Maryland Environmental Systems And Solutions

The work went without a hitch – basement demo-ed, cleaned, treated with anti-microbials, walls painted with drylok, regarding done around the house, downspouts extended with timely and extensive communication during the work. My only reservation was the high initial estimate which went down only after we did our due diligence and solicited two more estimates for comparison, which is why the grade is B. The actual work is highly recommended.

This was an awful experience. We just completed the purchase of a house with fairly extensive visible mold and asked this firm to come provide a visual inspection and suggest a course of action. There were two back bedrooms that tested heavily for mold and the ductwork had an incredible amount of debris/dust/mold. We walked through the house with a pry bar to allow full inspection of any portion of the home and we asked repeatedly that the ducts would be cleaned because we had a 2 year old daughter and wanted to make sure the job was done right. Mr. Barnes, the owner & salesperson for this company has 5 certifications after his name -- so when he told us all we had was surface mold, we believed him. Maryland Environmental Systems and Solutions showed up and turned on the air conditioning (remember those dirty ducts?), and put a huge fan in the front door to suck the air through the length of our home and out the front door. They wiped down the house with a biocide. They took no starting air sample, they took their own air sample when finished -- immediately after they finished. Here's the fun part. After they left we took a look at the ducts - the duct with all the debris was wiped up as far as the eye could see from the floor. But if you took the vent/register off and looked inside, the duct was STILL completely dirty. We became suspicious and started looking more closely at the work performed. Several areas were NOT wiped down (big dust bunnies on the walls). Worse, we saw where there was evidence of a water stain in one of the back bedrooms which was not drawn to our attention during the remediation (evidence of water intrusion is pretty much the smoking gun of "maybe there's mold behind the wall"). When we asked why the ducts weren't clean, Mr. Barnes first informed us that in the contract "sanitize and disinfect" didn't mean that the ducts had to be CLEANED. He then informed us that he didn't clean the ducts "because we didn't tell him to". WHAT? This is the expert telling the homeowner that we had to explicitly instruct him to clean the ducts when the industry standard guidelines say it needs to be done?? We started doing homework on mold. There are, in fact, industry standards even though there aren't actual regulations. Here are the things we found that are common, recommended industry standards and guidelines ( MES&S did NOT follow any of these): 1) Do NOT turn on the air conditioning. It blows contaminated air all over the house. 2) Clean the HVAC system if there is visible debris, and you have to clean all the components or it can re-contaminate all 3) Set up a containment area so the mold you're working on doesn't get disturbed and sent all over the house (remember the big fan sucking the air all the way through our home??) 4) Per the EPA, Ozone through the ducts is not proven to kill mold (and should only be done after the ducts are completely clean.) 5) You have to REMOVE all mold because dead mold can cause respiratory problems just as much as live mold. 6) Have someone ELSE take air tests. Before and after. Otherwise it's a conflict of interest. 7) You have to remediate both visible and hidden mold 8) If you find evidence of water intrusion, you HAVE to suspect there is hidden mold. You have to investigate, and CHANGE your remediation plan based on what you find. (we weren't even aware of the water stain until long after MES&S was gone from the house) 9) Use of a moisture meter or other tools helps identify where there may be water in the walls. We hired another firm. They cleaned the duct per NADCA guidelines for a mold remediation project. Between the two back bedrooms they followed the water stain and found a HUGE amount of black mold behind the drywall. We were also shown paneling that we had pried back for Mr. Barnes, and who said there wasn't any mold there, apparently had mold on the back side. All the insulation in our unfinished area of the home (still there after Maryland Envrionmental Systems and Solutions was done), all had mold on it. All the joists and framing wood in the unfinished area was NOT wiped down and therefore had mold on it. Under the stairway was visible mold growing that had not been touched. MES&S started with a solution in mind and despite visual evidence that there was likely hidden mold, they plan didn't change. In the end, we paid one half of the amount quoted by MES&S (quote amount was 11,500). We paid over $5000 to have moldy air blown throughout our house, have the house partly wiped down, dirty air ducts, and STILL had black mold that had to be remediated by another company. (The " it's just surface mold" is almost NEVER the right solution from a good remediation company.) Buyer Beware.

. This has been an awful experience. After they took out the drywall, that was the last we have seen of him . Even though I have called numerous times, he has not completed the job. Additionally, it took him about a month to send the contract. Every time I call, I get another excuse. Usually, he blames me and claims it is because I don't like the house. What does that have to do with completing a contract? Today, he claimed he had an emergency and that took precedence. He didn't even bother to call. I have stayed home from work on two separate days expecting him and of course he has been a "no show." He started the job around January 3rd and it is still not finished. Plus, the contract stipulated that he would supply an "Air Quality Report" before and after the job. That report is nonexistent. I believe that is because the air in the basement is still foul. Every time I go down there, I start to sneeze immediately. He claims to have done the proper cleaning but I can't tell that was done. He took out one carpet and left the carpet tacks. Additionally, there are two other carpets that need to go and they are still here. There are huge holes where the drywall used to be. He essentially took the money and ran. I would never use this company again for any reason.