EV-Disinfection

Hi Summerholiday, We have been recommending the Novita brand for 2 years now to our customers, they can be found at most of the major electrical shops. www.novita.com.sg The bugs are about 1 mm small and only walk (Not fly), these are book lice, their main food source is Mold. the de humdifier / disposable dehumidifier (Thirsty Hippo) will slow down or stop the mold growth, But the room in question has already been infected. Painting over a moldy wall will not kill the mold spores. Hope this helps, Regards Terence

Hi Ashlene, The compressed wood from that piece of furniture is infected, we have come across that piece before, the sliding mirror one that slides left and right to uncover a mini shelf for make up stuff. Most of the time, we would disinfect these infected furniture and ask the tenant or landlord to paint it over after disinfection. But unfortunately, this piece cannot be rescued, now the only fear is that the mold might have infected the particular room that it is in, or into the air conditioning system, where it will spread every time you use the AC. Hope this helps. Regards Terence

Hi Mr Bean, I guess the only way to find out where the water is coming from is by cutting a square in the false ceiling, and have a look. It could be that the facade wall outside that affected room has a crack which leaks into the false ceiling area. It could also be cause by the rain, as it takes time for the water to go from the roof through your ceiling and then through your false ceiling. The real concern is that there would be extra moisture in that room, and with a mold introduction, that room could be mold infected. Hope this helps

Hi all, can someone share with me how to post photos in here please? Want to post the photos of moldy furniture that we have treated. Thank you

Hello Orchid, As we do inspections of people's homes almost everyday, we too have come across many Ikea furniture that are very moldy once moisture is introduced, it happens on the (raw compressed chipboard) back boards, the raw boards on the undersides of tables and at the right angles of laminated boards. (This has started approximately 2 years ago, before that we have seen no problems with Ikea furniture, it could be that when they store these boards in their factory in Asia now, these boards might have been exposed to the rain and mold in the area, before or after assembly) We have also seen furniture from V Hive, Novena (certain ranges), King's Furnishing (certain ranges) which have the same problem. Please kindly visit our website, under "Mold Problems" and you will see the moldy furniture which i have mentioned above. There are also some photos of mold infected air con units. www.evdisinfection.com The best thing for all with this problem without having disinfection done first, is to use a Paint meant for wood / metal and paint over all Raw surfaces, this will help to slow down the mold growth. Mold can happen on all raw wooden surfaces, in the crack and crevices. so please check your parquet flooring, "Antique" furniture, all wooden furniture. if you see that the lacquer or paint has been worn off, touch them up ASAP. If there is mold on your furniture, it is also most likely that the room it is in, has been infected. Hope this helps. Terence

Hi Orchids, Are these bugs the type that does not fly, only walk and 1 mm big, if yes, these are booklices which have mold as their foodsource, Coating our the mold will not help and is only a cover up, till conditions are right again, which is moisture and dampness. You need to have the furniture disinfected, and inspected to see if there are other areas with these bugs / mold problem. Regards EV-Disinfection

Good day Edea, There must be a moisture source in your home that is making the mold reproduces, Do you hang your clothes indoor? Do you close the bathroom door after showers? Are you living below the 6th floor? ....etc Painting over mold will be one of the worst things to do, as it will regrow really soon. Anyway, we have have mold photos in our Singapore website www.evdisinfection.com

Hi Bunnymummy, There are many companies that sell these solid tops, and all can do the polishing, try to look under your solid top for the brand and google it, for the SG company that sells the brand. Terence 81867168 www.evdisinfection.com

Hi Bunnymummy, the mirror can be replaced, just go to any framing shops to get it done. Terence 81867168 www.evdisinfection.com

Well, i would recommend using the solid top, as this top does not have any joints, having joints like marble, granite and laminated wood, the problem would be that you will have to always check if the gaps are sealed, and have to reapply the seal once it is worn out. If water starts to leak into the wood below, you will have a mold problem and worse case the wood below will rot and have to be replaced. For the solid top, yes, scratches do occur, but you can re polish it if it gets really bad (5 years later). Hope this helps...

