Business Ownership Benefits

Franchising allows you to pick your passion. If you do it right, work becomes play and your business becomes a mechanism to do what you love. As you continue your search for a company that speaks to your needs, you’ll likely be weighing the benefits of each franchise against one another. Does corporate offer training and support? Is business expanding or shrinking? Is this work meaningful to myself and others? These are the questions that might be rattling in your head as you begin your journey towards entrepreneurial self-sufficiency. Here, we’ll break down the rewards of purchasing a Bio-One franchise, and what they might mean for you.

1) An Opportunity to Help Others during their Greatest Time of Need

Bio-One is perfect for people who have a passion for helping others on the worst day of their lives. Because authorities do not clean up the aftermath of homicides, suicides and other violent crime scenes, dangerous biohazardous materials will sit unattended in the affected family’s home or property. Our company was founded so that families impacted by these tragedies do not have to go through the trauma of cleaning up these scenes themselves. By conducting this work scientifically, we ensure that the area is thoroughly decontaminated to prevent infectious diseases from spreading. But this job demands more than stringent cleanup procedures. Because we are among the first to interact with those who have been left behind after a homicide or suicide, we prioritize our clients’ emotional needs. That’s why our motto is “Help first, business second.” Though it involves strenuous work, this position provides franchisee’s an opportunity to make a positive difference in people’s lives when they need help the most.

2) An Unparalleled System of Training and Support

We train our franchisees until they are masters of their industry. Because we want to provide you with all the resources you need to be self-sufficient, we’ll teach you how to effectively market your business, how to coordinate a remediation plan for a live crime scene and how to use personal protective equipment. Our leadership team is on standby 24/7 to assist you as challenges arise so you never have to feel like you’re unable to answer a difficult question. But training and support continue long after you are brought onboard. Classes continue throughout the year to inform you about developments in the industry and changing practices. We also hold annual training conferences at “family reunions” during the holidays, where we gather all our franchisees from across the nation to celebrate our successes and reflect on how we can continue to grow.

3) An Impressive Record of Growth and Development

Our decades of experience have given us the blueprint for success in this industry, and our remarkable growth over the past few years proves it. Entrepreneur Magazine announced at the beginning of this year that we ranked higher than last year in their esteemed Franchise 500—a comprehensive ranking system of over 1,000 companies that analyzes which franchises are growing in America. We made the largest leap forward in Bio-One’s history, moving from #344 to #304. Jumps this dramatic are rarely heard of in the franchising world. We were also named one of the fastest growing franchises in the nation by Inc. 5000 Magazine in 2018; and in 2017, we received an award from Entrepreneur Magazine for being among the top 100 franchises of the year. We continue to be recognized annually by the likes of Entrepreneur Startup’s Magazine, Franchise Dictionary Magazine and FranchiseRankings.com for expanding our business beyond expectations.

If you want to be part of our award-winning team, contact the Franchise Help Line at 720-463-3004 and we’ll help start you on your path towards success. We’re happy to speak with you 24/7/365.

Six percent of Americans suffer from compulsive hoarding. That means 19 million people are incapable of controlling the clutter that they compile in their homes, and face distress when their valuables—often trash and rotting food—are thrown out. This figure is a conservative estimate. Although the problem is referenced repeatedly throughout history, hoarding is underdiagnosed and misunderstood. Indeed, famed poet Dante Alighieri described hoarding as a sin in his Divine Comedy during the 14th century. In 1947, wealthy New Yorkers Homer and Langley Collyer gained national attention when they were found dead beneath mounds of trash in their Harlem apartment. After years of studying the problem as a type of obsessive compulsion disorder, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders finally classified hoarding as a distinct mental illness in 2013. Research on treating hoarders is still in development, but experts agree that cognitive behavioral therapy is the most effective solution. But despite growing awareness, many Americans still think hoarding is a symptom of laziness. If hoarders would just take the initiative to clean up after themselves, the argument goes, they wouldn’t run into problems in the first place. These assumptions neglect the fact that hoarding is a cognitive impairment. Because hoarders resist outside efforts to assist them, finding a solution is extremely challenging. This situation should not be taken lightly. The prevalence of the disorder across the country poses a serious public health hazard. Hoarders threaten both themselves and the neighborhoods they live in because of the dangerous conditions that arise when their homes are overflowing with trash—and in some cases—live animals. Sadly, they are often unaware of the precariousness of their lifestyle. Though researchers have yet to comprehensively study the frequency of hoarding-related deaths, the potential for a tragic outcome is clear.

