To avoid escalating mold, bacterial or water-related problems, property owners and restoration pros are using a new heat treatment process that speeds recovery by eliminating moisture-caused problems without the use of toxic chemicals.

Property owners and contractors be warned: it's going to be another tough hurricane season, and failing to prepare will be costly. From 13 to 16 named storms will form over the North Atlantic this hurricane season, starting June 1, according to experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). From eight to 10 are expected to be hurricanes, of which four to six will be Category 3 or higher with sustained winds above 111 mph.

"Remember, it only takes one hurricane in your neighborhood to have a bad hurricane season," cautions NOAA administrator Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr., in a recent Los Angeles Times article.

Property owners and restoration professionals will deal not only with wind, rain, flood, and storm surge-caused damage; but also with mold, bacterial and other water-related problems that can turn a difficult recovery into a nightmare.

In response, some owners and restoration pros are turning to a revolutionary heat treatment process that can handle a full spectrum of moisture-related problems without toxic chemicals, while economically expediting the rebuilding process.

The Worst Danger

The worst danger to property often comes not from initial storm damage, but from the biohazards stemming from water intrusion and floodwater. Across the Gulf Coast last year, hundreds of thousands of structures succumbed to mold and other difficulties long after Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma had passed.

To avoid the problem this hurricane season, owners and restoration pros must quickly deal with initial damage while keeping the structures from deteriorating. After stopping water intrusion and extracting any standing water, this requires drying the structures to stop mold, bacterial, and other water-related hazards from progressing.

"The longer you wait to deal with moisture-caused problems, the harder and more expensive it is to deal with," says Steve Vyrostek, a Hurricane Andrew survivor and vice president of C&E Services, an Arizona-based environmental contractor. "Letting properties linger with water intrusion only compounds the problems from a structural, community, and business loss standpoint."

When traditional remove and replace remediation is over relied on in hurricane-hit areas, repair can take so long that the scope of the problem expands dramatically in the meantime.

"Mold, bacterial, or fungal growth can take hold within 24 to 48 hours of water intrusion and stubbornly persist in inaccessible or wet interior spaces," says Larry Chase, vice president of E-Therm, an environmental remediation innovator based in Ventura, Calif. "This is a special problem in humid, hurricane-prone areas."

"Even when exterior surfaces have been remediated, inaccessible interior spaces like wall cavities, ductwork, crawl spaces, headers, and door jambs may be wet and breeding mold, bacteria, fungi, and other pathogens," continues Chase. "The 'wet basement smell' people sometimes notice in buildings isn't just in their imaginations. It's often the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) or microbial VOCs emitted by breeding colonies. Chemical treatments can be ineffective and toxic to occupants."

A 2005 study of Colorado homes flooded by the Arkansas River, for instance, indicates that traditional remediation efforts alone may be inadequate for flood damage. Even when the homes were fully remediated with wet carpets removed, soaked dry-walls and sub-floors repaired or replaced, non-structural surfaces washed with bleach and dried with forced air drying, the total microorganism concentration in the homes was up to five times higher indoors than outdoors. Typically, indoor concentrations in non-flood impacted houses are just 33 percent of outdoor concentrations.

The study is important to flood-prone areas such as New Orleans, which registered floodwaters with E. coli and bacteria levels over 100 times the EPA's safe swimming limit. Such pathogens can remain active in a structure up to a year and become airborne or inhaled even as a structure dries.

Handle Moisture Problems Before They Escalate

In response, some owners and restoration pros are handling moisture-related problems before they escalate, using a revolutionary new heat treatment process called ThermaPure. Essentially, the non-chemical process pasteurizes building structures using superheated air to dry out, disinfect, and decontaminate them. This is similar to the way heat is used to pasteurize milk and kill bacteria in wine. The patented process, developed by E-Therm (www.thermapure.com), has proven to be an effective adjunct or alternative to traditional demolition-based remediation.

"ThermaPure uses heat to disinfect without chemicals," explains Dave Hedman, chief executive of E-Therm. "Many times after a hurricane, homes are treated with a cocktail of toxic chemicals that disinfects but leaves the home polluted. The ThermaPure process dries and disinfects without the use of toxic chemicals."

