Ever wondered if your home could be harboring unseen threats to your health? Get ready for an eye-opening journey with Jorge Ubieta of Engage Mold Solutions as we uncover the hidden dangers of mold and poor indoor air quality. From the silent invasion of mold spores post-renovation to the serious health implications of black mold, you'll learn just how critical it is to assess and maintain the air you breathe. Jorge's expertise shines as we navigate the complexities of residential and commercial spaces, emphasizing the need for vigilance and proper VOC testing to safeguard your well-being.
As your host, Mike Sedita, I'm pulling back the curtain on the truth about DIY mold clean-up and the perils that come with it. We'll reveal why reaching for that bleach bottle could do more harm than good and explore the correct steps to contain and eliminate mold with precision. Hear firsthand accounts of the insidious nature of water damage and the surprising places mold can lurk – yes, even in your child's school locker. This episode is packed with professional advice and practical tips to help you tackle mold head-on before it takes a toll on your health.
The approach of hurricane season brings a unique set of emotional and logistical challenges for those in the disaster response field. I take a moment to reflect on the balance between seizing business opportunities following natural disasters and the deep ethical commitment to helping those in crisis. We'll discuss the importance of preparedness, the competitive dynamics of the disaster response industry, and how it affects family life. Join us for a heartfelt and informative session that not only equips you with knowledge but also offers a genuine understanding of the dedication required in the world of disaster relief and response.
Engage Mold Solutions is a State of FL Licensed Mold Assessor, that provides homeowners and business owners with practical solutions to their environmental problems with Mold Assessments, Indoor Air Quality Testing, VOC'S (Volatile Organic Compounds) and Bacteria.
Ever wondered if your home could be harboring unseen threats to your health? Get ready for an eye-opening journey with Jorge Ubieta of Engage Mold Solutions as we uncover the hidden dangers of mold and poor indoor air quality. From the silent invasion of mold spores post-renovation to the serious health implications of black mold, you'll learn just how critical it is to assess and maintain the air you breathe. Jorge's expertise shines as we navigate the complexities of residential and commercial spaces, emphasizing the need for vigilance and proper VOC testing to safeguard your well-being.
As your host, Mike Sedita, I'm pulling back the curtain on the truth about DIY mold clean-up and the perils that come with it. We'll reveal why reaching for that bleach bottle could do more harm than good and explore the correct steps to contain and eliminate mold with precision. Hear firsthand accounts of the insidious nature of water damage and the surprising places mold can lurk – yes, even in your child's school locker. This episode is packed with professional advice and practical tips to help you tackle mold head-on before it takes a toll on your health.
The approach of hurricane season brings a unique set of emotional and logistical challenges for those in the disaster response field. I take a moment to reflect on the balance between seizing business opportunities following natural disasters and the deep ethical commitment to helping those in crisis. We'll discuss the importance of preparedness, the competitive dynamics of the disaster response industry, and how it affects family life. Join us for a heartfelt and informative session that not only equips you with knowledge but also offers a genuine understanding of the dedication required in the world of disaster relief and response.
Engage Mold Solutions is a State of FL Licensed Mold Assessor, that provides homeowners and business owners with practical solutions to their environmental problems with Mold Assessments, Indoor Air Quality Testing, VOC'S (Volatile Organic Compounds) and Bacteria.
(813)575-4224 www.engagemold.com
Speaker 1:
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Mike Sedita.
Speaker 2:
Hello out there. Welcome to Episode 170 of the Good Neighbor Podcast. I am your host, mike Sedita, and today we're joined by the owner of Engage Mold Solutions, and that's Jorge Abieta. Jorge, how are you doing today?
Speaker 3:
I'm doing great. How are you, Mike?
Speaker 2:
I'm doing excellent. Thank you so much for being on the Good Neighbor podcast. Just to give you a little update on what we are, what we do, why we do what we do. The Good Neighbor podcast was started back in 2020 during COVID, as a way for business owners to get their message, what they're doing, things they have going on in the community out to people while still being socially distant, and over the last four years we are now a national brand. We have Good Neighbor Podcasts in Denver and Philadelphia and everywhere in between across the United States. I'm lucky enough to be the person here in Tampa that gets to speak to folks like you. So, with that said, first tell us a little bit about Engage Mold Solutions.
