January 20, 2026 • 16 mins
Think the crisp post-storm smell means ozone can fix mold? We challenge that assumption with a clear, practical breakdown of what ozone does, where it fails, and how real mold remediation succeeds. We start with building science basics: mold is a symptom of moisture. If humidity, leaks, or poor ventilation remain, colonies rebound no matter how clean the surface looks. That’s why “blast it with ozone” doesn’t solve the root cause and often leaves hidden hyphae alive inside wood and drywall.
We dig into the biology—hyphae, mycelium, and the way colonies anchor into porous materials—and explain why oxidizers that don’t penetrate can fragment spores without removing the reservoir. You’ll hear why the EPA and restoration standards don’t endorse ozone as a primary fix, and how fragmented particles still trigger allergies unless you use true HEPA filtration and thorough cleanup. We also raise smart questions about mycotoxins during slow-kill scenarios and why speed, containment, and source control matter more than gadgets.
Then we share a proven, step-by-step plan. Fix the moisture. Contain the workspace. Remove or treat contaminated materials. HEPA vacuum and air-scrub. Use targeted antimicrobials and, when appropriate, apply protective coatings like Concrobium or Superstratum to resist regrowth once conditions are kept dry. We cover when an ozone pass might help with odors only after proper remediation, the safety risks to lungs, pets, plants, and finishes, and how to vet contractors who lead with ozone instead of fundamentals.
If you’re weighing options for a damp basement, a musty attic, or a recurring bathroom bloom, this guide gives you a science-first roadmap to a healthier home. Subscribe for more straight-talk building science, share with a friend who’s battling mold, and leave a review to tell us what topic you want next.
To learn more about Habitation Investigation, the Three-time Winner of the Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest Plus the Winner of Consumer Choice Award for Columbus Ohio visit Home Inspection Columbus Ohio - Habitation Investigation (homeinspectionsinohio.com)
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
Hey everybody, let's let's talk about ozone today.
SPEAKER_02 (00:07):
Ozone in regards to what, honey?
SPEAKER_01 (00:09):
Wow, some people think like ozone, what the he
who cares?
What are they talking about?
So ozone is it's three ox oxygenmolecules together.
It's like that smell you getafter a really nice
thunderstorm.
Because lightning producesozone.
But we Laura and I taught aclass, I think it was maybe
(00:32):
yesterday or last week we taughta class about air quality and
ozone as a treatment for moldcame up, of course.
So Laura, what is I I guess thequestion is, is ozone a good
treatment for mold?
SPEAKER_02 (00:52):
No.
SPEAKER_01 (00:53):
Alright, and and and why what what are some reasons
it will kill mold though, won'tit?
SPEAKER_02 (00:58):
It does, but the problem is in a residential
setting, the level that you needfor the duration that you need
is not feasible.
The EPA has actually come outand said that ozone as a
treatment for mold is not aviable option.
So, for example, we did aninspection yesterday, and on the
(01:21):
disclosure from three years ago,they said, Oh, hey, we had a
mold problem and they treated itwith ozone.
And as we're doing theinspection, there's mold all
over the place.
So, of course, we had to do moldtesting again.
So the problem with ozone isthat it doesn't penetrate into
(01:44):
wood and things like that deepenough to actually kill the
whole mold.
So if you don't get rid of thecondensation problem, if you
don't get rid of the moistureproblem, you haven't done
anything.
SPEAKER_01 (01:56):
Yeah, so mold, mold is to us, it's it's a symptom of
a moisture issue.
Right.
Which could be a water leak,roof leak, it could be humidity,
condensation, condensation, uh,which can be affected by uh
ventilation in an attic space orin a basement, wherever you're
at.
But the ozone it like you said,it does not penetrate.
(02:20):
So when molds grow, they haveroots.
Of the roots what do they callhyphae?
SPEAKER_02 (02:25):
Hyphae, and then is the mycelium like what groups
them all together, like theygrow and they spread into each
other.
SPEAKER_01 (02:32):
Yeah, they're a couple different things, but
basically they got somethingcalled that are roots.
SPEAKER_03 (02:37):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (02:38):
And ozone will not penetrate to the wood or the
drywall, whatever the cellulosematerial is that it's growing
on.
So it's kind of like cuttingyour grass.
Yeah.
