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How can I get rid of mold in Bali forever?
22 October 2023
It is a question many of our clients ask when hiring our service.
Molds are a part of the environment and can be found almost anywhere. Outdoors play an essential role in breaking down dead organic matter. Bali has a constant minimum humidity of 75% throughout the year. That makes the perfect premises for mold growing indoors.
In an ideal scenario, you have the perfect building with the perfect insulation, the perfect airflow, the perfect humidity, and a perfectly designed house to ensure the right amount of sunlight at the right time of day and you would still have to do maintenance now and then.
The reality is that a considerable number of buildings have moderate or big infiltration problems, frequent leakages, not enough airflow, not enough sunlight, and high indoor humidity.
We have had many cases of mold cleaning DIY or surface cleaning by third parties, that just resulted in mold coming back. Even many more cases where people waited for mold to pop up visibly or for it to start eliminating odor before taking any action. That is, in many cases, the situation where mold had already penetrated considerably in walls and furniture.
Usually, the decision to postpone or never conduct maintenance is a matter of not seeing a purpose in spending money on a problem that they believe they don't have. As such things go, in the end, they end up spending more money on mold cleaning companies and wall painting, while continuously exposing themselves to contamination, or simply moving out and taking the contaminated belongings with them to the new house.
NOBODY will be able to kill the mold that has already eaten its way into the full depth of the wall. The only thing you can do in this situation is, to constantly kill it to prevent it from getting to you and releasing spores that will help it spread. NOBODY will be able to kill the mold that has eaten its way into the full depth of your furniture. In this case, the furniture has to be disposed of as soon as possible.
It is essential to kill mold and spores from both surfaces and air and to corroborate this treatment with the proper prevention measures to maintain the effect of the treatment as long as possible.
Coming back to the question at hand, the honest answer would be that this will be most likely NEVER going to be possible, and whoever tells you otherwise in Bali would just be lying to you.
It is essential to do thorough research before choosing the expert who will take care of your mold issue. Don't ask on forums, rather consult studies done by experts or health organizations. Ask your service provider what he will use, and how the process will go down then do your research. Choose on-site consultancy, rather than phone consultancy. It is always the cheaper and safer way to solve the problem.
How to make your rental a healthy home
15 August 2023
Moulds within rental units in Bali are a common problem. This is mainly due to the high air humidity and water infiltration of all types. Moreover, landlords put effort into cleaning the mould and painting the walls before moving in. The house looks clean, but shortly after you notice visible mould growing on walls and ceilings, and/or a damp, musky smell arising in your rental. In most cases, the main reason was that the walls were painted without proper mould treatment. When scraping the walls, mould spores spread in the air in a swirl effect. They linger until they find new damp areas for root growth. Some will settle on freshly painted walls, others can float for considerable distances, and settle down in areas that were not contaminated to that point.
There is always the option of moving out, but there are downsides to consider: mould spores will contaminate your belongings if they get the chance. Once you move into a new house, you will most likely contaminate it through affected belongings, and the nightmare will start all over.
However, what if you really like the place and do not want to move?
First, it is necessary to investigate whether the building has large construction flaws that cannot be fixed or are too costly to fix. This aspect is essential for decision making.
Minor leakages can be easily fixed, and proofing the outer walls against water infiltration are things that landlords, in most cases, will help you with or you might decide to do yourself.
Now that you fix the structural aspects, you will have to take the right preventive measurements on the inside: let sunlight in as much as possible, do not block the windows with pieces of furniture, pull the curtains over the day, ventilate your house properly, and keep room humidity in check by using either the AC and/or dehumidifiers.
Getting all this done will not solve your mould problem, but will considerably slow down the growth of the mould.
All this combined systematic large-scale professional mould treatment of the house will allow you to live within the rental of choice without risking your health.