Speaker 3:
Sure Well, first of all, thanks for having me. I appreciate it. My name is Jorge and I'm the owner of Engage Mold Solutions. As you mentioned, we are state certified mold assessors. We focus mostly on indoor air quality assessments, mold testing, VOC testing, bacteria testing. We basically help homeowners with creating practical solutions for their indoor air quality problems and their mold problems.
Speaker 2:
So yeah, so when do you normally come in? Like? If so, if there's a real estate transaction, are you guys coming in in that Like if the inspector finds something, then you're coming in to mitigate it. Or are you generally called like someone lives in a house for a while and they're just starting to smell that funky smell and they're like they need to call you to help. You know, bring it down.
Speaker 3:
Well, actually a little bit of both. Yeah, we do help out a lot of real estate professionals with real estate transactions. We are called either during the inspection time or also when there's a home inspector involved in the transaction if they deem it necessary to have a mold assessment done. That's where we come in. We also, like you mentioned, we do help out homeowners that you know are having problems, either, you know, at home or other businesses, with, you know, with air quality problems, like you said. If you know, especially after COVID, as you know, a lot of people spend a lot of time at home. So the more time you spend at home, the more you start to figure out what your quality is like, and that's you know.
Speaker 3:
We do help out a lot of homeowners in that sense. We also help out homeowners with, you know, water intrusion problems. You know water ingress, either insurance claims or or just, uh, you know, issues such as plumbing, um, you know roofing leaks, um, you know we do a little bit of that. Um, we also do a lot of volatile organic compound testing. Um, in that sense, it's, it's you know testing is a different type of testing. We we offer um, not mold, but also for off-gassing of building materials. So we help out a lot of homeowners after remodelings to see if the building materials that you know, such as you know kitchen cabinets and things like that so we do it's more of an off-gassing testing.
Speaker 2:
All right, wait. So you dropped a whole bunch of stuff there, so we got to kind of back up. First off, where are you, where's your office located? Where do you have a shop?
Speaker 3:
So we were we're located in Tampa. We don't necessarily, we don't actually have a brick and mortar, we're a mobile unit, so we do testing mostly on the homes and commercial buildings.
Speaker 2:
And that was my next question. So if you had to put a percentage on it, what percentage of your business is commercial versus residential?
Speaker 3:
I'll say about 80 percent residential, 20 percent commercial.
Speaker 2:
And you had. You talked about air quality and some of the other stuff you do. Like if someone has a leak that creates the mold, I get how all those components play into it. But you did say something about organic compound testing. Is that when somebody puts, like you said, cabinets in their house and there's new material in there, that the material hasn't been I don't want to say washed, but hasn't been cleaned properly, that it would have some of that organic compound test requirements?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, correct. Yeah, it's called VOC, so it's volatile organic compounds. So that's more of an off gassing test, just for example. If, if you're, for example, getting a new roof in your home, you know the underlayment of the roof, if it's, for example, a modified bitumen layer, that creates, you know, off gas, it creates gases that could leak into your building envelope. So that's a test that we do to basically detect that. So it works the same way with, like I said, flooring kitchen cabinets. You know there are, you know, brand new. Depending on the materials that they use, they could be off-gassing certain things inside an envelope.
Speaker 2:
Is there something that triggers it, like, for example, say, I put a new roof on my house and they have that inside layer in there. Is it, once that roof is sealed onto the house, that there's no way for it to escape, that it just kind of builds up and releases back into the home and and does that dissipate over time, like if I just if I did nothing and just left my doors and windows open for a month straight, does it dissipate. Or is it one of those things that just kind of lingers because there really is no place for it to go?
Speaker 3:
That's a good question. So, depending on the material, it's something that dissipates over time. Usually, it can take anywhere between five to six months for something like a roofing membrane to dissipate. There are other things you could do to help with that, like such as negative pressure or using, you know, air filtration devices and creating negative pressure to suck all that stuff out of the neverland. But yeah, they should dissipate over a period of time.