You're using ozone to cut yourgrass if you're seeing the mold
as as the grass you're growing,but you don't kill the roots,
(02:59):
it's just gonna go right back,given the right conditions, such
as moisture and and of course itstill has that uh cellulose now
for food.
SPEAKER_02 (03:08):
Several years ago, we were also told that another
reason ozone is a bad idea, isso basically how it kills the
mold is it kind of like blows upthat mold cell.
What and it divides it into likesmaller pieces, it's an
oxidizer.
Yeah, so it for lack of a betterdescription for people to it it
(03:30):
blows up that cell.
It breaks it up, it breaks itup, and so you've got smaller
pieces of mold that even ifthey're dead, you know, if I've
got allergies and I'm in thathouse and I'm still breathing in
those small pieces of mold, I'mstill going to have an allergic
reaction.
But now I have small pieces ofmold that I have to get rid of.
And so I guess they have donestudies since the last time, you
(03:54):
know, we talked about this withthat microbiologist.
And so a lot of them can stillbe caught, but it has to be a
very good HEPA filter.
It can't be an electromagneticone, it it has to be a very
good, legitimate HEPA filter.
SPEAKER_01 (04:10):
Because the HEPA filter they go down, I I think I
saw like 0.1 microns orsomething like that.
0.3 microns, yes.
HEPA filter.
So the and so far there are nostudies that show that the
particles are broken out in thepart and the little tiny parts
are smaller than that.
SPEAKER_02 (04:29):
Right.
That's what the studies areshowing.
SPEAKER_01 (04:31):
Why it doesn't, I don't know.
Maybe you've had small particlesthat get further exposed, maybe
it does, but it looks like rightnow your HEPA filter will get
rid of those particles, butstill, you gotta shit down the
particles floating through theair that are gonna cause
allergy, you know, out allergicresponses to yourself.
And I don't know if ozone, whenthe mold realizes it has ozone
(04:57):
attacking it, will it producemycotoxins?
Because it's not dead yet.
And how fast does it producemycotoxins?
SPEAKER_00 (05:04):
Habitation investigation is the way to go
for a home inspection in Ohio.
Trusted licensed home inspectorsfor your needs.
From radon to mold to warranty.
For a great home inspection, youreally can't go wrong.
(05:24):
Visit home inspections inOhio.com.
SPEAKER_01 (05:29):
Then also, let's say you do a treatment, an ozone
treatment.
You kill the surface spores,okay?
And the molds.
The roots, the hyphae, startgrowing back because you never
fix your moisture issue.
Right.
And of course, the ozone did notpenetrate.
When the molds are regrowing, dothey know that they were damaged
(05:50):
by something?
Are they gonna automaticallystart making micro toxins?
Because they were damagedbefore.
SPEAKER_02 (05:55):
And another question is if I have mold spores in the
air and I've got ozone running,is the ozone gonna break that
mold spore up into even smallerpieces eventually?
Like if you let it run for alonger period of time, how where
where does ozone stop at blowingit at breaking down those mold
(06:17):
pieces?
Yeah, it might does it continueto do that even if you've got
like a cell that's beendisrupted.
Is is ozone gonna continue toattack that would be one of my
questions.
SPEAKER_01 (06:28):
Yeah, I don't know.
And then it is hard to getozone, apparently, it is hard to
get ozone levels high enough inthe house to actually do that,
yes.
Because you gotta pretty, Imean, pretty good equipment to
get the ozone levels highenough, and then to do ozone
treatment in an attic, whichnaturally is supposed to have
ventilation, you're not gonnaget it.
(06:49):
You're not gonna get it highenough.
So if somebody offers you ozonetreatment, say no.
Yeah, tell them no.
I mean it's good for getting ridof odors.
SPEAKER_03 (07:00):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (07:00):
But if the odor is coming from molds, no, no, no,
no.
SPEAKER_02 (07:03):
You need to get first of all, you need to take
care of what's causing the moldto grow, get rid of that
moisture problem, and then havea legitimate remediation company
come in.
If they're coming in and going,hey, you know, pay us 500 bucks
and we'll throw an ozonegenerator up for 24 hours,
that's not gonna cut it, whichby the way, that was on the bill
(07:24):
for this one.
So that's how I knew thatspecifically.
SPEAKER_01 (07:27):
It's not expensive to do a mold treatment, but if
it's not a treatment and moldtreatment, what's the point?
