Each week we bring you a roundup of posts from our blog that we think you’ll find interesting, informative, and entertaining–even if they’re written by an engineer. Mold Problems after Sandy (Audio) “Michael Reilly, Director of the Division of Planning and Response at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness and Assistant Professor of Clinical Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University’sMailman School of Public, talks about the threat of mold in buildings after Hurricane Sandy, and what it could mean for public health during the ongoing recovery.” 10 Tips and 3 Tricks to Kill Mold “Mold might not be the end all bad stuff that some folks make it out to be. But if you or someone else notices it-it must be an aggravation at the very least-and it is causing pain of some sort, so let’s stop it, clean it up, and keep it from coming back. Just taking the time to talk about mold is hurting your productivity, and there are known health affects of mold.” 5 Lessons from a Speaking Engagement “Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking to the Rotary Club of Lake Charles about mold and moisture prevention. The presentation went great, but it got off to a rough start. This wasn’t my first time at the rodeo, so I managed to smooth things out. Here are some lessons and advice when addressing an audience.” For over 25 years, Wynn L. White Consulting Engineers offers services and capabilities to lower owners’ risks through effective management of environmental, health, and safety exposures. Our main objective is to provide professional services which will allow our customers to concentrate on their core business functions. Contact us for a free 30 minute consultation to see how we can help you make your projects more efficient and more effective.
Each week we bring you a roundup of posts from our blog that we think you’ll find interesting, informative, and entertaining–even if they’re written by an engineer. Mold, Asbestos Disclosure not Required in La. Home Sales “Buyer beware: The Louisiana State Board of Home Inspectors Standards and Practice doesn’t require home inspectors to disclose hazardous materials in homes–including asbestos, mold, and even harmful toxic drywall. The reason the for this? Home inspectors are not accredited inspectors for asbestos, mold, and toxic drywall.” Lead in NOLA Soil Linked to Violent Behavior “The City of New Orleans has found high levels of lead in public playgrounds and is working to remediate the soil. Part of the issue is the incredibly high number of old houses in New Orleans that were painted with lead-based paint. When it comes time to sand and repaint, not everyone follows the rules to prevent lead from entering the air and eventually winding up in soil.” Is the Quest for Energy Savings Killing your Indoor Air Quality? “A lot of focus is put into making a building super “tight” for energy saving purposes.This means wraps, sealants, foams, insulation, etc. are used to reduce air infiltration. These features are excellent for energy savings, but reducing infiltration ventilation in a building can cause indoor mold growth (a large contributor to poor IAQ) and a buildup of indoor air pollutants.” A Tatooine House in the Desert – Still Prone to Moisture Intrusion (Free Download) “I don’t often read The New York Times, but when I do, I usually find something interesting like an article that details an innovative way to use bales of hay as a building material. The Big Bad Wolf and The Three Little Pigs come to mind, but in all seriousness using straw and plaster is not a bad way to utilize a renewable building material as long as you build the walls correctly to avoid moisture intrusion.” For over 25 years, Wynn L. White Consulting Engineers offers services and capabilities to lower owners’ risks through effective management of environmental, health, and safety exposures. Our main objective is to provide professional services which will allow our customers to concentrate on their core business functions. Contact us for a free 30 minute consultation to see how we can help you make your projects more efficient and more effective.