Fire hazards are perhaps the most immediate threats to life and the surrounding community. Combustible items like books, clothes and newspapers are often stacked in enormous piles throughout the home, making it difficult for people to move around. When space becomes limited, hoarders convert heating appliances like stoves, microwaves and fireplaces into storage vessels, increasing the likelihood of an outbreak significantly. If a fire ignites, whether from a cigarette end or an electrical malfunction, it will spread rapidly, feeding off the copious amounts of clutter scattered throughout the home. Hoarders caught in the crisis will not be able to reach an exit without navigating the mounds of trash that line their walls and floors. If unsuccessful, first responders will need to find them in the blaze—a task that may be impossible. Exits and entrances are often blocked off, slowing the efforts of firefighters trying to enter the building. When they make it inside, they will have to navigate heaps of trash amid flames and smoke to rescue the homeowner. The odds of reaching them in time are low.

Because these homes are nearly impossible to maneuver, hoarders create narrow trails, known as “goat paths,” to help them cross into other rooms . In addition to slowing down movement during a fire, these paths are susceptible to deadly tripping hazards—especially for the elderly, who disproportionately suffer from compulsive hoarding. Objects stacked on mounds of garbage are unstable. If something drops to the floor and obstructs the walking path, an unsuspecting homeowner may fall and hurt themselves. Older individuals are more likely to become trapped in these passageways. But because hoarding is associated with loneliness and depression, they’re likely to be by themselves and unable to call for help. Heavy objects can also fall from these heaps of garbage and strike someone on the head, causing serious injuries.

Bio-One helps prevent hoarding tragedies before they happen. Please contact us if you know a loved one suffering from hoarding and we can connect you with the resources to assist them. We are on standby day and night, every day of the year.

HowStuffWorks.com

By Nathan Chandler

Everyone has a stain story. One time your cousin stumbled down the stairs carrying a bottle of ketchup. The resulting mess resembled a gory crime scene...and required the expertise of professional carpet cleaners. You even had to repaint part of the ceiling to obscure the tasty reddish disaster.

But those kinds of stain stories generally stay within the family circle. No one else really cares to hear about your crazy, tipsy relatives getting careless with condiments.

In the course of human history, though, there have been some truly epic stains. Stains that no laundry detergent can rinse from our collective story. Stains that perhaps change the course of millions of lives.

For better or worse, those kinds of stains are the toughest to get out. Not only do they permanently damage clothing and other materials, there most lasting impression, really is on our psyches.

Keep reading and your'll learn all about 10 of the most infamous stains ever to leave their mark on human possessions and our minds too.

Bio-One Raleigh are specialists in cleaning crime scenes, unattended deaths, medical traumas, and other biohazards, as well as hoarding cleanout, mold remediation and so much more. Karen & Rick Jacobs are the owners of Bio-One Raleigh and Raleigh Hoarding. We offer trauma, mold and hoarding cleanup services including biohazard, blood cleanup, suicide/homicide, feces & bodily fluid, animal waste, undiscovered death, and mold testing & remediation.

We proudly serve North Carolina’s Triangle & Triad areas including Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Apex, Pittsboro, Holly Springs, Clayton, Carrboro, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Hillsborough, Mebane, Morrisville, Wake Forest, and Wendell; as well as the following counties; Wake County, Durham County, Cumberland County, Guilford County, Orange County, Chatham County, Harnett County, Johnston County, Nash County, Franklin County and Pill County. We also provide services to Greensboro and other areas throughout North Carolina.

Bio-One Inc. is the world's first crime scene cleaning franchise. Nationally respected and locally owned, Bio-One has earned its reputation through being trusted to handle the Mandalay Bay mass shooting in Las Vegas in 2017, the Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida in 2016, and consulted on the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012. In 2019, Bio-One was once again included in the best and most comprehensive franchise ranking list – Entrepreneur Magazine.