Plus, ozone, there's nothingozone, it's just a gas, it's
three oxygen molecules, they'regonna break down over time
anyway.
SPEAKER_03 (07:38):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (07:39):
There is no lingering like residual effects,
like a lot of chemicals theyspray on to kill molds, they
stay there.
And they want provide like a sixmonths, a year uh prevention,
like concrobium does.
SPEAKER_02 (07:55):
Concrobium super stratum does that?
SPEAKER_01 (07:57):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (07:58):
Like superstratum has a a twofold thing.
So the first one will kill themold, and then they have a I I'm
gonna call it a sealant for lackof a better word.
Okay, and it will coat that areaand it will prevent mold reed
growth for like 10 years,they're saying.
SPEAKER_01 (08:16):
See, that's amazing, but ozone is not going to be a
little bit more.
SPEAKER_02 (08:19):
But ozone doesn't do that.
Ozone can't even guarantee thatanything has been completely
killed and that you're not gonnahave it growing back because it
doesn't kill the roots,especially in in porous
materials or semi-porousmaterials.
SPEAKER_01 (08:32):
Yeah, well, chlorine bleach doesn't penetrate either.
It's good for surface cleaning.
SPEAKER_02 (08:37):
You're you're just watering your plants at that
point.
SPEAKER_01 (08:40):
Because bleach that we buy, uh, anybody can buy is
it's mostly water, a little bitof chlorine in it.
You wipe it on, let's say youput on on wood, you got uh two
by four that's moldy.
You wipe it on, you smell thebleach, that evaporates, but the
bleach molecules do notpenetrate deep into the wood.
SPEAKER_02 (09:03):
And all you're doing is making yourself sick at that
point, because let's face it,bleach isn't good for us.
SPEAKER_01 (09:08):
No, no.
And then the IICRC, which issome kind of uh residential
construction standards.
I don't know exactly what it'sinternational standards.
Anyway, they do not recommendozone as a substitute for
physically removing and cleaningyour moldy uh items.
(09:30):
The best approach is wheneveryou got mold issue, it's always
gonna be you gotta you gottafigure out what your moisture
issue is, fix that.
It could be condensation becauseyou pad ventilation, your shower
vents goes up into the atticspace, could be a leak from a
pipe, who knows?
You got fix a water source, andthen get if you can rip out that
(09:51):
moldy piece of wood or whatever,get rid of it, or kill it.
SPEAKER_02 (09:57):
Kill it first and then get rid of it.
Just be on the safe side becauseif you're messing with it and it
defends itself, it will releasemycotoxins.
Yep.
So just kill it first.
SPEAKER_01 (10:07):
So stop the moisture, kill it and remove it,
and then finish up cleaning witha HEPA filter.
SPEAKER_02 (10:15):
So you're gonna do like a HEPA vacuum, you're
you're gonna do all of thatstuff and just suck all of that
up and throw it out of thehouse.
SPEAKER_01 (10:22):
And then make sure the area doesn't get wet again
because the molds cannot grow ifthere's no moisture, not enough
moisture for them.
SPEAKER_02 (10:30):
The IICRC is the Institute of Inspection,
cleaning and restoration.
Nothing to do with construction,nothing to do with construction,
baby.
Okay, so what uh all right, I'mthinking of some other, but I
can't think of what theanachronym is for that.
So many different oh it it'sinsane.
I can never remember them.
SPEAKER_01 (10:51):
Organizations out there, it's it's amazing.
Like we belong to C C P I P I Aand then NACI.
And you're part of NOMI.
SPEAKER_02 (11:00):
I I C R C NORMI, the IAC2.
SPEAKER_01 (11:05):
Um there's a you have you have a certification
through II C R C and you forgotwhat it stands for.
SPEAKER_02 (11:12):
Oh no, I have to look it up all the time.
Yeah, I really anachronyms.
I just I that just I've got toomany.
SPEAKER_01 (11:20):
You're so educated.
Which I was telling the girlsthe other day when you and I
can't think of words, I waslike, dude, it's not that we're
old, it's that we've got so muchfreaking knowledge in our head.
SPEAKER_03 (11:31):
We're trying to sift through it all.
SPEAKER_01 (11:32):
We gotta shift sift through all the file folders
that we have in our brainsbecause it's enormous.
SPEAKER_03 (11:38):
That's cra I I like that.
I love that explanation.