Prevent Recurring Problems – don’t waste time and money dealing with the same problem over and over again. Recur is defined as “to occur again, periodically, or repeatedly.” In our mold and moisture work, we see many instances where mold and moisture problems recur. Why is that? As it turns out, there are many reasons. A lot of these reasons have to do with complicated physics – the Second Law of Thermodynamics for example. There are tons of great websites, magazine articles, and books that explain all this in exhaustive detail – I just gave you the short answer. Practically speaking, the “real” reason is many times much easier to understand. Maybe the building owner thought the problem was fixed and mold and moisture problems wouldn’t happen again. Maybe the previous project solved part of the problem, but there was something else missed, and now it’s causing mold and moisture problems. Maybe there’s not enough money right now. Often though, we notice that mold and moisture problems are cyclical, almost following the calendar. When the weather starts to warm up, we get more and more calls from building owners having mold and moisture problems. “Can you come out and look at this?” – so we go out, look at it, take samples, and tell them they do indeed have a mold or moisture problem. Gee thanks, Chris! “So what do we need to do to clean it up?” – we tell them. Maybe remediation happens, maybe not. One important question is many times not asked: what caused the problem? Another important question is also left out: what has to happen to keep this from coming back? Those two questions are what I want to get at. I want to help my client get to the cause AND the real solution. Is it useful to know what type of mold is present? Sure, but it doesn’t stop there. Likewise, the work probably shouldn’t stop when the mold cleanup is finished. More often than not, our work stops after the mold remediation. Maybe the owner doesn’t want to carry out the time consuming and expensive renovation or HVAC modification necessary to solve the problem. Or maybe repeating remediation is easier than the long term fix. It’s not – we’re just delaying the real fix. But hey, I’ll worry about that next quarter, or next year…. Whatever caused the mold or moisture problem, the remediation phase should also include eliminating the cause – in order to prevent recurrence. In other words, do this once, eliminate recurrence of the mold and moisture problems you’re fighting. One thing’s for sure, if you have a mold and moisture problem, and you don’t eliminate what caused the mold and moisture problem to occur, the remediation work you’re doing now is only a dress rehearsal for the next time the problem occurs. Be ready to remediate all over again. The good news is you won’t have to call me to come back and take samples, because you’ll already know you have mold. I know that’s not exactly a revelation, but it happens – a lot. And I know building owners and occupants are frustrated when they keep fighting (and appearing to solve) the same problem over and over again. So why doesn’t the full solution play out? Sometimes the weather changes and the problem appears to go away. But sometime the problem comes back as soon as the hot, humid times return. And here in Louisiana, that doesn’t take long. Some owners are ok with cleaning up one time, knowing the mold will come back. Whatever the reason, it’s not much fun to work on the project and not achieve the actual goal – remediating a mold or moisture problem AND keeping the problem from returning. It’s not much fun to be asked, “Why didn’t you get this right the first time?”. So why this a seasonal thing? Well, one day, our buildings seem to be wringing wet, mold is growing like crazy, and we have to do something. The next thing you know, it cools down, and the mold goes away, or the wet materials seem to dry out. So the problem’s solved – right? Since that’s the case, we don’t need to do anything else, do we? Well, it depends. If your goal is to get by until you really, really have to clean it up, ok. If your goal is to prevent recurrence, you have to work the problem through to the end. One thing I’ve yet to mention directly is the case where the owner may have received bad advice from a consultant or contractor. I may have done a great job at determining where the mold is, what kind it is, and how to clean it up – but if I didn’t do a good job of finding the cause and recommending a solution, then the problem won’t get solved on its own. The ceiling shown in the picture below could be materal that’s gotten wet over the last twenty years, and now it’s damaged and has mold. That’s not good, but what if that ceiling was only five or six years old, and this was the second or third time the owner’s had to remediate?
Social media’s fantastic. Twitter, Facebook, and other social media outlets allow regular folks like me to interact with our favorite authors, celebrities, athletes, and friends. And there’s also unlimited potential for wasting time and killing productivity. Don’t tell my boss – it’ll take away from his time spent looking for clever Star Trek slides to insert into his PowerPoint files. If you’ve seen him speak, you know what I mean. Over recent months, I’ve noticed Twitter accounts for many fictional characters. Darth Vader has at least one Twitter account. Some of the tweets are actually pretty funny. Recently I tweeted a link to a news article from Australia relating the plight of Australian homeowners dealing with asbestos problems in their homes. That may not seem like a huge news story, but these homes are called “Mr. Fluffy homes” since they contain an asbestos insulation product known as – you guessed it – Mr. Fluffy.
Growing up in the ‘60s, I was never really into Heavy Metal—or was I? Looking back, I remember getting my driver’s license, and in 1967 listening to… “Get your motor runnin’ Head out on the highway Looking for adventure In whatever comes our way” …from “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf. Great times. When I had a little extra money and wanted my Mustang to have a little more spiz—I asked the gas station attendant to “fill her up with ethyl”—meaning premium high octane gasoline. Ethyl was tetraethyl-leaded gasoline. Who knew the problems leaded gasoline would cause? Fast forward to today and the consulting work I do to reduce the problems caused by lead. Who would have predicted I would be helping clean up some of the problems I helped create?
The new season is a great reason to make and keep resolutions. Whether it’s eating right or cleaning out the garage, here are some tips for making and keeping resolutions.
There are so many good reasons to communicate with site visitors. Tell them about sales and new products or update them with tips and information.
Write about something you know. If you don’t know much about a specific topic that will interest your readers, invite an expert to write about it.
