Odor After Water Damage

3/15/2018 (Permalink)

Why is there an odor in a home that has experienced water damage? The odors come from wet carpeting, padding, drywall, insulation, cabinets, or contents in the home.  The odor is there because of microbial growth (mold) and this smell is from a process referred to as Microbial Volatile Organic Compounds or MVOCs. This is the microorganism’s metabolism or rather the ability of mold to begin rapidly multiplying in the wet environment. Molds can be found anywhere inside structures and outside. Mold is crucial outdoors to help decay trees that have fallen or other material turning it back into soil for regrowth. Mold does not distinguish if it’s outdoors and indoors, so this same process will occur on drywall and wooded studs inside a home! SERVPRO of Gurnee is a certified cleaning and restoration firm in mold mitigation and remediation. Each structure that has mold is approached differently depending on the source of water, what type of material mold is growing on, and how much.