SPEAKER_01 (11:42):
So you're everybody's free to use that.
SPEAKER_03 (11:44):
Yeah, feel feel free to borrow that.
SPEAKER_01 (11:46):
So I think that's about it on this one.
We'll just make certain thatpeople know ozone is not
effective, it's not a legit wayto clean molds.
SPEAKER_02 (11:53):
No.
SPEAKER_01 (11:54):
It's a good thing.
SPEAKER_02 (11:55):
And if there's a remediation company and that's
their first go-to, get a newremediation company.
Call me, I'll give you areferral.
SPEAKER_01 (12:03):
Now, what now here's the thought.
What if somebody said, hey,we're we will kill we're gonna
do quarantine.
We say quarantine that area sothe multiples can't spread the
other areas of the house.
Okay.
But what they're gonna say,we're gonna quarantine, we're
gonna kill it, we're gonna ripit out, we're gonna take HEPA
vacuums or whatever, airscrubbers, clean everything off.
(12:25):
And then at the end we're gonnado uh ozone.
Right as at the end, as a justjust to help make sure there's
no nothing surface anywhere.
I don't see anything wrong withthat.
Of course, you want to have yourplants and animals and
everything out with ozone.
Because ozone is an irritant, itwill harm your lungs.
SPEAKER_02 (12:46):
Well, and it will kill plants, it will kill
animals, it will kill fish.
SPEAKER_01 (12:50):
So if they did that as a after we're done everything
properly, and say the moisture'salready been taken or moisture
is already been fixed, we'regonna do ozone just as an extra
touch.
I don't see anything wrong withthat.
SPEAKER_02 (13:04):
I i i I guess it would depend upon how good the
reputation is of the company.
Because if you don't do ozoneright, you can damage a lot of
things.
It acts as a bleacher.
So if if you've got furniture,if you've got carpet, if you've
got something that you careabout and you've got a company
doing ozone, it can lightenthat, it can bleach that out, it
(13:26):
can cause staining.
And if that company isn't, youknow, if they don't have very
good reviews, like I mean, likea 4.9 or a five, I wouldn't be
doing it.
But that's that's just me.
And I I yeah, yeah, I you know,I'd I'd rather I'd rather have
them come in and put somethinglike that sealant from
(13:47):
superstratum or concrobium on itthat's gonna keep stuff from
growing back than it's.
SPEAKER_01 (13:52):
I'm just thinking, maybe.
No, no, that's okay.
But or or they use the ozone ina contained area to kill the
mold before they go in and anddo official cleanup.
SPEAKER_02 (14:03):
But once again, are they actually killing the mold
or is that gonna be releasingmycotoxins?
SPEAKER_01 (14:08):
Does the mold because it's not penetrating
anything, is it?
SPEAKER_02 (14:10):
Well, and and not only that, but does the mold
realize that it's being attackedbecause it's basically being
attacked by the oxygenmolecules?
And then is is that going torelease the mycotoxins then?
And if that's the case, that's awhole new ball of wax, and you
don't even want to get into thatone.
SPEAKER_01 (14:28):
How long does ozone need to be in the area to kill
things?
It's like it's it's a longperiod of time.
SPEAKER_02 (14:36):
Days was my understanding.
Like, I don't I don't thinkanything that I've read has
specifically said becausethey've said that you can't do
it long enough in high enoughconcentrations, was what I've
seen.
SPEAKER_01 (14:48):
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (14:50):
So I I don't know.
SPEAKER_01 (14:52):
So so so here's my thought.
If it's killing it slowly, thatgives the molds more time to
make micro toxins.
Yeah.
So you need something to kill itfast.
So forget that idea of usingusing it to kill things
immediately to clean it up.
I think it's a good thing.
SPEAKER_02 (15:07):
No, I would use some I would use something from time,
like a time uh type spray onthat kills mold.
Uh the super stratum kills mold.
There's a couple of otherproducts out there that are
pretty good at killing mold.
I would do something like thatand then start taking it down
(15:27):
and cleaning it up and andmaking sure that that all gets
removed.
SPEAKER_01 (15:31):
Okay, I just I just asked Professor Grok.
Um moderate to severe case.
If it's a short little area, youjust take care of yourself
pretty quick.
SPEAKER_02 (15:53):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (15:54):
Four to twenty-four hours or up to 48 hours.
So it seems too slow.