Speaker 2:
And then one other question I have before we move on is like your service area. I mean you're based, you kind of have remote services, so do service hillsborough, pasco um, pinellas, or do you not go over the bridges into pinellas? Do you go to polk county, like what is your service footprint of where you guys work?
Speaker 3:
yeah, so we, we service the actually the entire state. Um, um, we do, um, we have technicians in the east coast, uh, service anywhere from jackson to about Port St Lucie and I take care of the areas anywhere between, obviously, the Tri-County area, but all the way down to Naples. Wow yeah, we have another technician down in South Florida that takes care of the Miami, broward, palm Beach area. So we're, you know, we do service the whole state, you know. So it's a lot of work.
Speaker 2:
Do you use okay, I know you know when you're going in, I don't know. I'm asking you know when you go into a job and you need to do some sort of air purification I'm assuming you have like industrial stuff. I mean, every time I hear about mold all I hear people say is just spray some clorox on it. Just spray some clorox on it. I'm assuming you have some industrial equipment that you use. But my question is for the garden variety stuff like these air purifiers that people have in houses, like I'm literally looking at one, looking at one behind my camera here is there ones that are better than others? Is there ones that have, um, like charcoal or something? Is that stuff work? Does it legitimately work to help with the air quality? Or once you get something in there like a you know contaminant like you're talking about, there's no place to go, but have an industrial product come in and take it out yeah, so well.
Speaker 3:
So I just want to make the distinction that, especially here in Florida, we do mostly focus on the testing part and then the abatement or the remediation part is done by a third party, just so there's no conflict of interest. So we can only serve as the assessor's capacity in each job. We are licensed remediators as well, but mostly it's just for knowledge because we create the protocols for the mold remediation companies to do the abatement or the mold remediation or cleanup.
Speaker 2:
So that's-. So. Let me just back up so I understand it, craig. So the conflict of interest really is you don't walk into somebody's house and say, yeah, you have a boatload of mold, let me charge you X to fix it. It's we do the assessment and then somebody else comes in and actually does the process Correct, you're right. And then do you work with a team, like when you go and do the assessment. Do you say to the homeowner hey look, you know I have three people that do good work.
Speaker 3:
You contact any one of the three and make, or you don't even, you're not even able to make those, those um recommendations, because would that be a conflict? I don't know. Yeah, well, we do. I mean, we can always recommend um, you know, um companies that do work, um to to the homeowners, but ultimately, they're the ones that make the decision.
Speaker 3:
We're not involved in that, in that decision making uh per se, um, like I, we only, you know, do the testing part of it, create the protocols for those companies to come in and do the abatement. So yeah, it's, you know. Just like you mentioned, you know, the conflict of interest. It's, it's where you know I can come into a house and say, hey, you don't have Mullen, this is how much it will cost. So that's what. There's two different, two different licensing, um, uh, for that, um, there's uh, the assessors and the remediators.
Speaker 2:
So, yeah, it always has to be done by a third party. So who's some of your? Your biggest referral partners, I would think would be like realtors public adjusters are probably a big one, um, you know. And then your partners on the other side, the people who are doing the remediation. Is that your main group of people in your, your sphere that you work with?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, that's correct. We work with a lot of public adjusters in the area, not just here, but all over the state. I do come from an insurance background, so we work well with public adjusters, restoration companies, very good referral partners, our home inspectors, real estate professionals, whether realtors or brokers. Yeah, that's, it's pretty much our sphere, correct, you're correct.