PsychiatryAdvisor

October 4, 2018 by Batya Swift Yasgur, MA, LSW

Suicide, the tenth leading cause of death in the United States, is on the rise.1 In 2016, nearly 45,000 Americans 10 or older died by suicide, up by 30% since 1999.1 An individual’s death by suicide has far-reaching effects on a wide range of people, including immediate and extended family, friends, acquaintances, and healthcare and mental health professionals.2

“The grief after losing a loved one to suicide has points of commonality with grief following other types of losses of loved ones, but it also has unique features,” Sidney Zisook, MD, professor of psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, told Psychiatry Advisor.

Shrouded in Silence

“Stigma is probably at the top of the list of issues that affect people bereaved by a loved one’s suicide,” Dr Zisook said.

A literature review comparing suicide-bereaved (SB) families to other bereaved groups found that SB families report higher levels of rejection, shame, stigma, the need to conceal the loved one’s cause of death, and blaming.3 Stigma may derive from a “societal perception that the act of suicide is a failure by the victim and the family to deal with some emotional issue.”4 Stigma and shame are barriers to seeking help and receiving support from mental health professionals as well as friends and family.5

“I have treated people where a suicide in the family has never been acknowledged or talked about,” Dr Zisook recounted.

He described a patient in his 70s who had lost his father to suicide when he was young, but it was never mentioned or discussed by his family. “Finally, he was able to talk and cry about it and regretted that he had never been allowed to talk about it until now and that it had been shrouded in silence,” he said.

Guilt and Blame

Feelings of guilt often overlap with shame, compounding the sense of stigma. SB individuals often experience “intense guilt or feelings of responsibility for the death.”6

Although self-blame can be present after any loss, it is more common after a suicidal loss, Dr Zisook observed. “There is a frequent feeling that you could or should have done something to prevent it, and guilt is very common.”

Self-blame is one aspect of a broader tendency to find someone to blame for the suicide, he noted.

“The survivor may blame the person who made the choice to die or may blame someone else who didn’t do enough, didn’t provide enough care, didn’t return a phone call, missed important cues, had an argument or disappointed the person, or could have interrupted or prevented the death in some way. Or the survivor may blame the doctor for missing signals, not treating depression, or prescribing the wrong drug,” Dr Zisook said.

Self-blame is particularly strong when the deceased is an individual’s child.

“Losing any relative to suicide is traumatic, but there’s probably no greater nightmare [than losing a child to suicide], since parents feel their job is to support their children, care for them, make them happy, and make their lives good, so suicide can make parents feel like a failure in this most important job of their lives,” he commented.

Rumination and Anger

Rumination is common in SB individuals and is unique compared with the responses of bereaved individuals to other losses, Dr Zisook pointed out.

“When someone dies of cancer, relatives do not typically wonder why the person died, while in suicide, survivors are plagued as to why the person did it — why, why, why,” he said.

The suicide sometimes comes as a “total shock” to the survivors, who may think, “He seemed to be doing better.” “She had turned her life around.” “He was making plans for the future.”

Coupled with rumination are feelings of rejection and abandonment: “Why did she do this to me?” “Didn’t he love me?” “How could she leave me?”

These feelings can lead to anger at the deceased,6 which can compound the guilt.

Complicated Grief and Depression

Rumination contributes to complicated grief (CG), a “painful and debilitating condition…characterized by prolonged, acute grief and complicating psychological features such as self-blaming thoughts and excessive avoidance of reminders of the loss.”7 Conversely, instead of avoiding reminders of the deceased, some SB people may “spend long periods of time trying to feel closer to the deceased through pictures, keepsakes, clothing, or other items associated with the loved one.”8 Left untreated, CG can last for years, if not indefinitely.7 “Losing a loved one to suicide can be a risk factor for CG,” Dr Zisook said.

