Q. I work in a medium sized call center which holds approximately 250 workers.  A couple of weeks ago the call center was flooded due to a stopped up drain in the back parking lot and soaked about 50% of the carpet.  About half an hour after the flood was contained we were told we had to stay at work and continue to take calls wherever we could find a dry place to sit.  We have been working in the same flooded room ever since.  A maintenance crew came in that day to vacuum up the water and set up fans to dry out the carpet but the carpet stayed damp for 3 or 4 days.  Now the entire call center stinks and some parts of the carpet are black.  Is this possibly mold that's growing?  A lot of my co-workers say that they are now coughing and feeling sick whenever they are at work.  The smell along just turns my stomach.  No one in management has even sent an email or memo addressing the situation. This leads me to believe that there is some type of hazard but they don't want to bring it up because many people may not come in to work and the company will lose business.  I am very concerned about this situation and I fear if I make a big issue I will lose my job before I can find a new one.
       A. The flooding and resulting strong mold smell mean that the carpeting, padding, and inside the adjoining walls, wood furniture, etc. are likely to be mold infected if they were not completely dried within 24 hours of wetness. Since the company is taking the ostrich approach to mold danger awareness, the employees would be wise to mold test the air of the workplace areas and the outward air flow from heating/cooling duct registers for the possible presence of elevated levels of airborne mold spores, in comparison to an outdoor mold control test using do it yourself mold test kits available from a large hardware, home improvement, or safety store.  Unresolved workplace mold can cause severe health problems [much worse than already being experienced], and it is an employer safety violation of most states' occupational safety and health administration laws and regulations.

        Q. I have Berber carpet on my second floor due to the hurricane one part of the carpet in my kids room got wet, and unfortunately the smell does not wants to go away. the carpet it is dry because of the humidifier but it smell strong what should I do. [November 21, 2004]
        A. Pull the carpeting and any padding back or off so that you can scrub repeatedly both sides of the carpeting and padding with Borax laundry detergent, mixed into water. Borax is a natural mold cleaner and killer. Fan dry after each washing/scrubbing to get the carpet dry quickly. You can use a low-cost Mold Home Remedy Recipes available at Mold Mart. Let the fungicide kill mold for about one hour, and then proceed to fan dry as quickly as possible. You need to be concerned about airborne mold spores from the moldy carpeting spreading in air currents to mold cross contaminate your entire house and its heating/cooling system. You would be wise to use do it yourself mold test kits available from a large hardware, home improvement, or safety store. to mold test the air of the bedroom, all other rooms, any attic/basement/crawl space, and the outward air flow from each heating/cooling duct register for the possible presence of elevated levels of airborne mold spores, in comparison to an outdoor mold control test.

        Q. We had water break in the house this morning and the carpets are soaked. The insurance company is sending someone out to pull up carpets and dry them. Is there anything that needs to be done to protect and make sure we don't have any mold problems in the future. Especially if they won't pay for new carpet and pad because they might say it will be ok because it was dried properly or what ever. [Feb. 6, 2003]
        A. If the carpeting, padding, floor beneath, and walls were completely dried WITHIN 24 hours of being wet, you are probably OK. It would still be wise and cautious on your part to have the home inspected and tested for mold infestation by a Certified Mold Inspector. Best testing time would be about a week to 2 weeks after the flood. Be sure to have floor and wall cavities in the flooded area visually inspected with the Inspector's fiber optics inspection device and mold tested inside the cavities with a air sampling cassettes, or with a mold culture impactor. You should also test the air in the various house rooms, basement, attic, and crawl space mold tested by the Mold Inspector for the possibility of elevated levels of mold spores. Most homes have serious, hidden mold infestation. You might be surprised to discover that your home has a big mold problem UNRELATED to the immediate flood that caused you to worry about possible mold growth. If you have budgetary concerns about the reasonable cost of professional mold inspection and testing, you can do your own mold testing---using do it yourself mold test kits available from a large hardware, home improvement, or safety store.

Mold test kit to test carpeting and padding

If carpeting and/or padding was wet for more than 24 hours, mold growth has probably already begun in the carpeting and/or padding. One way to test your padding and carpeting for mold growth is to attach a mold test kit to the side of a cleaned, rubbing alcohol-disinfected box fan so that the air flow through the fan comes from across the surface of padding itself [the carpet having been pulled back] or the carpeting, and then impacts air [and thus possibly mold spores] directly onto the open sticky surface of the mold test kit that has been taped to the fan surface. Run this fan test for 10 minutes, remove and seal the mold test kit, and then observe the mold test kit for 7 days for how much mold growth has happened.


Serious mold growth in carpeting, padding, floor and wall.