Speaker 2:
So so let me ask you this I mean understanding now more about what you guys do on a granular level. You personally, you said you come from an insurance background. Was your back? I mean, how did you get to here? Was your background you were an insurance adjuster and said, wow, there's really a need to make sure this is getting done right and you decided to go on to this. How do you get from growing up as I mean, I'm sure as a young man you weren't sitting around going. I really want to help with air quality. So how do you get to this point?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, so I was an insurance adjuster for many years. I'm still a licensed adjuster, you know full transparency. I just don't really practice on the front end. But yeah, that's where we work a lot with public adjusters, because I did see at that point a need for you know to work, I need to work together, uh, only to make sure that you maximize um, your, your policy, um, and the settlements you, you, you know you get for your, for your clients as an adjuster. So we, we help out um in that sense to make sure that whenever there's a water loss or or or either you know even a fire loss or any kind of uh, you know weather events such as a hurricane or a hailstorm, that if there is any water ingress in the property, that public adjusters maximize that by making sure that their mold coverage is activated by the testing. If there is anything to be worried about, but mostly water ingress and your water intrusion claims at some point will warrant some more testing, just to make sure.
Speaker 2:
Well, I mean, I would think, considering the majority of the state of Florida is below sea level, there's quite a bit of water ingress along. You know most properties. It's just a matter of, I guess, how intrusive it is. You know, I would think dorusive it is. I would think what is one of the things you run into when you're talking to people where they have a misconception about what you do? Do they think you're going to come in and remediate also where you have to correct them, or do they just not quite understand what types of mold there are? Because there are a couple of different types of molds. I'm not saying any of it's good, some is much worse than others. I mean, where do you run into this stuff where you're educating the consumers more than anything else?
Speaker 3:
well, actually, pretty much, um, I was, I'll say every day, um, you know, there's about 144 000 different types of mold, um, and there's no one's being studied, um, you know, pretty much daily, um, but um, yeah, so what we do is we try to make you know a distinction between hydrophilic molds, which are waterborne, or water-created molds, which are most dangerous in my opinion, and just, you know what a regular environmental or a regular fungi ecology is at your home.
Speaker 3:
We live in Florida, so just by opening the door, you're going to cross-contaminate, you're going to allow some of those spores into your home, but as long as you're not colonizing those inside your building envelope, then the counts or the levels could be there, you know, could be different at any given day, but what we're trying to basically is get to the bottom of of any kind of, like I said, hydrophilic, uh, you know, mold spores or water, uh, water created molds that need a lot of water to survive, uh, the feed off of, you know, on the substrates or you know, or the building materials. Those are the most dangerous.
Speaker 2:
So okay. So that kind of leads me into my question Is there 144,000 different strands of mold? What is the one mold? I mean? I always hear black mold, black mold. What is the one mold that if you see it, smell it, you know whatever it is. You need to call you guys right away, or call somebody right away, or dump a gallon of Clorox on it. What's the? What's the one that's the worst?
Speaker 3:
Right, so you know what people you know consider black mold. There's, you know, a lot of a lot of different mold spores are black in color, but you know the most famous, or the most infamous I would say, is called stacky botryst, which is, um, you know, one of the most dangerous. There are other uh molds are also just as dangerous in my opinion. Um, it's about four or five of them that are, um, that could be, you know, just as devastating as that one. It is a very hydrophilic mold. So, um, yeah, to answer your question, um, there, you know there's nothing that's across the board that says, hey, these levels are allowed. There's a lot of literature out there, but nothing really across the board. There's no statute or there's no law that says, hey, these are the amounts of spores that you could have.
Speaker 3:
There's a lot of different opinions out there, but you know, like you said, you know there's about five of them are considered target. You know the EPA has some language on that. You know NORMI, which is the National Organization of Mold Inspectors and Remediators, have some papers on that. So we do adhere to those. Stachybotrys is know like the most infamous one. Um, I would say it's one that we definitely don't want to see um in any in any building envelope, so um so what I was going to ask you is all right.
Speaker 2:
So, stachybotrys, if I, if it's in home, what are generally the effects on a person? Is it just tough breathing? Is it causing infection? Does the mold get in people's lungs and cause like kind of ripping in the lungs? What is the negative side effect of having it in there?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, so there's definitely an allergen. There's different types of symptoms, but I will say that one in particular. It creates what's called a secondary compound, which is called a mycotoxin, which is, just to put it in simple terms, it's kind of like a poisonous gas. So it creates that kind of like a poisonous gas, so it creates that, that, that kind of um, you know more like a carbon dioxide carbon monoxide, right, kind of like a moldy odor.
