Yes we are serious when we say 95% of all losses are left wet enough to support microbial growth. While it’s rampant with preferred vendor systems who are limited to 3 to 5 days of drying, it also happens more often than you think with some restorers. It’s actually easy to do.

All you have to do to make a structure that is still wet look dry, is to use a non-penetrating moisture meter that only measures the first ½ inch of a 5½ inch standard interior framed wall. Walls dry from the outside in, so the trim will get dry first, followed by the drywall, followed much later by the wood framing. Within 3 to 5 days, the trim will be at dry standard. But since the non-penetrating meter only reads a half inch, when you use the meter it only reads the trim and excludes everything behind it.

This is the reason we use 3½ inch screws to test for moisture. These deep penetrating screws, when used with our DAMP (Deep Assembly Moisture Profiling) – reveals moisture hidden inside the wall structures that will, within 24 to 48 hours, begin to support microbial and bacterial amplification.

We know it’s hard to believe that companies that are designed to first and foremost dry a structure and prevent mold, actually, almost every single time, create the environment to support it hidden behind the wall assemblies.

We feel consumers need to understand this. We are doing our very best to educate both the industry and the consumer about these practices and create transparency so you, the consumer, can get the work product you think you’re currently getting but are not!