SPEAKER_02 (16:00):
Yeah, I don't think it's fast enough.
I think it needs to be animmediate hit and done.
Because otherwise, I thinkyou're going to have mycotoxins
released, and that's a wholeother podcast we should do.
SPEAKER_01 (16:13):
Yes, and that mycotoxin is stuff that most
mold immediately companies donot want to admit or discuss.
They want to do that.
SPEAKER_02 (16:20):
Or people that are concerned about that, they're
just crazy.
SPEAKER_01 (16:23):
Yeah, they want they don't want to touch out a three,
seven and a half foot polebecause it's something they're
not aware of.
But we we can test for it andshow if mycotoxins actually are
present in a house or whereverwe're at.
So anyway, I think that's it forhere.
Bottom line no, ozone is not aviable, good treatment for for
molds.
SPEAKER_02 (16:43):
No.
SPEAKER_01 (16:43):
Find something else.
All right.
Thanks.
Bye bye.
Hey everybody, let's let's talk about ozone today.
SPEAKER_02 (00:07):
Ozone in regards to what, honey?
SPEAKER_01 (00:09):
Wow, some people think like ozone, what the he
who cares?
What are they talking about?
So ozone is it's three ox oxygenmolecules together.
It's like that smell you getafter a really nice
thunderstorm.
Because lightning producesozone.
But we Laura and I taught aclass, I think it was maybe
(00:32):
yesterday or last week we taughta class about air quality and
ozone as a treatment for moldcame up, of course.
So Laura, what is I I guess thequestion is, is ozone a good
treatment for mold?
SPEAKER_02 (00:52):
No.
SPEAKER_01 (00:53):
Alright, and and and why what what are some reasons
it will kill mold though, won'tit?
SPEAKER_02 (00:58):
It does, but the problem is in a residential
setting, the level that you needfor the duration that you need
is not feasible.
The EPA has actually come outand said that ozone as a
treatment for mold is not aviable option.
So, for example, we did aninspection yesterday, and on the
(01:21):
disclosure from three years ago,they said, Oh, hey, we had a
mold problem and they treated itwith ozone.
And as we're doing theinspection, there's mold all
over the place.
So, of course, we had to do moldtesting again.
So the problem with ozone isthat it doesn't penetrate into
(01:44):
wood and things like that deepenough to actually kill the
whole mold.
So if you don't get rid of thecondensation problem, if you
don't get rid of the moistureproblem, you haven't done
anything.
SPEAKER_01 (01:56):
Yeah, so mold, mold is to us, it's it's a symptom of
a moisture issue.
Right.
Which could be a water leak,roof leak, it could be humidity,
condensation, condensation, uh,which can be affected by uh
ventilation in an attic space orin a basement, wherever you're
at.
But the ozone it like you said,it does not penetrate.
(02:20):
So when molds grow, they haveroots.
Of the roots what do they callhyphae?
SPEAKER_02 (02:25):
Hyphae, and then is the mycelium like what groups
them all together, like theygrow and they spread into each
other.
SPEAKER_01 (02:32):
Yeah, they're a couple different things, but
basically they got somethingcalled that are roots.
SPEAKER_03 (02:37):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (02:38):
And ozone will not penetrate to the wood or the
drywall, whatever the cellulosematerial is that it's growing
on.
So it's kind of like cuttingyour grass.
Yeah.
You're using ozone to cut yourgrass if you're seeing the mold
as as the grass you're growing,but you don't kill the roots,
(02:59):
it's just gonna go right back,given the right conditions, such
as moisture and and of course itstill has that uh cellulose now
for food.
SPEAKER_02 (03:08):
Several years ago, we were also told that another
reason ozone is a bad idea, isso basically how it kills the
mold is it kind of like blows upthat mold cell.
What and it divides it into likesmaller pieces, it's an
oxidizer.
Yeah, so it for lack of a betterdescription for people to it it
(03:30):
blows up that cell.
It breaks it up, it breaks itup, and so you've got smaller
pieces of mold that even ifthey're dead, you know, if I've
got allergies and I'm in thathouse and I'm still breathing in
those small pieces of mold, I'mstill going to have an allergic
reaction.
But now I have small pieces ofmold that I have to get rid of.
And so I guess they have donestudies since the last time, you
(03:54):
know, we talked about this withthat microbiologist.
And so a lot of them can stillbe caught, but it has to be a
very good HEPA filter.