Speaker 3:
When you, and that's, that's, you know when, when there's a, a particular odor and it, or a strong odor that more likely it's, uh, it's created by a mycotoxin. So, um, you know, most of us are live colonies, the live organisms. So when you, when they feel like they're being attacked, they're going to produce something to kind of defend themselves. So, you know, to bring you back real quick to what you mentioned about chlorine, you know, spraying like Clorox or bleach or things like that, we usually don't recommend to do that. You know, sodium hypochlorite is used to sanitize, but the bleach you buy at the store is not really, you know, the more ideal one.
Speaker 3:
I would say, if you do encounter some type of, you know, microbial growth at home, before you know spraying it with anything, what you want to do is to stabilize the environment and um, and and and make sure that, um, that you create a containment on the negative pressure. So that's why a professional is going to come into into um, into into play, if, if you do find, you know, um, if you absolutely need to do something, um, uh, that I would probably recommend to do. Uh, maybe like a 60-40 solution of vinegar and warm water, but no, not the Clorox or the bleach from the store. When you spray that, you create mechanical agitation and once those spores are exposed to that, then you can cross-indamnate. Just because you have spores on a surface doesn't necessarily mean that it's you know they're aerosolized. So by spraying or by giving any mechanical agitation or putting fans to to dry it or something like that, um, it could be more detrimental in that sense so so people listening to this, then don't go spraying Clorox bleach on it.
Speaker 2:
You need to get like a white vinegar with some water and cut a solution together. That will be more effective in just knocking it down a little bit until you can get it totally remediated.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, so, if it's absolutely necessary, um, if you have to do that, then uh, if you, if you want to clean it, or if it's just a small area less than 10 square feet or something like that, if you absolutely need to, then then yes, you do that. My, my first, my recommendation, would be to call first, um, call a professional, uh, either called an assessor, like like me, to to test it, um, and or or our motor mediation company or our water restoration company to create, to basically stabilize that environment, um, by creating, you know, negative pressure or a containment so if you're gonna see a ghost, you call ghostbusters.
Speaker 2:
If you see water, you're gonna call engage a ghost, you call Ghostbusters. If you see water, you're going to call Engage Mold Solutions. That's kind of the song, doesn't?
Speaker 2:
the song doesn't have it. So I will tell you and this kind of leads into my next question is I lived in a place at one point where there was a sort of like a water line like not a permanent, it might've been like a copper permanent water line in the wall and it had a pinhole, like literally a pinhole, that was just creating a mist. The mist didn't even look like liquid, it looked like gas, because it was such a fine mist coming out and it, when they finally came in and cut through the wall, they said it must have been going like that for a year. And it, finally, the mold just all of a sudden went like from probably sitting there, sitting there, sitting there, and all of a sudden, just you know, it covered the entire lower part of this wall. Um, with that being said, what is like?
Speaker 2:
You don't got to give a person's address. I'm not looking for that, but have you ever walked into a job and you were just like, oh hell, no, like this is bad, like you like, as soon as you walk in the door, you got to put on like the breaking bad. You know gear. So you know you're covering up. What's the worst you've ever seen.
Speaker 3:
Well, yeah, full PPA definitely. Well, maybe full PPE. I mean, I've worked several storms dating back to maybe 2014. I think the most devastating ones I've seen are probably Hurricane Irma, hurricane Michael and then this last one, Hurricane Ian. I've seen some things that and this last one, hurricane Ian, I've seen some things that. Back to what you were saying, those very insidious leaks like a small pinhole maybe, like a small leak on a dishwasher line or an ice maker line those are actually the most devastating ones. So, you know, it's something that's constantly leaking, or maybe it leaks and then it stops, and then it leaks and then it stops.
Speaker 2:
so those are, those are probably the most devastating it's like a breeding ground right, like it's literally just festering there, correct, yeah, over time yeah, so it's the.