In the ThermaPure process, technicians use portable heaters and air blowers to move dried air into affected spaces, raising the temperature to as much as 160º F for several hours. Heat is shown to be effective in destroying active mold growth sites, and kills mold spores, bacteria, viruses and insects without using chemicals. It dries out wet buildings faster than traditional methods of simple air movement and dehumidification that are typically used by flood restoration contractors.

Used in conjunction with limited "remove and replace" remediation or as an alternative in some instances, heat treatment allows the contractor to treat many building materials in place, avoiding the expense of unnecessary removal of walls, flooring and furnishings. It's especially valuable for handling a full spectrum of flood or water intrusion-related damage when quick recovery to prevent business loss is essential.

Saving a $2 Million Box Office Weekend

Months before Katrina, for instance, Steve Vyrostek of C&E Services used the ThermaPure process to rescue a Phoenix, Ariz. theater multiplex from its own Katrina-like disaster. About a week before the blockbuster movie Star Wars: Episode III was scheduled to open at the seven-theater venue, catastrophe struck.

"Sewage backup contaminated five of seven theaters, and the recommendation was to remove and replace all contaminated materials," says Vyrostek. "Needless to say, this wasn't doable six days before the Star Wars opening. We were brought in as an alternate solution to handle the situation."

"With the ThermaPure process and limited remove and replace remediation, we were able to treat and deodorize the contaminated areas to better than normal background levels within four days," adds Vyrostek. "The theater opened without incident, with the process having salvaged a $2 million weekend by the theater's account."

After Katrina, Vyrostek again used the heat treatment to expedite disaster recovery. At a New Orleans area cold storage facility, chemical treatment had proven insufficient to properly remediate over 10,000 lbs. of spoiled meat, which left an overpowering odor and untold bacterial pathogens.

"The building was already stripped to its shell and the owner was looking at tearing it down," says Vyrostek. "Instead, we ThermaPure-treated the building. The heat penetrated every nook and cranny, and handled the bacterial-odor issue. Estimated savings totaled about $500,000 in avoided demolition and rebuild costs, including at least 60 days of additional business loss."

The structural pasteurization provided by the ThermaPure process can also be useful in getting buildings back into use when all else seems to fail.

"The employees of one New Orleans office building refused to go back to work because they smelled a lingering odor they thought would make them sick," says Vyrostek. "They didn't see any visible mold, but they could smell it. Concerned about his employees, the owner allowed us to ThermaPure treat the building to inactivate any viable mold. This handled the problem and the employees got back to work."

PDG Environmental, a national environmental remediation contractor, also used the ThermaPure process in New Orleans after recent hurricane activity. "We used it to polish off any mold or bacteria left after traditional remediation on a commercial site that was flooded with sewage-contaminated water," says John Regan, chairman and chief executive of PDG Environmental. "It dried out the building extremely quickly and helped us meet clearance levels."

Michael Geyer, P.E., C.I.H., C.S.P., who is president of Kerntec Industries, a California-based environmental consulting firm adds, "Had the heat treatment been widely used in New Orleans and other hurricane ravaged areas, buildings with minor to moderate water damage could have been rapidly rehabilitated for far less than typical remove and replace remediation. It can be used to salvage moisture-damaged contents instead of disposal and can help preserve historical properties in lieu of destructive removal."

With a rough hurricane season underway, property owners and restoration pros must act now to avoid the expense and devastation that ill-preparedness cost them last year.

Since each storm may bring not only wind, rain, flood, or storm surge-caused damage, but also escalating mold, bacterial and other water-related problems, they'd be wise to take advantage of state-of-the-art technologies like ThermaPure heat treatment, which can help them quickly and economically handle moisture-related problems without the use of toxic chemicals should disaster strike.

Because ThermaPure can raise temperatures in targeted areas or entire structures to levels lethal to biological pests, it has been successfully used against mold and fungi, bacteria and viruses, insect infestations, and to improve indoor air quality by accelerating the off-gassing of odors and toxins.

For more info, visit www.thermapure.com or call (805) 641-9333; fax (805) 648-6999; email info@thermapure.com; or write to E-Therm Inc. at 180 Canada Larga Road, Ventura, Calif., 93001.