Hi Aojk7164, Call Chris of StoneCrete Systems at 93837785 (Stone Care Expert), He can visit the place and give his expert opinion.

Hi Velv, Just wondering how old are these AC gas pipes? The water area, is where the insulated AC gas pipe is touching the insides of the trunking, I suspect that the AC gas pipe insulation there is worn out. Would suggest that you use new gas pipes for your new AC, if they are causing so much problems, also get another AC guys opinion. I think that AC gas pipes should be changed every 5 - 7 years. Picture below of a trunking which is 15 years old,

Well, if you remove 1 board, the behind side would have the brand name, from there ...find the distributor, if no distributor, find the manufacturer overseas.... buy a few pieces of your same colour and pattern, and get a local laminate flooring company to install it. You won't be able to DIY.

@ CHIANG128 Hmmmm.. Removal of bathtub, HDB flat or private home? If HDB, then Shut off the water supply to the tub shower, but first you got to make sure that there is an individual shut off tap to the tub, if not, you will have to shut the water mains and go to the DIY shop and tell them your situation, they will sell you a copper screw thing and use can use a 10 cent coin to cap it. Next, unscrew the screw at the area where the water drains away in the tub. After that you can start hacking the tub out. Note that once the tub is out, there will be a short wall, you can start to hack it away. Now you will be left with your wall and floor tiles damaged. Try to employ a tiler to re tile the damaged wall and floor tiles, Cost about SGD 250.00 - SGD 300.00 for a day's work + cement, waterproofing and buying your tiles -- you can go to a tile shop and choose and buy on the spot, make sure you buy the same size for the wall and floor tiles. It will not look very good, as you would not be able to find the same tiles back, and if you did, the colour will be different (old and new) Suggest that you leave the bath tub and just shower in it. @ SNG28 The wall to your bathtub is very low, you will need to build it up, it would be good to make a base, so that when you put in the 2 -4 doors, you won't have problems with the water. Best to hack down the wall and rebuilt.

Hi Neutral, we cannot see the photos. EV-D

Hi Topspin, Thank you for the response, Firstly, i do not sell any products, but we have a service to help people with Mold / Hygiene / Asthma issues. http://www.greensingapore.com/Singlenews.aspx?DirID=132&rec_code=715215&title=The%20cons%20of%20air-con Secondly, Am just stating some facts on Borax. (which can be found on the internet -- Google) Have a good weekend, EV-D

Hi Esparto, 1. As it a open toilet shower area is very near to the glass door. Will mold and algae start to grow at the edge of the white sticker? If the stickers are really good, it will last you a year, and the mold / algae will be at the edges / glue area, as it is a food source for them, 2. Cleaning of inner part of the screen must make sure the clothes that I'm using are super clean if not the paper will turn black? Hmmmm... well that means it is not stain resistant. 3. As it a shower room, will the hot water steam slowly peel off the stickers? Yes, steam and moisture will slowly peel off the sticker, how long will depend on the quality of the sticker, But i guess that putting up the sticker will be your cheapest option, and probably you will need to change it, once in a while. Painting it might get messy, but is also an option.

The stains have entered the tiles, you cannot clean it, i think you need to change the tiles. What did the HDB say?

Hmmmmm.....is the bottom of your writing table bare / raw / untreated / unpainted wood? the thing that you can do is to paint a semi or high gloss paint, The English polish will work the same as painting with a semi or high gloss finish. The "roots" that you always say are what we call spores. Protein Shell that is almost impossible to break through. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Borax information: safety advice Always keep borax away from food. It is quite toxic if ingested. As little as a teaspoonful could possibly kill a small child or make them quite sick, so keep it well out of reach of children. For others swallowing borax could provoke gastic upsets. Nevertheless it is regarded by Rio Tinto (who manufacture it in California) as having "low acute toxicity". Keep your skin free from harm by wearing rubber gloves. Make sure you wash your hands after using it. Make sure that you don't inhale it or get it in your eyes - wear protective gear if in doubt. This is important if you are using it outdoors or in draughty conditions. You should also be careful when using it in place where pets go. One lady who contacted me used it on her carpets regularly and her cat developed serious respiratory difficulties. This could have been a co-incidence but it's something to bear in mind if you are planning to use it for cleaning your carpets. Using it on carpets could also pose a hazard to toddlers and crawling babies. Wipe up any spills carefully and store it somewhere well out of harms way. If you use it carefully, borax is a good, effective and environmentally friendly cleaner.

