Mycotoxin remediation in Bonita Springs

Mycotoxins in Bonita Springs homes, explained

The Imperial River and the homes around it

The Imperial River runs through downtown Bonita Springs and empties into Estero Bay. For most of the year it’s the town’s quiet centerpiece. In a wet year it becomes the main flood risk, and some of the older, lower neighborhoods near it have flooded again and again.

In late August 2017, heavy rain had already raised the river when Hurricane Irma passed over the city on September 9 and 10. The result was historic flooding along the river. WGCU reported that more than two weeks after the storm, residents on Saunders Avenue, a few blocks from the river, were only starting to get back into their homes, and furniture lined the curbs of whole streets. The federal government later gave the city $5 million to buy homes that had flooded.

Then came Ian in 2022. The National Hurricane Center lists the Imperial River among the waterways its surge pushed into, and estimates 8 to 12 feet of flooding above ground at the peak in Estero, Bonita Beach and Bonita Springs, with inland high water marks of 5 to 7 feet in Bonita and North Naples. For some families, that was the second time in five years.

Why repeat flooding matters for mycotoxins

Mycotoxins are stable chemicals. They don’t break down when a wall dries out, and they don’t disappear when new drywall goes up. A home that flooded in 2017, was repaired, and flooded again in 2022 may carry contamination from both events, sometimes in layers: old materials that were dried and kept the first time, and newer materials installed over cavities that were never fully cleaned.

That’s why we start every Bonita Springs mycotoxin project by building a history of the house. Permits, insurance files, photos from past repairs and what neighbors remember all help. The independent assessor uses that history to decide where to sample, and the protocol they write tells us which walls to open and how far to go. When the source is an old flood rather than a current leak, sampling dust from rooms that flooded and rooms that didn’t often shows where the problem is concentrated.

Seasonal homes that sit closed

Many Bonita Springs homes are seasonal. They sit closed from spring to fall, through the rainy months, with the AC set high to save money. An empty, warm house with little air movement is exactly where mold grows quietly in closets, under sinks and around the air handler. When the family returns, the dust that settled over the summer is there waiting.

For seasonal owners, we plan the work around your schedule. A home watch service or a neighbor can give access, and we’ll keep you updated with photos. When you return, the house should be clean, dry and backed by an independent clearance report. Our page on mold in seasonal and closed-up homes covers how to keep it that way.

Bonita Beach and elevated homes

Bonita Beach sits on Little Hickory Island, a barrier island between the Gulf and Estero Bay, and it took the full force of Ian’s surge. Many homes there are raised, with living space well above the ground. The risk in those homes is often below: enclosed ground-level areas used for parking, storage, entries and elevators, which flood in a surge and are easy to forget once the upstairs is dry. Mold that grows in those spaces can move upstairs through stairwells, elevator shafts and ductwork. We include them in the plan.

Belongings that have been through a flood

In homes with a flood history, belongings are often part of the problem. Boxes that sat on a garage floor in 2017, a sofa that was dried on the driveway after Ian, or a closet of linens that stayed in a damp room can all hold contaminated dust and move it back into clean rooms. We sort belongings with you, room by room, based on what the assessor’s results support. Glass, metal, stone and finished wood can almost always be HEPA-vacuumed and wiped. Washable fabrics can often be laundered. Mattresses, upholstered furniture and rugs that sat in flood water or in affected rooms are usually better replaced. Photos and papers need individual judgment, and scanning or copying them first is often the best way to keep what matters. Our page on mycotoxins on belongings goes through the options.

Getting a flood-prone home ready for the next one

If you live near the river or on the coast, the next flood is a question of when. A few habits make the cleanup smaller and lower the odds of toxins building up again:

• Keep stored items off the garage and closet floors, in sealed plastic bins rather than cardboard.
• Know where your main electrical panel and water shutoff are, and how to reach them quickly.
• Keep photos and receipts of major belongings somewhere off-site, for your claim.
• Line up a remediation company before the season starts, so you aren’t calling around when every crew is booked.
• After any water event, however small, get moisture readings before walls or floors are covered back up.

Independent testing and clearance

Florida licenses mold assessors and mold remediators separately. Under Florida Statute 468.8419, an assessor may not remediate a structure it assessed within 12 months, and a remediator may not assess or clear a structure it remediated within 12 months. Certified Division I contractors are the exception. On our Bonita Springs projects, an independent licensed mold assessor inspects and samples the home, writes the scope, and performs clearance testing. We do the remediation to that protocol. The company testing your home has no reason to find more mold than is there, and the company removing it can’t grade its own work. Our mycotoxin testing page explains the kinds of samples an assessor may take.

Working alongside your doctor

Many of the families who call us about mycotoxins are already working with a functional or integrative physician. With your permission, we’ll talk with that office about the home results and send the clearance report directly. We’ll also help you think through what to do with belongings, whether to stay in the house during the work, and how to keep it dry afterward. Those choices are yours and your doctor’s. Our job is the building.

Our Southwest Florida team serves Bonita Springs and the rest of Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties. American Mold Experts is family-owned and has been in business since 2008, and every project is backed by a complete-removal guarantee. We don’t close a job on a failed result.

We remove mold and mycotoxins from buildings. We don’t diagnose, treat or give medical advice, and home test results are not medical tests. Please rely on your doctor for health decisions. With your permission, we’ll share the results and our plan with them.