Start by finding out whether the smell rides the air system or lives in one room. Change the filter, check the AC drain line, look for damp under the sinks and under the house, then smell a supply register as the system starts. Fix any water first. Treatment comes after, and it is priced off the heated square feet at $0.30, $200 minimum, which you can read straight off the listing you just signed.
See your price
- Whole-home disinfection: $0.30 per heated sq ft ($200 minimum)
- Clean the vents on the same visit: $50 each (no extra minimum)
- Both include Bactronizing with BactroKill Plus + 12-month written guarantee
Not sure what you need?
Start with the vents
A smell that rides the air is growing in the duct work. We scrub each vent and return with a rotary brush, clean the registers, the coil and the outside of the air handler, then treat them. $50 a vent, from $399 on its own. Spores travel on the air, so most people add the whole-home disinfection on the same visit, and then the vents carry no minimum. 12-month written guarantee.
Start with the whole home
A smell that sits in the rooms, or came with the last people, is on the surfaces, not only in the air. Whole-home disinfection sprays every surface in the house, closets included, plus the duct work and the drain pan: $0.30 per heated square foot, $200 minimum, about 30 to 75 minutes, and you can stay home. Dust or growth in the vents needs cleaning first, so add the air duct cleaning at $50 each on the same visit if the vents are dirty. 12-month written guarantee.
We look first
Mold you can see gets wiped off, not sprayed over. Every one is different, so we look before we price it, and Greg puts the price in writing before any work starts.
Fix the water first
Mold is a water problem first. Wet material grows again, so the leak, the flood or the drain line gets fixed before anything is sprayed. Once it is dry we treat it, and if something is still wet we say so before we start.
Two ways to be sure
If you can smell it or see it, the CDC says you do not need to know the type, so most people skip the test and treat. To be sure anyway: while we are at the house we can swab a surface and read it on a hand-held meter, or send samples to a lab, $350 for two and $450 for four.
Request a window Or start with the treatment Call 843-282-7777
Closed now. Opens tomorrow at 8 am.
Request a windowGreg confirms it in writing.Call 843-282-7777Do not know the square footage? Request a visit without a number. We work it out when we come out.
Veteran owned. Licensed and insured. EPA-registered product. 12-month written guarantee.
What should you check in the first week?
Five things, in order: the filter, the air handler and its drain line, the damp spots, the register test, and the dryer vent. By the end you will know whether you have a water problem, an air system problem or a lived-in house.
1. Change the filter. ENERGY STAR says to inspect, clean or change it once a month (source).
2. Find the air handler and look at its drain line. Check the closet or attic around it for standing water, rust, or a stain on the ceiling below. The EPA’s advice: “Keep air conditioning drip pans clean and the drain lines unobstructed and flowing properly” (source). A stopped line is an HVAC company’s fix.
3. Look for damp. Open every sink cabinet. Check around tubs, toilets, the water heater and the washer lines. In a crawlspace, look for standing water and bare dirt: NC State Extension’s checklist calls for a plastic vapor barrier over the soil (source). On a slab, check the baseboards along the outside walls.
4. Run the register test. Leave the system off for an hour, stand at a supply register, and turn it on. A smell that arrives with the first air and then fades points at the air system, as explained on why your AC smells musty. A smell that stays in one room, or shows up after rain, has its source there. Dark specks at the vents? See black dust around air vents.
5. Check the dryer vent. NC State’s checklist says to make sure the outside dryer vent “is not blocked or filled with debris” and that it vents outdoors (source). A dryer dumping damp air indoors adds to it: see dryer vent cleaning.
What do previous owners leave behind in a house?
Years of ordinary living. Smoke, pets and cooking settle into the dust, the soft surfaces and the air system, and a house that sat closed up between owners adds a damp note. Buyers tend to describe it the same way: a stale, lived-in smell they cannot place.
That is the smell a whole-home disinfection is for. The product takes out musty, smoke and cooking odors by oxidizing them rather than covering them. It has to touch what the smell is coming off, so the job goes room by room, closets included. Pet odor soaked into carpet pad or subfloor is a flooring job.
The EPA says you may suspect hidden mold “if a building smells moldy, but you cannot see the source” (source). The CL-100 letter from your closing does not settle it. It reports wood-destroying organisms and excessive moisture under the house (source). It does not test for mold or grade the air system: see the CL-100 and duct mold.
When is it a moisture problem that has to be fixed first?
When something is still wet. A drain line that has stopped draining, a slow leak under a sink, standing water under the house, or a stain that grows after rain is a job for a plumber, a roofer or an HVAC company first. Treat over live water and the smell comes back.
The EPA’s line: “The key to mold control is moisture control” (source). NC State’s checklist: “First, find the source of the moisture and then fix the problem” (source).
This is treatment. It is not structural mold remediation, and it does not fix an active leak. Moisture that is still wet can grow mold again, and carpet pad, drywall or insulation that soaked through gets replaced, not treated. Flooded? See mold in air ducts after water damage.
Where does a whole-home disinfection fit, and what does it cost?
It fits after the water is fixed, and before the furniture is in if you can time it. Whole-home disinfection for mold is $0.30 per heated square foot with a $200 minimum, and it covers every room, closets included. If the register test points at the air system, air duct cleaning and treatment is $50 a vent on the same visit with no extra minimum, or from $399 booked alone. Every job carries a 12-month written guarantee.
Dryer vent cleaning is $50 added to the visit, or $99 alone. The guarantee goes on the invoice: if what we treated comes back inside the year, we re-treat it, except where new water has come in. No trip charge. You pay on the day. It takes about 30 minutes at 1,500 square feet, 45 at 2,500 and 75 at 3,500. You can stay in the house. Keep people and pets out of a room while it is sprayed. It is yours again 15 minutes later.
The product is BactroKill Plus, EPA Reg. No. 82972-1-90746, applied to its label by electrostatic sprayer. Bactronix calls that Bactronizing. On the vents we clean, then treat, the registers, the duct work, the coil and the outside of the air handler.
Your heated square feet is on the listing. We work in Charleston, Summerville, Cane Bay, Nexton, Carnes Crossroads, Goose Creek and Moncks Corner.
Frequently asked questions
Will the smell from the previous owners fade on its own?
Stale air does. A smell with a source stays, because the source is still there: a wet coil, smoke film in the dust, a damp cabinet floor.
Should I have the ducts cleaned before I move in?
Only if something has been found: debris, visible growth, or renovation dust in the returns. Air duct cleaning removes dust, and it does not replace treatment.
Is it better to treat before or after we move in?
Before is easier: the rooms are empty and every closet is open. After works too, and you do not have to leave the house.
Request a window
Put your square footage into the price calculator above and the price comes back. Pick the day and window that suit you. We call or write back to lock in the time.