Help with steps to cleaning your house after mold remediation

[Guest guest]

I'm getting very confused. We had a mold remediator clean up the basement,

remove contaminated materials, scrub, etc. I'm not too concerned about that

part. The issue is how to make the main floor of the house safe and livable.

We had a very high ERMI taken from the dust on bookshelves and in the crevices

under the floor registers for the heat. Thus, we know we have quite a bit of

mold DNA in our house dust.

My husband, in his desire to make things safe for me as soon as possible,

decided to vacuum out the cold air returns in the HVAC today and that stirred up

a lot of dust and made me sick. So I'm trying to pull together guidelines for

him as he goes around the house cleaning everything. At first I thought he could

just clean out the heavy stuff with a HEPA vacuum, but the more I read, the more

it seems that one has to do each room as if it were a full remediation project.

Is this correct?

Here's what I have so far:

1. containment (plastic on door into hallway, HVAC off, vents blocked with

plastic and tape)

2. negative air flow -- can we use a window fan to exhaust, or do we skip this

if we don't own a NAM or does that just spread the dust around more

3. remove all portable items -- maybe we do this first?

4. spray ShockWave (benzalkonium chloride solution our basement remediator gave

us) on wood furniture and wipe dry

5. dry wipe furniture with swiffers

6. discard all dusting cloths in plastic bags for disposal

7. spray aerosolver (www.aerosolver.com) - I learned there is a version of this

safe for people with MCS made with glycerol and borax

8. let dust settle overnight, then use HEPA vacuum on floor - what keeps the

dust from re-settling on the bookcases and dressers? or do we wipe them with

dry swiffer clothes again?

9. clean removed items with HEPA vacuum (books) or ShockWave spray (metal?

plastic? wood?)

10. discard upholstered objects and anything that can't be washed like foam

pillows

11. return cleaned objects to room

So when do we clean out the HVAC furnaces and ducts? The mold remediator just

wanted to fog them with MDF 500 and I was afraid to have this stuff floating

around in the air. It doesn't make sense to turn on the heat and send spores

back into the room.... Yet if we do it before we clean the house, won't the

toxic dust circulate through the house again as we walk around and use things?

This is a BIG area of confusion.

How do we decide on the order of the rooms? My husband also wonders whether he

should finish cleaning the basement before he works upstairs, where there is

dust settled on top of the ducts which was not removed by the remediator, who

worked only in the areas of visible mold in one corner and in the crawl space.

I felt so great in San Diego for a week and did okay yesterday, but now with the

dust stirred up, my glands are aching, and my brain is fried, and I just want to

cry and run away to some safe place. If only I knew where!!!! HELP

Janis