“Mourning is the process by which bereaved people seek and find ways to turn the light on in the world again. When successful, mourning leads people to feel deeply connected to deceased loved ones while also [being] able to imagine a satisfying future without them…Grief has been transformed and integrated” and the “continued presence of the loss is no longer insistent and disruptive.”8

In contrast, CG is a “chronic impairing form of grief brought about by interference with the healing process” that “derails” the mourning process and “prevents the natural healing process from progressing.”8

Mental and Physical Health Sequelae

SB individuals are vulnerable to physical, psychological, and psychosomatic difficulties.9 One study found that one-quarter of people bereaved by suicide experience elevated levels of depression and stress and close to one-fifth have elevated levels of anxiety,10 as well as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and impairment in social and employment settings.6 Psychosomatic reactions included physical or severe abdominal pain, loss of appetite, low energy levels, and sleep disruptions.10

Survivors are themselves at high risk for suicidal thoughts or completed suicide.11 A study of 3432 young adults who had lost close friends or family members to suicide found they had a higher probability of attempting suicide than individuals bereaved by deaths due to sudden, natural causes. Of note, the effect of SB was similar regardless of whether bereaved participants were or were not blood-related to the deceased.12

Impact on the Family Unit

The suicide of a family member leaves an indelible mark on the survivors, affecting each individual, the family as a whole, and also larger social networks.13 The impact of the suicide is to some extent informed by the family’s function or dysfunction prior to the suicide.13 Moreover, the suicide may affect family communication and the developmental processes of children.13 Marital breakup is also more common in parents of children who died by suicide.14

Postvention Approaches

“Postvention,” a term coined by Schneidman, refers to clinical care provided after a suicide.2,15

Complicated grief therapy

Complicated grief therapy (CGT), a manualized, structured, 16-session protocol, has been shown to be effective in treating CG in SB adults.7 It includes self-regulation, focusing on aspirational goals, rebuilding connections, revisiting the story of the death, revisiting the world, and creating memories/continuing bonds.7

Proactive discussion and education

Dr Zisook recommended “opening a dialogue and talking to patients who have lost someone to suicide to normalize it, in a sense — meaning, to normalize their reactions, let them know how difficult it can be to talk about, and educate the person about lingering feelings, such as self-blame.”

He suggested addressing guilt and “letting the survivor know — for example, if they had an argument with the deceased — that the argument is not what killed the person, but rather a host of events that occur in someone with a mental illness, creating a perfect storm that overwhelmed the person and made him or her feel there was no other option.”

Support Groups

Emotional support is important, and a homogeneous support group is more helpful than a generalized group, Dr Zisook said. For example, SB parents will likely benefit more from a support group specifically for parents whose children have died by suicide than a heterogeneous group of parents who have lost children.

Education and information about support groups can be found at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (https://afsp.org/) and the American Association of Suicidology (https://www.suicidology.org/).

Does pharmacotherapy have a role?

Pharmacotherapy without psychosocial interventions is not helpful, Dr Zisook emphasized. His group compared citalopram monotherapy with citalopram with citalopram plus CGT in 58 individuals who suffered CG following suicide bereavement and found that only 35% of participants in the medication group completed medication treatment vs 81% in the combination group.7 Moreover, improvements in the CGT were “substantial.” CGT was both well accepted and effective in ameliorating symptom severity, passive suicidal ideation, grief-related functional impairment, avoidance, and maladaptive beliefs.7

Family Counseling

Bereavement family counseling can facilitate the grieving process.16 It is important to educate family members about the different ways in which individuals may deal with grief to facilitate their understanding of each other.16 Family members may also need practical or financial assistance — eg, help with funeral arrangements and expenses or childcare.16

Other Healing Modalities

Helpful activities might include rituals, ceremonies, lighting candles, reviewing pictures and mementoes, finding new information about the deceased person or even his/her death, and engaging in artistic expression.2 Religious and spiritual activities can be helpful to some people, as can engaging in regular physical activity, good nutrition, sleep hygiene, and “taking time out” from grief.2

Conclusion

The suicide of celebrities such as Robin Williams and Anthony Bourdain have drawn attention to the issue of suicide and opened up channels for discussion, Dr Zisook noted, and the designation of September as National Suicide Awareness Month17 is an important step in bringing awareness to this urgent issue.

“These inroads are helping us to break through stigma, but we still have a long way to go,” he said.

