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Mon–Fri 8am–6pm · Sun 8am–6pm · Closed Saturdays4.9★ · 287+
(845) 262-6530
Strauss Cleaners
Severe black mold growth and water staining on the walls and ceiling of a small toilet alcove

Passaic County, NJ · ~45 min away

Mold Remediation & Removal in Paterson, NJ

Sealed containment, removal of what's colonized, and a fix for the moisture behind it.

Paterson is about 45 minutes out for us. On covered mold claims we document the work and bill your insurance carrier directly, so you're not assembling the file yourself.

Two- and three-family frame houses mean stacked kitchens and baths, shared basements, and several tenants affected at once — we contain floor by floor, document unit by unit, and keep landlords and tenants on the same page about scope.

Free inspection with a written scope before any work begins. Covered claims are billed directly to your insurance carrier.

Process

How the job goes.

Containment goes up first, the affected material comes out second, and the moisture source gets fixed before we finish. Here's the short version; the service page explains each step and why the order matters.

  1. 01

    Inspect & find the moisture

    Basement corner with drywall flood-cut to expose the block wall and furring strips

    Every mold job starts as a water investigation. Moisture meters and thermal imaging trace where the water comes from: a leak, condensation, ground moisture, or a bath fan venting into the attic. Remove the mold without stopping the water and it grows back.

  2. 02

    Contain the work area

    Hallway with poly containment along one wall and an air mover drying the subfloor

    Plastic containment seals the affected area, and negative air machines with HEPA filtration keep airflow moving into the zone rather than out of it. Without containment, the work itself spreads spores into rooms that were clean.

  3. 03

    Remove what's colonized

    Zipper containment doorway sealed with red tape between a home office and the work area

    Porous materials with growth (drywall, insulation, carpet) get bagged inside containment and removed; they can't be reliably cleaned. Framing and other structural wood gets HEPA-vacuumed, cleaned, and treated as its condition calls for.

  4. 04

    Clean the air & surfaces

    Poly containment draped over an arched window with a ladder in place for ceiling mold work

    HEPA air scrubbers run throughout, then every surface in the containment gets HEPA-vacuumed and damp-wiped. The S520 standard for finishing is a work area that is visibly clean, dust-free, and odor-free, and that's what we clean to.

  5. 05

    Fix the moisture source

    Zipper containment door with an air scrubber running in a hallway

    This is the repair that ends the problem: the leak fixed, the bath fan vented outside, the grading or gutter issue named in writing. We handle what's in our scope and tell you who to call for what isn't.

  6. 06

    Verify

    Black mold across a block wall in a basement utility corner beside the electrical panel

    Final walkthrough against the written scope. If you want lab numbers behind the visual standard, we arrange third-party clearance testing, and that lab reports to you rather than to us.

The full mold remediation process, step by step →

Local knowledge

What we see in Paterson

The housing stock, the terrain, and the drainage in Paterson all change how we plan a job. Here's what we run into:

Getting to you

Route 208 gets us here in about 45 minutes. Street parking is tight in the dense wards, so we stage small, protect the common stairs, and keep equipment secured and out of hallways overnight on multi-day dries.

Water & drainage

Much of the city's flat land sits low inside the river's bend, where storm sewers drain slowly whenever the Passaic runs high. Streets can pond long after the rain ends, and basements keep taking groundwater until the river drops.

On the ground

The Passaic River horseshoes around Paterson, and Ida in 2021 showed what that means: hundreds of residents rescued, the river still cresting days after the rain stopped. In the river wards we plan for water that keeps arriving after the storm is over.

Heavy rain in the forecast

After a storm floods the basement in Paterson: the mold clock

Storm water in a basement turns into a mold job when the drying waits. Here is what matters in the first day.

In the first day

  • Wet materials start growing mold in 24 to 48 hours. Drying fast is the mold prevention.
  • Do not run the furnace fan or box fans to dry the house. They move damp air and spores through every room.
  • If a floor drain or toilet backed up with the rain, the water is contaminated and porous materials it touched have to come out.

Full walkthrough: what to do when your basement floods in a storm. Water in the house now? Call (845) 262-6530. Same-day emergency response, six days a week.

Common problems

The problems we're usually called about.

A musty basement or crawl space smell

That odor usually means microbial growth somewhere you can't see yet. We find the moisture behind it, whether that's ground vapor, seepage, or condensation on cold surfaces, and we scope the remediation to what's colonized rather than to the whole basement.