It can't be an electromagneticone, it it has to be a very
good, legitimate HEPA filter.
SPEAKER_01 (04:10):
Because the HEPA filter they go down, I I think I
saw like 0.1 microns orsomething like that.
0.3 microns, yes.
HEPA filter.
So the and so far there are nostudies that show that the
particles are broken out in thepart and the little tiny parts
are smaller than that.
SPEAKER_02 (04:29):
Right.
That's what the studies areshowing.
SPEAKER_01 (04:31):
Why it doesn't, I don't know.
Maybe you've had small particlesthat get further exposed, maybe
it does, but it looks like rightnow your HEPA filter will get
rid of those particles, butstill, you gotta shit down the
particles floating through theair that are gonna cause
allergy, you know, out allergicresponses to yourself.
And I don't know if ozone, whenthe mold realizes it has ozone
(04:57):
attacking it, will it producemycotoxins?
Because it's not dead yet.
And how fast does it producemycotoxins?
SPEAKER_00 (05:04):
Habitation investigation is the way to go
for a home inspection in Ohio.
Trusted licensed home inspectorsfor your needs.
From radon to mold to warranty.
For a great home inspection, youreally can't go wrong.
(05:24):
Visit home inspections inOhio.com.
SPEAKER_01 (05:29):
Then also, let's say you do a treatment, an ozone
treatment.
You kill the surface spores,okay?
And the molds.
The roots, the hyphae, startgrowing back because you never
fix your moisture issue.
Right.
And of course, the ozone did notpenetrate.
When the molds are regrowing, dothey know that they were damaged
(05:50):
by something?
Are they gonna automaticallystart making micro toxins?
Because they were damagedbefore.
SPEAKER_02 (05:55):
And another question is if I have mold spores in the
air and I've got ozone running,is the ozone gonna break that
mold spore up into even smallerpieces eventually?
Like if you let it run for alonger period of time, how where
where does ozone stop at blowingit at breaking down those mold
(06:17):
pieces?
Yeah, it might does it continueto do that even if you've got
like a cell that's beendisrupted.
Is is ozone gonna continue toattack that would be one of my
questions.
SPEAKER_01 (06:28):
Yeah, I don't know.
And then it is hard to getozone, apparently, it is hard to
get ozone levels high enough inthe house to actually do that,
yes.
Because you gotta pretty, Imean, pretty good equipment to
get the ozone levels highenough, and then to do ozone
treatment in an attic, whichnaturally is supposed to have
ventilation, you're not gonnaget it.
(06:49):
You're not gonna get it highenough.
So if somebody offers you ozonetreatment, say no.
Yeah, tell them no.
I mean it's good for getting ridof odors.
SPEAKER_03 (07:00):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (07:00):
But if the odor is coming from molds, no, no, no,
no.
SPEAKER_02 (07:03):
You need to get first of all, you need to take
care of what's causing the moldto grow, get rid of that
moisture problem, and then havea legitimate remediation company
come in.
If they're coming in and going,hey, you know, pay us 500 bucks
and we'll throw an ozonegenerator up for 24 hours,
that's not gonna cut it, whichby the way, that was on the bill
(07:24):
for this one.
So that's how I knew thatspecifically.
SPEAKER_01 (07:27):
It's not expensive to do a mold treatment, but if
it's not a treatment and moldtreatment, what's the point?
Plus, ozone, there's nothingozone, it's just a gas, it's
three oxygen molecules, they'regonna break down over time
anyway.
SPEAKER_03 (07:38):
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (07:39):
There is no lingering like residual effects,
like a lot of chemicals theyspray on to kill molds, they
stay there.
And they want provide like a sixmonths, a year uh prevention,
like concrobium does.
SPEAKER_02 (07:55):
Concrobium super stratum does that?
SPEAKER_01 (07:57):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (07:58):
Like superstratum has a a twofold thing.
So the first one will kill themold, and then they have a I I'm
gonna call it a sealant for lackof a better word.
Okay, and it will coat that areaand it will prevent mold reed
growth for like 10 years,they're saying.
SPEAKER_01 (08:16):
See, that's amazing, but ozone is not going to be a
little bit more.
SPEAKER_02 (08:19):
But ozone doesn't do that.
Ozone can't even guarantee thatanything has been completely
killed and that you're not gonnahave it growing back because it
doesn't kill the roots,especially in in porous
materials or semi-porousmaterials.
