HVAC and Duct Mold Remediation in Covington, LA
A Northshore house runs its air conditioning from March into November, and the system is the one place in the house that is cold and wet by design. When the smell hits in the first minute after the unit kicks on, when one supply vent always has a dark ring, or when the bedroom at the end of the duct run is the musty one, the growth is usually in the system rather than the room. Cool inside. Humid outside. Moisture finds a way. Call and tell us where the smell is strongest.
Where it grows
At the evaporator coil and the drain pan under it, where condensation never stops. In the plenum and the first stretch of supply duct, where the air is coldest. In insulated flex duct that got wet from a backed-up drain line, a roof leak over the attic, or a unit that sweated all summer in a hundred-and-thirty-degree attic. EPA says condensation near cooling coils is a major factor in moisture contamination of duct systems, and almost every house built here since 2000 runs flex duct through an attic that hot.
What EPA says decides the job
- Don’t run a system you suspect is contaminated — EPA says it can spread mold throughout the building.
- Insulated duct that has gotten wet or moldy can’t be effectively cleaned; EPA says it gets removed and replaced, and Louisiana’s Department of Health repeated that after Ida.
- Metal trunk line and the air handler cabinet can be cleaned where they sit.
- Materials that have been wet for more than 48 hours can already support extensive growth, so a drain line that backed up last month has had time.
Tell Us When The Smell Starts, 24/7
What to do now
If the musty smell is clearly coming out of the vents, switch the system off and call. Note when the unit was last serviced, whether the drain line has backed up before, and whether the attic took any water during a storm. We tell you what we find at the coil and the drain so the problem doesn’t restart once the duct is replaced.