There is a big difference between cleaning, disinfecting, and disinfecting. If your home or business has been exposed to dangerous pathogens, it is imperative to know the difference so that you can make sound decisions. An area can look spotless, but can actually be teaming with bacteria and other harmful pathogens.

Cleaning: free from foreign matter or pollution. Cleaning doesn’t get rid of germs, but it does reduce the overall number of germs by removing visible debris.

Disinfecting: a chemical process that lessens and/or kills 99.999% of bacteria in 30 seconds during the Official Detergent Sanitizer Test (a public health test). Disinfecting is used in bar and restaurant situations where areas must be treated quickly.

Disinfecting: kills ALL organisms in 10 minutes during the AOAC (Association of Analytical Communities) Use Dilution Test, (a test regulated by the EPA). Disinfecting requires a much stronger solution than disinfecting. Taking 10 minutes to disinfect a restaurant booth would not be efficient or practical, but in a hospital room where blood and other bodily fluids have been present, it is essential.

Be aware, you cannot disinfect or disinfect an area if it is visibly dirty. So, cleaning an area is always the first step. In order to effectively disinfect or disinfect an area, all dirt, dust, grease, food particles and other debris must be removed first.

Given the above information, how do you make a decision whether to clean, disinfect, or disinfect? In many situations, all three are done. Take again, a restaurant, as an example. When a restaurant is busy, staff will clean and quickly disinfect tabletops, glasses, etc. After the restaurant is closed, staff can take more time to disinfect areas. A good rule of thumb is: disinfect places where food has been, disinfect places where bodily fluids or fecal matter have been.

All of the above holds true for normal everyday cleaning, disinfecting, and disinfecting. If, however, you have to deal with a hoarding situation, contamination from death and decomposition (link to blog article), or other more extreme situations, it is best to – at the very least – have a professional assess the situation for you.

At Bio-One Raleigh, we use a myriad of methods, chemicals and processes to ensure the area is safe; hospital-grade cleaners, fogging, ozone treatments and others. Contact us for a free, no obligation evaluation and estimate.

Jason Widen is the owner of Bio-One Raleigh and Raleigh Hoarding. We offer trauma, mold and hoarding cleanup services including biohazard, blood cleanup, suicide/homicide, feces & bodily fluid, animal waste, undiscovered death, and mold testing & remediation.

We proudly serve North Carolina’s Triangle & surrounding areas including Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Apex, Pittsboro, Holly Springs, Clayton, Carrboro, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Hillsborough, Mebane, Morrisville, Wake Forest, and Wendell; as well as the following counties; Wake County, Durham County, Cumberland County, Guilford County, Orange County, Chatham County, Harnett County, Johnston County, Nash County, Franklin County and Pill County. We also provide services to Greensboro and other areas throughout North Carolina.

Bats are endangered mammals and are protected by both federal and state laws. Most states don’t allow bat removal during the months when bats could have young in the nest site. Some states also protect bats from removal during winter months when they may hibernate in attics. Fortunately for you, it’s now the time of year when humane bat removal is legally allowed.

Bats and Their Young Are Protected

Bat babies can be present anytime from mid-May to mid-August. In most cases, bat pups are able to fly in July but don’t completely leave the nest for a few more weeks. If you close up openings or remove the mom during summer months when young are still in the nest, you will likely seal bat pups into your attic. The young will either die and smell, or they may find their way down into your living space.

By mid-August, bats generally leave the nursery site (your attic) to find a place to spend the winter. In North Carolina, humane bat removal is allowed beginning August, and must be completed before the first newborn bats may be present.

THERE'S A NARROW WINDOW FOR REMOVAL

Some bats do not migrate but spend the winter where they are, which might be your attic. Generally, the best time to remove the bats and remediate the toxic bat guano is fall bat between mid-August (when the young have left) and mid-October (when winter dens are established). During that narrow window, a company can humanely and legally remove any bats that are present and can “bat-proof” your home, sealing any openings that bats use to get inside.

Bio-One Raleigh can then ensure you attic space and any other area that has been contaminated by the bat guano is safely remediated and disinfectd. Call us today for a free, no obligation estimated.