SPEAKER_01 (08:32):
Yeah, well, chlorine bleach doesn't penetrate either.
It's good for surface cleaning.
SPEAKER_02 (08:37):
You're you're just watering your plants at that
point.
SPEAKER_01 (08:40):
Because bleach that we buy, uh, anybody can buy is
it's mostly water, a little bitof chlorine in it.
You wipe it on, let's say youput on on wood, you got uh two
by four that's moldy.
You wipe it on, you smell thebleach, that evaporates, but the
bleach molecules do notpenetrate deep into the wood.
SPEAKER_02 (09:03):
And all you're doing is making yourself sick at that
point, because let's face it,bleach isn't good for us.
SPEAKER_01 (09:08):
No, no.
And then the IICRC, which issome kind of uh residential
construction standards.
I don't know exactly what it'sinternational standards.
Anyway, they do not recommendozone as a substitute for
physically removing and cleaningyour moldy uh items.
(09:30):
The best approach is wheneveryou got mold issue, it's always
gonna be you gotta you gottafigure out what your moisture
issue is, fix that.
It could be condensation becauseyou pad ventilation, your shower
vents goes up into the atticspace, could be a leak from a
pipe, who knows?
You got fix a water source, andthen get if you can rip out that
(09:51):
moldy piece of wood or whatever,get rid of it, or kill it.
SPEAKER_02 (09:57):
Kill it first and then get rid of it.
Just be on the safe side becauseif you're messing with it and it
defends itself, it will releasemycotoxins.
Yep.
So just kill it first.
SPEAKER_01 (10:07):
So stop the moisture, kill it and remove it,
and then finish up cleaning witha HEPA filter.
SPEAKER_02 (10:15):
So you're gonna do like a HEPA vacuum, you're
you're gonna do all of thatstuff and just suck all of that
up and throw it out of thehouse.
SPEAKER_01 (10:22):
And then make sure the area doesn't get wet again
because the molds cannot grow ifthere's no moisture, not enough
moisture for them.
SPEAKER_02 (10:30):
The IICRC is the Institute of Inspection,
cleaning and restoration.
Nothing to do with construction,nothing to do with construction,
baby.
Okay, so what uh all right, I'mthinking of some other, but I
can't think of what theanachronym is for that.
So many different oh it it'sinsane.
I can never remember them.
SPEAKER_01 (10:51):
Organizations out there, it's it's amazing.
Like we belong to C C P I P I Aand then NACI.
And you're part of NOMI.
SPEAKER_02 (11:00):
I I C R C NORMI, the IAC2.
SPEAKER_01 (11:05):
Um there's a you have you have a certification
through II C R C and you forgotwhat it stands for.
SPEAKER_02 (11:12):
Oh no, I have to look it up all the time.
Yeah, I really anachronyms.
I just I that just I've got toomany.
SPEAKER_01 (11:20):
You're so educated.
Which I was telling the girlsthe other day when you and I
can't think of words, I waslike, dude, it's not that we're
old, it's that we've got so muchfreaking knowledge in our head.
SPEAKER_03 (11:31):
We're trying to sift through it all.
SPEAKER_01 (11:32):
We gotta shift sift through all the file folders
that we have in our brainsbecause it's enormous.
SPEAKER_03 (11:38):
That's cra I I like that.
I love that explanation.
SPEAKER_01 (11:42):
So you're everybody's free to use that.
SPEAKER_03 (11:44):
Yeah, feel feel free to borrow that.
SPEAKER_01 (11:46):
So I think that's about it on this one.
We'll just make certain thatpeople know ozone is not
effective, it's not a legit wayto clean molds.
SPEAKER_02 (11:53):
No.
SPEAKER_01 (11:54):
It's a good thing.
SPEAKER_02 (11:55):
And if there's a remediation company and that's
their first go-to, get a newremediation company.
Call me, I'll give you areferral.
SPEAKER_01 (12:03):
Now, what now here's the thought.
What if somebody said, hey,we're we will kill we're gonna
do quarantine.
We say quarantine that area sothe multiples can't spread the
other areas of the house.
Okay.
But what they're gonna say,we're gonna quarantine, we're
gonna kill it, we're gonna ripit out, we're gonna take HEPA
vacuums or whatever, airscrubbers, clean everything off.
