More than a week after Joan Rivas-Cosby fled her Olinder neighborhood home with her cats Persimmon and Friday in tow, the ceiling of her basement — where standing water festered for days — turned into a petri dish, dotted with tiny light blue and green fuzzy spores growing on practically every panel.
“It’s heart-wrenching,’’ said the twice-widowed mother of two grown children. “Nothing is the same anymore. Everything for me has changed overnight.’’
From San Jose to Felton to Guerneville and beyond, floods this winter have Northern California home recovery and restoration experts scurrying from one water disaster to the next, alerting panicked residents that time is critical in the battle against mold.
For many San Jose residents, the floodwaters from Coyote Creek triggered a cascade of confusion: The sudden loss of personal property was followed by headaches over insurance issues and scam-artist contractors. Then came worries that the filthy flood water left behind and the resulting mold could jeopardize their health.
If mold is not removed quickly, microscopic organisms will continue to replicate and spread to other parts of a home, creating the potential for runny noses, scratchy throats and watery eyes — or worse — said Dr. Lisa Hernandez, Santa Clara County’s deputy health officer.
People with compromised immune systems — transplant patients, those being treated for AIDS or receiving chemotherapy to treat cancer — and anyone with chronic lung illnesses can develop a serious lung infection when they’re exposed to mold, Hernandez said.
“Most people will not have reactions, but those at highest risk really are — and that is why we care about cleaning up the mold,’’ said Dr. Catherine Forest, a family medicine physician at Stanford Health Care.
It takes only 48 to 72 hours, most experts agree, for fungi to invade a home. So Janet Ruiz, California representative for the New York-based Insurance Information Institute, recommends that right after property owners contact their insurance agent to report a flood they should consider hiring a licensed contractor to assess the water damage.
But Rivas-Cosby says she didn’t even realize she had a mold problem until more than a week after the flood, when she was alerted by a second restoration company she’d hired after the first one took her deposit and removed most of the water — but failed to finish the job.
“We did everything wrong,’’ she said. “You don’t give business to people who knock on your door. We wanted the work done — we were just desperate.’’
The same thing happened to her next-door neighbor, who also ended up having to hire a second company to finish the work the first one never completed.
“The biggest mistake is doing this when you’re in a panic, but it’s hard not to be panicked,’’ Dave Andrews, owner of Andrews Disaster Recovery near Half Moon Bay, said of fly-by-night operators. “You need someone who has some kind of reputation.’’
Homeowners and renters, he and other recovery experts say, should be aware that the water damage and subsequent mold following a flood often isn’t visible — it hides behind walls, under floorboards, and inside door frames, continuing to grow and creating a possible lifetime of health hazards.
“The house breathes, and since it’s not air-tight, mold will get into other rooms,’’ said Michael Walker, project manager at Water Damage Recovery, a San Leandro-based company now working with Rivas-Cosby on the standard cleanup.
That process includes pumping out the flood water, sanding or scrubbing with a wire brush any organic materials that mold feeds on, and killing what’s left by applying an anti-bacterial treatment to all surfaces. That’s followed by drying out the area with dehumidifiers and using air purifiers to ensure the mold doesn’t return.
Next door to Rivas-Cosby’s home, Gary Chapin and Sal Garcia of San Jose-based Reassured Restoration followed a similar plan for that flooded home. Because there was water damage on the floors, they had to excise the first few feet of drywall, or else “the mold will eat its way up,’’ said Chapin.
Standard homeowner policies don’t cover floods, Ruiz said. But home insurance carriers offer flood insurance through FEMA’s national flood insurance program. The policy can cover home damage up to $250,000.
Ruiz said property damage caused by water, moisture, mildew or mold is generally covered.
The first floor of the two-story Craftsman style home Bryan Rodriguez co-owns with his partner near Naglee Park was so badly flooded that work crews had to tear it down to its tacks. They quickly discovered that black mold had already surfaced in two areas.
“Something doesn’t smell right,’’ Rodriguez said. “It makes me think of that blue-gray mold on a loaf of bread. I can’t imagine what kinds of things were invited into our home with this kind of water.”
While Rodriguez is lucky to have flood insurance, he worries about renters whose landlords may not be as aggressive about cleaning up.
Since Jan. 1, 2016, the California Public Health Department has deemed mold a condition that makes a home substandard. That means the owner of a rental property cited as substandard by a city or county code inspector is required to repair the substandard condition.
Two streets over from Rivas-Cosby’s home, landlord Ken Pham was visiting a flooded duplex he owns, one side of which he rents out to a family of six. While mold was not visible inside, a strong musty smell was unmistakable, and the hardwood floors were buckling.
Pham, who said he did not take out flood insurance because he said it’s not required if someone owns a property outright, already had cut away the first two feet of drywall to air out any moisture.
While he said he regrets not buying flood insurance, he’s still hoping a city inspector will decide the remedial work he’s done inside is sufficient. If not, he said, he’ll have to pay out of pocket for more thorough restoration work.
His tenants, George Rocha and Consuelo Zavala Luna, told a reporter they didn’t anticipate any mold problem. “I cleaned it really well,’’ Luna said proudly.
But Chapin shook his head. After placing his moisture sensor device against a baseboard inside, revealing what he said was 100 percent saturation, he offered his professional opinion:
“It’s mold beyond belief.’’
HOW TO PREVENT MOLD IF YOU HAVE A FLOOD
Eliminate any moisture immediately.
Stop the source of the leak or flooding.
Remove excess water with mops, a wet vacuum or pump.
Move wet items to a dry, well-ventilated area, or place them outdoors to dry.
Pull up wet carpet as soon as possible.
Open closet and cabinet doors and move furniture away from walls to increase airflow.
Remove drywall and baseboards or pry open wall paneling where walls have gotten wet.
Run portable fans to increase air flow (but not if mold has already started to grow, as this could spread mold).
Do not use your home’s central furnace or air-conditioning system if it or any of the ducts were flooded, since this could blow mold all around your home.
If you have a moisture problem in your home that you cannot fix yourself, hire a contractor or building expert to help.
Source: California Department of Public Health
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