Speaker 3:
The sports have a constant source of water and a constant source of food on the substrate, meaning like on the drywall or the wood or whatever the building material is. So you know, like, like I mentioned earlier, those hydrophilic molds, they take a little bit longer to to colonize. You know I can take. You know there's different opinions there, but you know I'll say anywhere from seven to 12 days. Once you have that, that constant source of food, then those are, you know what we call, like you know the most, you know, devastating ones. Yeah, I can tell you.
Speaker 2:
I'm hoping the statute of limitations has run out. I in 1986, I left some food in my locker in school and it grew so much mold Clearly I wasn't going to my locker frequently enough school and it grew so much mold. Clearly I wasn't going to my locker frequently enough, but it grew so much mold that I just got another locker and had to have the janitorial staff come and clean it out Like that type of gross. That's a totally different. That's like disgusting. That's not. That's not the mold we're talking about here. We're talking about water damage mold where when Ian rolls in and the water rolls up four feet up the wall, there's no way to get that out. It's just in there and you have to kind of gut those type of places.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, you're correct. Yeah, so you know water damage is a little tricky. You know you can get to it quick enough and be able to dry. You know all the surface, all the substrates, or you know the framing and things like that. You know if you get to it quick you can dry it. In the case of a storm where you have standing water for a certain amount of days, you know most of those jobs turn from being what's called a dry-out job to a mold remediation job. So you know it's tough. You know to dry certain. You know building structures after they've been, you know, underwater for a certain amount of days.
Speaker 2:
So yeah, after they've been, you know, underwater for a certain amount of days, so not to get dark. But like when you hear because, listen, no one wants like one person's pain to be like somebody else's pleasure. But when you hear they predict that this is going to be one of the largest storm seasons that we've had in a hundred years in Florida, and like 30 names of hurricanes they had them all planned out when you hear that as a human being you're like, oh my god, there's going to be devastation. But part of you as a business owner has to say, well, it's going to be a good year for us because we're going to have a lot of jobs to do. I mean, or no? Does that not cross your mind? Because it would cross my mind.
Speaker 3:
Maybe I'm just a terrible human being yeah, yeah, no, it certainly does cross my mind. Um, you're, you're correct on that. Um, you know, I'm I'm always a little bit torn because, you know, I've seen firsthand what, without how families go through, um, when, when they, when they suffer something like that, um, that is, you know, something that nobody should experience, yeah, um, and, but I, I, what I, what I try to do mostly, is just kind of get ready, um, and and be able to, you know, stay ready and kind of be ready to mobilize when I need to, because, you know, time is of the essence in those, in those, you know, in those situations, you know, and it's, you know, I just get ready to help people. In that sense, but, yeah, I'm going to be honest, you know, I said, hey, no, this is, you know, I'm not going to have to worry about you know.
Speaker 2:
But the kids through school. This this summer is going to put the kids through school for college education because we're going to be so busy.
Speaker 3:
Right, and I do have, you know, small children. So you know it's tough, you know they're a little bit older now but, you know, during Irma and Michael and those hurricanes, you know, my kids were tiny and sometimes I have to be away for, you know, for more than three, five days. It's tough, you know. So I just, you know, at this point I've been getting some reports about this year. I've been talking to a lot of my partners and it looks like it's going to be, you know, very busy. I work with a lot of attorneys that do first party property, you know, and help out homeowners with claims. So I just try to, you know I want to be ready when it hits.
Speaker 2:
So are you a one man shop, or do you have other people that are going out and doing this with you while you? Are you just a man running all over the place?
Speaker 3:
with you while you are, you, just a man running all over the place. So I, I take care of um, what's, um, what's that i-4 corridor from, I want to say, lakeland all the way to the west coast, uh, and then my, my um, my tech, my other technician, it's on the other, um, on the east coast, but whenever there's, you know, a storm, it's it's two of us at a time.
Speaker 2:
Um, you know, we'll mobilize and and you know, get out there, um, and is there? I mean, is there a lot of competition? I mean, is there a ton of other? I mean, I'm assuming there's got to be a bunch of other folks in this line of work in the area. I mean, is it? Is it difficult to get in with the people where you're getting the business sent your way?
