How expert mould removal turned a grow-op back into a home
Sprays that promise to remove mould instantly don’t work. Mould has to be removed or you do not solve the problem.
Ron Haveron and his wife were relaxing at home when a telephone call from the Ottawa police disrupted their quiet evening.
“We have a few rental units,” Haveron said, “and we had been renting a house in Orleans to some people that we thought were very nice. We found out we were wrong about that when the police said that there had been a drug bust at the house and they wanted us to show up there right away.”
When they arrived, they discovered that the basement was the site of a marijuana grow-op.
“We had to get all the remnants of the grow-op out at our cost,” Haveron said, noting that the basement had been virtually destroyed during the drug bust. “We were told we had to find our own contractors and that we weren’t allowed to do any of the work ourselves.”
Finding the right company to do the job was the next hurdle. The first companies Haveron contacted left him feeling very uncomfortable.
“They treated us as though we were the criminals,” he said. “And we had done nothing wrong. Then, we finally met Richard Sticklee of Enviropure — we found the company online — and things really changed. He was very respectful and understanding. He and his crew did everything they could to help. They really went the extra mile.”
Enviropure Home Services took over to ensure that the house was restored to a healthy environment for future residents.
The hot and humid conditions required to grow marijuana can cause significant damage to a property — including warped wood, collapsed drywall and large amounts of mould. Exposure to mould can cause health issues like throat, eye and skin irritation, nasal congestion, coughing and wheezing, as well as exacerbating problems for people who are already subject to asthma and other respiratory issues.
“We’ve cleaned up everything from the smallest bits to grow-ops and places that are completely contaminated with mould,” said Sticklee, Enviropure’s vice-president of operations. “We are not just a mould remediation company; we are certified for mould inspections. We are so detailoriented and thorough in our mould remediation that, after we have completed the job and done post-air qual- ity testing, we actually give a safe-dwelling certificate to let the client know that the building is completely safe to inhabit.”
Mould remediation, he emphasized, is a process, not a product.
“Sprays that promise to remove mould instantly don’t work,” Sticklee said. “Mould has to be removed or you do not solve the problem.”
Bleach, he added, is as ineffective as the commercial sprays.
“The problem with using bleach is that it has to be the perfect mixture of nine parts water and one part bleach, and left for 10 minutes to create a chemical reaction and get rid of mould,” he explained. “But bleach evaporates faster than water. So people are putting water on the mould, which helps it to grow.”
He pointed out that mould, which starts to grow whenever water remains on a surface for 72 hours or more, can cause various health issues.
“Anything under five microns that goes into your lungs never comes out,” he said. “Mould spores are just two microns. Once there is enough mould in your lungs, it builds into all kinds of respiratory problems, like asthma and bronchitis or even fatal diseases in some cases.”
The answer in mould remediation is high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) vacuuming, followed by source containment and the disposal of defective materials.
“You can’t get mould out of certain materials, such as drywall,” Sticklee said. “You need specialized ways of getting rid of it. That’s why it should be done by certified experts.”
All divisions of Enviropure are certified by the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification and the American Bio-Recovery Association.
“I would recommend Enviropure to anybody,” said Ron Haveron, who, a year following the cleanup, is renting out the restored property again. For more information, visit
www.enviropurehome.com or call 613-513-7873.