One of the biggest problems that comes with having a colony of bats roosting in a building or home is the large amount of waste, or guano, left behind. Bats eat a lot of insects, and have a high metabolism, and each bat poops 20-30 times per day, leaving behind a whole heck of a lot of bat poo! These are the primary reasons you want to clean up the guano after the bats are gone:

- The guano can grow a type of fungus that can cause the lung disease histoplasmosis in humans.
- The same can happen to pets too. What Diseases Can Bats Give to Pets? - The droppings just plain smell bad, and in quantity, have an odor that can overpower the house.
- The droppings and urine are corrosive to wood and metal, and can compromise the structural integrity of the building. In short, the wood can rot.
- The droppings and the scent will lure in other animals and insects - I often see hundreds of cockroaches crawling on bat guano.
- Read about How Dangerous Are Bat Droppings?

Here are the proper steps for cleaning bat guano out of an attic or any other space:

Step 1: Make certain the bats are all removed, and the building is sealed so none can get back in.
Step 2: Remove lose droppings on smooth surfaces by vacuum, as seen in the below photo, and scrub such surfaces with an enzyme-based cleaner.
Step 3: Remove all soiled insulation - you're not going to be able to clean it. If it's not too badly soiled, you can just spray it with the cleaner.
Step 4: Fog the entire attic space with the special cleaner.

Bio-One Raleigh is your go-to, trusted company for the removal and remediation of bat guano. We are here 24/7/365. Contact us with any questions and a free, no obligation estimate.

Karen & Rick Jacobs are the owners of Bio-One Raleigh and Raleigh Hoarding. We offer trauma, mold and hoarding cleanup services including biohazard, blood cleanup, suicide/homicide, feces & bodily fluid, animal waste, undiscovered death, and mold testing & remediation.

Lingering odors frustrate homeowners and business owners alike. Cigarette smoke, animal waste and mold produce foul, pervasive smells that are difficult to remove. Despite your best efforts, they often survive over-the-counter cleaning agents and air fresheners, and return with the same potency as before. An ineffectual process of spraying and scrubbing ensues, prolonging the issue and circumventing the problem. Why are some odors so intractable? The answer depends on the concentration of a smell’s source and the permeability of whatever it touches. Cat urine, for example, is a highly concentrated chemical solution that soaks a given area with powerful compounds. These molecules sink deep into porous surfaces and fester over time, making them extremely difficult to remove. Left unattended, these urine stains will produce an overwhelming odor that will only go away if the right cleaning chemicals saturate the affected area. A similar situation occurs in the homes of chronic smokers. While not nearly as concentrated as cat urine, cigarette smoke penetrates walls, carpeting and wooden fixtures. As these surfaces absorb the molecules that irritate our noses, a lingering odor develops. These smells are stubborn and persistent.

Sometimes, they’re even dangerous. Mold, feces and decayed animals produce noxious odors that pollute your home with airborne bacteria. Once inhaled, these germs can cause respiratory problems that require medical treatment. They’re the reason why people who haven’t been trained in biohazard remediation are discouraged from cleaning up unattended deaths and large decomposing animals themselves. Air respirators and other professional equipment are required in these situations to stymie infectious airborne pathogens.

Unfortunately, home appliances and common cleaning solutions are not effective at dealing with lingering odors. Instead of pushing these smells outside, ventilation systems circulate them throughout the home. Your ability to eradicate them depends on where the odors are coming from and the severity of the source. In hoarding situations, unattended trash and waste rot for months and years, creating a cornucopia of complex odors that are nearly impossible to remove. A single pet stain, conversely, can be remedied easily. But if your carpet is continuously soaked with animal waste, or your walls are frequently exposed to cigarette smoke, you may face a more serious challenge. In extreme scenarios, scented candles and reed diffusers will do little to purify the air quality. While fresheners like Febreze neutralize bad smells, they only offer a temporary solution in these situations. Because the odor’s source often lies beneath carpeting, behind vinyl and inside walls, these products only hide the problem. It will resurface once the deodorizer drifts out of the room, leaving you back where you started.

