Can You Stay in Your Home During Mold Remediation?
It is usually the second question homeowners ask, right after how long the work will take: do we have to move out? The honest answer is that it depends on the job, and most of the factors are things you can evaluate yourself before the crew arrives. Plenty of South Florida families stay put through a remediation with little disruption. Others are better off spending a few nights elsewhere. Here is how to tell which group you are in.
The factors that decide it
Four things carry most of the weight.
- How much of the home is involved. A single closet wall or the cabinet under a kitchen sink can be sealed off while life continues in the other rooms. Growth spread across several rooms or throughout a small condo leaves nowhere clean to live.
- Which rooms are involved. Losing a guest bathroom for a week is an inconvenience. Losing the only bathroom, the kitchen, or the hallway that connects the bedrooms to the front door is a different matter.
- Whether the AC system is affected. If the air handler closet, the ductwork or the return is part of the work, the system may need to be off for a stretch. In a Miami summer, a home without cooling becomes uncomfortable and humid within hours.
- Who lives there. Infants, older adults, pregnant women, and anyone with asthma, allergies or a weakened immune system are generally considered more sensitive to mold exposure. If that describes someone in your household, ask their doctor before deciding to stay.
When staying is usually workable
Staying home tends to be reasonable when the work area is limited and can be fully enclosed in plastic containment, the crew is running HEPA filtration and keeping the enclosure under negative pressure, you still have a usable bathroom, kitchen and bedroom outside the containment, the crew has a path in and out that does not cross your living space, or that path is protected, and nobody in the home is in a higher-risk group or already feeling unwell.
In that situation, daily life goes on with some noise and a zippered plastic wall where a doorway used to be.
When to plan on leaving
Consider temporary relocation if any of these apply:
- The affected area covers a large share of the home, or multiple rooms on the same AC zone.
- The only bathroom or the kitchen will be out of service.
- The air conditioning has to be shut down for more than a short period.
- The cause was a sewage backup or floodwater, which brings contamination concerns beyond mold.
- Someone in the household has symptoms that seem to flare at home. That calls for a doctor's input, not a guess.
- Antimicrobial products or sealants are being applied and the label or the crew calls for the space to be vacated while they dry.
Leaving does not have to mean the entire project. Often the sensible plan is to be away for the demolition and cleaning days, which are the dustiest, and return once the area is cleaned and closed up.
Living alongside a containment
If you stay, a few habits make a real difference:
- Treat the plastic as a wall. Do not unzip it to check progress or retrieve something. Ask the crew to bring items out.
- Leave the machines running. The air scrubbers and dehumidifiers are loud, and it is tempting to switch them off at bedtime. Containment only works while the fans run.
- Do not change the thermostat setup without asking. Vents inside the work area are sealed for a reason, and the crew may have set the system a particular way.
- Keep children and pets well away. Curious hands and claws find plastic sheeting irresistible. Many pet owners board animals or send them to a relative for the noisy days.
Condos, tenants and who pays for a hotel
In a condo, the building adds its own rules: working hours, elevator reservations, where equipment can be staged. Short working days can stretch a job, which affects how long you would need to be away. Ask management early.
As for the cost of staying elsewhere, some homeowners policies include coverage for additional living expenses when a covered loss makes the home unlivable, but mold provisions vary widely and often carry limits. Read your policy or call your agent before assuming either way. Tenants should review their lease and speak with the landlord, and for questions about rights and obligations, an attorney is the right source.
Before you decide
Ask the remediation company three direct questions: which rooms will be inside the containment, whether the AC will stay on, and which days will involve demolition. With those answers you can usually make the call in a few minutes. For a walk-through of your specific layout, request an on-site remediation estimate at drymiami.com or call (954) 778-7999. The visit is $79, credited in full toward the job if you hire DryMiami.
Mold problem at home?
We come out, find the moisture source and give you a written remediation estimate. The visit is $79, credited in full toward your job if you hire us.