Speaker 3:
You know there's not a lot there. I mean there's a few. You know companies that you know, since I've been in business since 2018. So there are some new ones. There are some that were here before me, so there are some new ones. There are some that were here before me.
Speaker 3:
I think you know, with with this with you know, you know the right, I guess, the rise of social media. You know a lot of. There's a lot of companies you know that are great at doing you know social media and they're great at creating content and things like that. I think there's there's work for everyone. Really, that's kind of what's been my motto and my mentor kind of taught me. The same way, I do think that before you hire somebody as always, especially here in Florida I just recommend to do a little bit of making sure they're licensed and insured Obviously something you can check with DBPR and things like that but also that they have the credentials and the training that you need to make sure that you're doing justice to the homeowner. You have a fiduciary obligation to the person that's paying you, so you have to make sure that you do your best to the person that that's paying you, so you have to make sure that that you do your, your best.
Speaker 3:
I, I gotta, I gotta say when I first got licensed you know I was I had to do an apprenticeship, I had to basically have four years of experience to be able to get licensed, you know. So that's still the same, but at the same time I've gone through a lot of different you know trainings and certifications. I'm a lot of different. You know, uh, trainings and certifications. I'm, I'm fully, you know, um certified through the icrc and and there's a lot of training that you could do, not just your licensing programs here in florida, because anybody, you know, as you know, if you're a realtor you can just get a. You know, if you get a realtor's license doesn't mean that you know the business, you just you know, right, or or home inspector.
Speaker 3:
So, um, I'll say, just somebody, if you're going to hire somebody, hire somebody who has that not just, you know, license and it's obviously licensed and insured, but also has some sort of credentials or or any additional training. Um, there's a lot of good training out there. Um, a couple of of national organizations that offer that, um, I'm always trying to, you know, obtain new ones, you know, whether it's water related or fire related. So, yeah, you know, I think you know also hire local. It's important, you know, I've had some new experiences.
Speaker 3:
There's a couple of companies that are great at doing TikTok videosok videos and things like that, and, um, you know, I've been called to to homes or from homeowners that have paid, you know, thousands and thousands of dollars by hiring somebody they found on instagram or on tiktok from out of state and, um, you know, you got to be really careful when you, when you're, when you're hiring somebody, especially or in an instance such such as, maybe, if you're thinking about putting your house for sale, right, you want to make sure you want to make sure you have to be really careful because that could be detrimental if you hire somebody from another state that's going to try to upsell you in a lot of things that you may not need. So I'll say, hire somebody, hire local, somebody who you can call and you know they can come back. They can, you know, assist you locally, not, you know, just because they have a good TikTok video or you know, or some good content, and just that is important nowadays, which I agree with and I'm aware of. But, you know, hire somebody local that you can trust and that you can, you know, make sure that you're you know, that you can do some research on Perfect.
Speaker 2:
So, with that said, how do people get a hold of you? If they're going to call somebody local, you're local. What's the best way to get a hold of you?
Speaker 3:
Yeah, so we're on all the socials at EngageMoldSolutions to get a hold of you. Yeah, so we're on all the socials at EngageMold Solutions. We can call our office, you know, and then call me directly or find me on either LinkedIn or any other social. But I think the best is going through our office at the number that I gave you earlier 813-575-4224. And we can get you on the schedule. We work pretty fast and we've got a quick turnaround.
Speaker 2:
So, folks, if you're listening to this and you're not sure, you have some stuff going on in the house and you're not sure what's going on. Or you have a home inspection and you're trying to sell your house and they're telling you there's some issues and you need someone to come in and give you an impartial assessment of what's going on. You need to. You need to contact engage mold solutions. Excuse me, you can contact jorge 813 575-4224. Jorge, thank you so much for being a good neighbor. Thank you so much for being on the Good Neighbor Podcast. You have an amazing day.
Speaker 3:
Thank you Me too.
Speaker 1:
Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast PASCO. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnppascocom. That's gnppascocom, or call 813-922-3610.