Mold found during a home sale inspection

One line in an inspection report can hold up a closing, usually with about two weeks to deal with it. We inspect quickly, scope only what's there, do the work under containment, and provide documentation, plus third-party clearance testing if the buyer's side wants numbers.

The previous 'mold guy' sprayed and painted over it

Encapsulant sprayed over live growth on a wet wall doesn't hold, because the water is still there. We open it up, remove what should have come out the first time, dry the area and fix the moisture source, and document the work this time around.

Black mold behind a wall, under a sink, or on the ceiling

The color doesn't change the job. Black mold removal follows the same steps as any other active growth: find the moisture, contain the area, remove what's colonized, clean and dry what stays. We do the mold cleanup and the repair to the wall or ceiling afterward, under one scope.

Insurance

We work with your insurance, and we bill them directly

  1. 01

    Call us

    We answer, ask what happened, and get a crew moving. Same-day emergency response on active water.

  2. 02

    We document everything

    We take moisture readings and photos and write up a scope of work before drying starts, so your adjuster has the file from day one.

  3. 03

    We bill your insurer directly

    We work directly with your insurance company on covered water and mold claims, so you're not fronting the full cost and chasing reimbursement.

Your deductible is still yours to cover. Your declarations page or your agent has the exact number, and we ask for it before any work starts rather than after. You also don't need a claim to hire us. Plenty of our jobs are paid directly by the homeowner, and after the free inspection you get a written estimate to make that decision with.

Not insurance advice. We're a restoration contractor, not a public adjuster or insurance agent. Coverage decisions belong to your insurer, so confirm anything about your policy with your agent or adjuster.

Who's showing up

Local and independent since 2019.

The person on the phone is the person planning the job. We're in Paterson every week.

  • IICRC Certified
  • Licensed
  • Bonded
  • Insured
  • Eco-Conscious Products

FAQ

Questions we get most.

Can I clean up mold myself?

Yes, if it's small. The EPA's rule of thumb is about 10 square feet, roughly a 3-by-3 patch. Under that, a careful homeowner can handle it with gloves, an N95 mask, and detergent, as long as the moisture source gets fixed too. Call a professional when it's bigger, inside walls or the HVAC system, involved sewage, or when someone in the house has asthma or mold sensitivity. We'll tell you at the inspection if it's a DIY-sized job.

Does homeowners insurance cover water damage?

That's a question for your insurer, and we say so on purpose. We're a restoration contractor, not a public adjuster or insurance agent, and only your carrier can tell you what your policy covers. In general terms, homeowners policies treat sudden and accidental damage, like a burst pipe or a failed water heater, differently from a slow leak that ran for months, and flooding from outside is usually a separate policy. That's why the cause of loss matters. When we inspect, we photograph and log what the damage shows, and that record goes to your insurer for their decision. Call your agent or your carrier's claim line to confirm coverage before you count on it.

Is mold in my house dangerous?

Mold can irritate eyes, nose, and throat, trigger allergic reactions like sneezing and skin rash, and aggravate asthma in people who have it. Sensitivity varies a lot from person to person. That's the EPA's position and ours. It's worth taking seriously, and it's not a reason to panic. Mold is a moisture problem in the house, and it's a fixable one.

What's the difference between mold removal and mold remediation?

"Mold removal" is a misleading term. Spores exist naturally everywhere, indoors and out, so no company can remove all mold from a house. Remediation is the accurate word: contain the affected area, take out materials too far gone, clean what can be cleaned, filter the air, and fix the moisture problem that caused the growth. Skip that last step and the mold comes back no matter how thorough the cleanup was.

What is containment and why does it matter?

Containment keeps a mold problem in one room. Disturbing moldy material sends spores airborne, so before any demolition we seal the work area with plastic sheeting, cover HVAC vents, and run HEPA-filtered machines that hold the space under negative pressure, meaning air flows in and not out. Without it, cutting out moldy drywall spreads spores through the rest of the house.

Service area

Paterson, NJ — Passaic County.

We're about 45 minutes out, six days a week. The homes run to dense pre-war two- and three-family frame houses, brick rows, and converted silk-mill buildings. We cover every block, including Eastside, Hillcrest, Riverside. Paterson is known for Great Falls National Historical Park, its silk-city industrial history, and Eastside Park's historic district.

Free inspection

Start with a free inspection in Paterson.

Call or send the form. We look, we measure, and you get a written scope and a straight answer. Sometimes that answer is that the work can wait.

Office hours: Mon–Fri 8am–6pm · Sun 8am–6pm · Closed Saturdays.

Free estimate

Send the details and we'll take a look.

Faster by phone? Call (845) 262-6530.