Musty basement? That smell is mold.
Finished or unfinished, a Colorado basement is the coolest, dampest room in the house, and it is usually the last one anybody looks at. We treat basement mold across the Front Range, and most basements are done in a single working day.
What we find down there
Where basement mold actually grows
Almost nobody calls us because they saw mold. They call because the basement started to smell, or somebody in the house could not shake a cough all winter. The mold is usually behind something by then.
The spots we open up most often are the back of finished walls, the sill plate where the framing meets the concrete, the underside of the floor above, carpet padding that got wet once and dried slowly, and stored cardboard sitting flat on the slab.
How it starts
Why Front Range basements grow mold
Snowmelt against the foundation
Spring runoff pushes water at the foundation wall for weeks. It wicks through the concrete, the framing behind the drywall stays damp, and nobody sees any of it.
Window wells that hold water
A well fills during a storm, water comes over the sill, the carpet gets dried and the baseboard framing behind it does not. This is the most common basement job we run.
Plumbing and water heaters
Supply lines, drain lines and water heater tanks let go quietly. By the time the floor feels soft, the mold has had a head start.
No airflow, cool concrete
A basement runs cooler than the rest of the house, so humidity condenses down there first. Add a closed door and stored boxes and it never dries out.
Grading that runs the wrong way
A lot of older Denver and Lakewood homes were graded toward the house. Every storm sends water where you do not want it.
Dryer vents that dump inside
A disconnected dryer vent puts warm wet air straight into the room. We see it more often than people expect.
The treatment
How our basement mold remediation works
We use Anti-Microbial Dry Fog Treatment (ADFT). It fills the room with a dry antimicrobial fog that reaches the back of the framing, the underside of the floor above, inside the insulation cavities and the top of the sill plate.
In a basement, some wet drywall, carpet pad or trim often has to come out when it is too far gone to save. ADFT then treats everything that remains, including the framing and the wall cavities nobody can reach with a sponge.
Most basements are done in one working day. You get the room back that evening. Read more about the ADFT process if you want the detail.
What it costs
How we quote a basement
This is the first thing people ask, so here is a straight answer about how it works. We do not quote a basement without seeing it, and we do not need to come out to do that.
Send us photos of the areas you are worried about, plus a rough idea of the square footage and how many separate areas are involved. We send back a real number, usually the same business day. No appointment, no sales visit, no pressure.
What moves the number is how much space we are treating, how many separate areas there are, and how easy the space is to get into. That is it.
Real Colorado jobs
Basements we have already cleared
We have cleared basements across the Front Range, and we write the jobs up. Read about a Fort Collins basement treatment from start to finish, mold under a basement window in Lakewood and a basement window leak in Denver. Others include black spots on basement walls in Englewood and a Boulder basement hallway, closet and media room.
We also wrote up a Lakewood basement where mold reached the door frame and the floor. One more is a home where mold spread across more than one floor.
If you want to know what feeds it, our team wrote up the most common causes of household mold. We also wrote up prevention steps that work in a basement.
More rooms
Mold somewhere else in the house?
Bathroom Mold Removal
Spots that come back after cleaning, leaks under the sink.
RoomCeiling Mold Removal
Stains from a roof leak or the bathroom above.
RoomKitchen Mold Removal
Under the sink, the dishwasher and the fridge.
RoomAttic and Crawl Space Mold Removal
The two spaces nobody looks in.
Start hereMold Removal in Colorado
Every room we treat, and how our treatment works.
Questions
Basement mold questions we get every week
Will anything have to come out of my basement?
How long does a basement take?
What will it cost?
My basement just smells musty. Is that really mold?
Do I need a mold test first?
Will it come back?
Guaranteed clear
Our guarantees, in writing.
Money-Back Guarantee
If a verified post-treatment lab test still shows active mold after we re-treat, you get your money back. In writing.
One-Year Guarantee
Keep moisture in check and if mold returns to a treated area within a year, we re-treat it free. Fully transferable.
Colorado Local Since 2013
Family-owned. Front Range based. Real people who answer the phone.
Musty basement?
Send us photos. We'll send back a number.
Usually the same business day. Northern Colorado, call (970) 469-9030.