So what are you supposed to do if you’re struggling to remove a lingering odor? You may need to contact a professional odor remediation company to ventilate your home or business. Bio-One Raleigh offers a simple and effective approach to restore your property’s air quality in a timely manner. After identifying the source of the smell, our odor removal experts use powerful chemicals and special equipment to comprehensively decontaminate the area. Fixtures in the home that sustain the odor—like porous walls, carpeting and flooring—will be removed and disposed of in accordance with state regulations. Please give us a call so we can address your unique situation. Our phone lines are open 24/7, any day of the year.

Bio-One Raleigh is owned by Karen & Rick Jacobs. We offer trauma, mold and hoarding cleanup services including biohazard, blood cleanup, suicide/homicide, feces & bodily fluid, animal waste, undiscovered death, and mold testing & remediation.

If a musty odor pervades your home, you should take a closer look at your walls and fixtures. In rooms exposed to moisture, a series of highly concentrated dark patches seem baked into some of the surfaces. At first glance, they resemble insect colonies or messy blots of ink. But you’ll notice that they have a fuzzier, more organic complexion to them. If you come across one of these confusing patterns, it’s clear that you have a mold problem. But you shouldn’t panic. Hiring a mold remediation team quickly will spare you from any serious health hazards and property damage. Despite their infamous reputation, these unsightly fungi are simple and cost-effective to treat during their early stages of development.

Although they are practically ubiquitous indoors and outdoors, mold spores are only bothersome when they begin to reproduce in mass on surfaces in our homes. A colony forms when spores are exposed to water or excessive humidity. When that happens, the fungi will stick to the damp surface and grow in chaotic arrangements, producing unpleasant odors and particles that aggravate our respiratory system. At some point, everyone in the home will start sniffling, sneezing and wheezing. But those with asthma may suffer from an asthma attack if the mold continues to cultivate unattended. Even worse, some species—like black mold—will generate toxins that harm healthy people. For those with allergies or asthma problems, these spores may be fatal. While toxic molds are rare, it’s important to address a colony quickly. Not only will doing so improve the air quality in your home, it will prevent extensive property damage and costly treatments over time. The larger the colony, the larger the price tag.

The EPA says that moldy areas less than 10 square feet can be removed without professional help . But some people may have problems with recurring growth. This likely derives from the mold’s source. Colonies form 24 to 48 hours after they are exposed to water, or in areas with above 50 percent of relative humidity (You can measure relative humidity with a hygrometer bought from a local hardware store). You probably are unable to eliminate the mold because it continues to thrive off moisture in the room. Reducing water exposure—even if it means halting shower use for a couple of weeks—is likely the key to solving the problem. But as mold colonies grow, they become increasingly dangerous to address. Because of the hazards of treating colonies larger than 10 square feet, they should be avoided.

Buying a respiratory mask will temporarily protect your respiratory system as you try to fix the problem. But to remediate the area, you also need to seal the room that’s being worked in. As you clean the colony, spores will travel into adjoining rooms, stick to furnishings and repopulate in moist spaces. Hidden mold, which grows behind wallpapers, ceiling tiles and dry wall, may burst if you attempt to pry the area open, spreading spores even more effectively. To solve the problem, you need to clean the growth with the right chemicals, prevent spores from spreading and suppress the underlying water source from attracting new fungi. Because of the time-sensitivity of this process and the expertise it demands, it’s best to leave the job to the professionals.

Bio-One Raleigh can remove mold from your home permanently. We are mold certified technicians who will isolate the source of the growth, decontaminate the area, and remove and reconstruct surfaces that have been affected. Our services are remarkably quick, and they are efficient. Once our team is notified of the job, we’ll usually complete the work within a 24-hour window. Give us a call at 919.800.9435. Our phone lines are open 24/7/365. We’re happy to help.

Bio-One can remove mold from your home permanently. We hire technicians who will isolate the source of the growth, decontaminate the area and remove and reconstruct surfaces that have been affected. Our services are remarkably quick, and they are efficient. Once our team is notified of the job, we’ll usually complete the work within a 24-hour window. Give us a call at your local Bio-One office and you’ll be put in touch with a representative who can address your unique situation. Our phone lines are open 24/7/365. We’re happy to help.