Hmmmm..... silicon once applied and dry becomes porous, the mold spores love it there and the only way is to reapply the silicon, the black silicon is a good idea, because no matter what you do, the shower area will always be filled with micro-organisms, cause when we shower, the soap will rinse our dried skin and dirt away, and these will get to the silicon areas and the area will start to produce mold. Take note to re apply the silicon in between the gaps on top of your kitchen cabinet, even if it is a marble or granite top, the gaps must be sealed with silicon every 6-9 months, to prevent water from getting through these gaps into the cabinets below, which will also produce mold and the musky smell. note that the water that seeps through is not clean water, it is the water from wahing your dishes and say, from cleaning that fish....etc. Prevention is better than cure, if your family is getting allergies, then give me a call.

Hmmmm.... musky smell = mold infection, once infected almost anything you do would be a temporary solution. The vhive furniture, advise is to paint it with a semi or high gloss paint.

Wow, good post, I agree with almost everything that you have written except for: Molds will survive even in outer space, so if you can control the moisture in the air (humidity) you can control the mold from spreading, but this does not mean the molds are dead, they just remain dormant, till conditions are right before reproducing and spreading again. Note that molds are micro - organisms, you would need a optical microscope to see them, but once you can see them with your naked eyes, we call them an infection. The protein in almost all home paints are a food source for the molds. Do not sniff too hard when in close contact with mold, as that is how people develop allergies , Asthma ... etc I have seen many of these 0.5mm bugs on the walls of the homes they i treat, these feed on the early stage molds (not many enough for you to see them yet) these bugs are a sign that an infection will take place soon. I strongly do not recommend Borax, as it is classified as a poison and is toxic. You can buy from the internet, you just have to be really careful, as it needs approval as it is under the SG poison's act.

I would not advise anyone to buy Vhive furniture and the new Ikea cupboards where the back boards are very porous, the older Ikea furniture are ok, We treat mold on a daily basis, so we know the problem furniture around. Notice that most vhive furniture do not use laminate, it is just a patterned paper sticked onto the cupboard surfaces. The only thing for people who uses vhive or the new (certain models) Ikea furniture is to paint it up, with a semi or high gloss paint, forget about the anti - mold paint, as we are always called up to rectify the problem on the painted walls, Remember that the protein in paint is a food source for molds.

Hi all, For your info, mold spores are one of the toughest shell made of protein by mother nature, and concentrated acids, bleach, vinegar, radiation will not be able to break these spores, so for wooden furniture, try to buy those that are semi or high glossed smoothly lacquered, smooth surfaces like laminates, plastics or painted steel will help you maintain your furniture. Parquet floors or any glossed wooden surfaces (Doors, furniture....) which lose their glossy finish, will need to be lacquered again. Another advise to help prevent mold is that if you are staying below the 6th floor, try to close your windows as much as possible, as the mold spores from the trees will be blown into your homes, and once the conditions are right, these mold spores will reproduce. Borax is not available in SG for a reason. Because it is classified as a Poison and toxic, (Google it)

Hi all, vanity in the bathroom is ok, have a solid, marble or granite top, wooden cabinet below is fine too, except that it must be fully laminated, and have the edges where all the right angles meet, sealed with clear silicon or painted, but remember to open the ventilation windows after showers, if bathroom too small and with small ventilation windows, try to install a exhaust fan to keep the bathroom as dry as possible, also do not leave the bathroom door open, because you are transferring the warm moisture into your bedroom, which would cause possible mold infections.