably spread the mold by using the fan and that there was a limited amount of coverage for mold remediation.  They offered to send out a leak detection company to determine the source of the water damage.  Then she called me.

I take many of these calls at SOS and there is a common issue: Homeowners of all ages and capacity have no idea what to do when they encounter either water damage alone or water damage and active growing mold.  I told my niece that I was going to broadcast my message to her and others in hopes of helping those faced with these situations.  For those of you who hate bullet points – sorry:

• Don't panic.  Find the source of the water and turn it off.  In this instance, she stopped the shower and the water stopped.  In worse case scenarios, you may have to turn off the main water supply. Find out where that is before you need to know!
• If you find mold in any of the damaged areas, remove the water but proceed carefully with the steps listed below.  When the area is wet, the mold is contained in the water and wet surfaces. When the surfaces begin to dry, the mold spores can easily become airborne and spread to other areas of the structure (my niece thought she did a bad thing by using a fan to dry the wet areas – yep!).
• Remove as much standing water as possible: rags or towels to absorb excess water; a wet/dry or shop vacuum, mops, whatever.  Obviously this is easier to do on hard surfaces but it is also effective on carpet.  
• If the carpet is wet, the pad below the carpet acts like a sponge.  You can lift the carpet off the pins on the tack strip when carpet is wet (it grows a bit with water). SOS crew use 5 gallon buckets to collect small sections of pad (and the water) to remove it from the area.
• If you find a lot of mold on the subfloor, walls, baseboard or other surfaces, cover (contain) it with plastic and have it removed professionally. Likely, you will also have the problem in the wall cavity or cavities nearby.  Having the moldy areas of the structure removed properly and professionally will not normally exceed your limited coverage for mold.
• If you can live with the wet areas for a short period of time (4-6 hours) it is often best to have a professional restoration company handle the claim from the beginning.  You are not required to use the insurance company's vendor if you have a qualified company you prefer.  Look for members of the Restoration Industry Association  (www.restorationindustry.org) or the IICRC (www.iicrc.org) for professionally trained technicians to assist you.

Many professional restorers have associates throughout the US that they can refer.  I connected my niece with a longtime friend and professional in her area whose staff was at her home within hours.  Not only did they handle the entire loss, start to finish, but they also presented the correct information to the insurance company so that they covered all of the loss except her deductible.

How do you know you are working with a professional restoration company? They contract with you directly, work for you (not the insurance company) and provide you with an itemized invoice for payment that details the services provided.  There are some very good professional companies that participate in the insurance vendor programs but they are managed and restricted by third party administrators, much like managed medical plans.  These programs were instituted to save the insurance company money and that is the bottom line.

Change in Venue

Interesting to me how I have tried to maintain a formal approach to blogging and I am not having any fun.  So, a change in venue is in order.  Vern Harnish, the Rockefeller Habit and personal growth guru, has a great email presentation: snippets of information with links to what strikes him as pertinent each week.  It is enjoyable to read, inspirational and a great source of business and personal growth material.  So here goes.

I remain bothered by the claims practices of most insurance companies.  I wonder if these organizations are so bureaucratic that they simply do not know what is happening at the point of settling claims with their customers.  That's my nice side.  My nasty side feels that the insurance companies conspire to pay less than the standard value of a claim.  As a result, an insurance claim is a miserable experience for most of us and we end up rolling over and settling for $.55 on every $1.00 we pay in premiums; used to be $.70 for every $1.00 we pay in premiums.  No wonder the insurance companies are now in their forth consecutive year of "unjustified profits, padded reserves and excessive capitalization" claims the Consumer Federation of America (Download 2008_INSURANCE_RELEASE_FINAL.pdf ).

A recent article in the Sacramento Bee discusses the largest fines ever levied against an HMO (http://www.sacbee.com/103/story/672192.html).  What I found interesting about the story was the connection between the medical providers who wait extraordinary long periods for structured payments and our experience with the vendor programs provided by third parties for the insurance companies.  It is the same model and it is the reason that one should avoid "guaranteed" vendor programs for providing services.  They are paid less than market value for their services and wait long periods of time to be paid, all justified by the absurd bureaucracy managed by an independent third party.

Cleverly, the insurance companies now require all vendors to carry Pollution or Environmental Liability Insurance with minimum deductibles of $5000.00.  This coverage is required because most insurance companies now exclude mold and other biological contaminants from their policies.  Some even exclude water damage and their is a national data base maintained in Atlanta called CLUE that records every insurance loss you report (even if you do not make a claim! - see http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs26-CLUE.htm for more information).  A true story: a major carrier failed to report a water damage for four days, then sent it to a third party vendor who in turn assigned it to an "approved" vendor who attended to the loss.  The vendor attend to the damage according to the standard of care in the industry, ANSI, IICRC S500, Third Addition (http://www.cleancareseminars.com/iicrc_standard_reference_guide_s500.htm),  The insured learned about the mold-is-gold phenomena and sued all three for the delay.  The administrative law judge found the insurance company at fault but the pollution liability insurance company agreed to pay for some of the attorney's defense cost.  Net result: the third-party walked away from the suit unscathed; the carrier bore the brunt of the claim and the vendor, who did nothing wrong, paid a $5000.00 deductible for defense of his position.  Does anyone besides me see a transfer of liability to the little guy who did nothing wrong to defray the expense of the guilty party. 

Please let me know what you think of the new format and I will get shorter in my delivery with practice, promise.