(12:25):
And then at the end we're gonnado uh ozone.
Right as at the end, as a justjust to help make sure there's
no nothing surface anywhere.
I don't see anything wrong withthat.
Of course, you want to have yourplants and animals and
everything out with ozone.
Because ozone is an irritant, itwill harm your lungs.
SPEAKER_02 (12:46):
Well, and it will kill plants, it will kill
animals, it will kill fish.
SPEAKER_01 (12:50):
So if they did that as a after we're done everything
properly, and say the moisture'salready been taken or moisture
is already been fixed, we'regonna do ozone just as an extra
touch.
I don't see anything wrong withthat.
SPEAKER_02 (13:04):
I i i I guess it would depend upon how good the
reputation is of the company.
Because if you don't do ozoneright, you can damage a lot of
things.
It acts as a bleacher.
So if if you've got furniture,if you've got carpet, if you've
got something that you careabout and you've got a company
doing ozone, it can lightenthat, it can bleach that out, it
(13:26):
can cause staining.
And if that company isn't, youknow, if they don't have very
good reviews, like I mean, likea 4.9 or a five, I wouldn't be
doing it.
But that's that's just me.
And I I yeah, yeah, I you know,I'd I'd rather I'd rather have
them come in and put somethinglike that sealant from
(13:47):
superstratum or concrobium on itthat's gonna keep stuff from
growing back than it's.
SPEAKER_01 (13:52):
I'm just thinking, maybe.
No, no, that's okay.
But or or they use the ozone ina contained area to kill the
mold before they go in and anddo official cleanup.
SPEAKER_02 (14:03):
But once again, are they actually killing the mold
or is that gonna be releasingmycotoxins?
SPEAKER_01 (14:08):
Does the mold because it's not penetrating
anything, is it?
SPEAKER_02 (14:10):
Well, and and not only that, but does the mold
realize that it's being attackedbecause it's basically being
attacked by the oxygenmolecules?
And then is is that going torelease the mycotoxins then?
And if that's the case, that's awhole new ball of wax, and you
don't even want to get into thatone.
SPEAKER_01 (14:28):
How long does ozone need to be in the area to kill
things?
It's like it's it's a longperiod of time.
SPEAKER_02 (14:36):
Days was my understanding.
Like, I don't I don't thinkanything that I've read has
specifically said becausethey've said that you can't do
it long enough in high enoughconcentrations, was what I've
seen.
SPEAKER_01 (14:48):
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (14:50):
So I I don't know.
SPEAKER_01 (14:52):
So so so here's my thought.
If it's killing it slowly, thatgives the molds more time to
make micro toxins.
Yeah.
So you need something to kill itfast.
So forget that idea of usingusing it to kill things
immediately to clean it up.
I think it's a good thing.
SPEAKER_02 (15:07):
No, I would use some I would use something from time,
like a time uh type spray onthat kills mold.
Uh the super stratum kills mold.
There's a couple of otherproducts out there that are
pretty good at killing mold.
I would do something like thatand then start taking it down
(15:27):
and cleaning it up and andmaking sure that that all gets
removed.
SPEAKER_01 (15:31):
Okay, I just I just asked Professor Grok.
Um moderate to severe case.
If it's a short little area, youjust take care of yourself
pretty quick.
SPEAKER_02 (15:53):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (15:54):
Four to twenty-four hours or up to 48 hours.
So it seems too slow.
SPEAKER_02 (16:00):
Yeah, I don't think it's fast enough.
I think it needs to be animmediate hit and done.
Because otherwise, I thinkyou're going to have mycotoxins
released, and that's a wholeother podcast we should do.
SPEAKER_01 (16:13):
Yes, and that mycotoxin is stuff that most
mold immediately companies donot want to admit or discuss.
They want to do that.
SPEAKER_02 (16:20):
Or people that are concerned about that, they're
just crazy.
SPEAKER_01 (16:23):
Yeah, they want they don't want to touch out a three,
seven and a half foot polebecause it's something they're
not aware of.
But we we can test for it andshow if mycotoxins actually are
present in a house or whereverwe're at.
So anyway, I think that's it forhere.
Bottom line no, ozone is not aviable, good treatment for for
molds.
SPEAKER_02 (16:43):
No.
SPEAKER_01 (16:43):
Find something else.
All right.
Thanks.
Bye bye.
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