Caprock Mold ProsCaprock Mold Pros connects property owners with mold removal contractors in Shallowater, TX and out across the surrounding farmland. Shallowater sits about twelve miles northwest of Lubbock on US-84, so contractors are on site quickly. The inspection is free and there is no charge for the drive.
Shallowater is a mix that makes for interesting mold work: an older small-town core, a steady run of newer homes going in as people move out of Lubbock for the schools, and a lot of rural property on acreage outside the city limits. Each of those has its own set of problems.
Older Homes in Town
The original housing stock around the school and the older streets has the classic set of West Texas issues.
Original plumbing. Galvanized and early copper that has been in the ground or in the walls for fifty or sixty years does not fail all at once. It seeps. A pinhole behind a wall puts a small amount of water into that cavity every day for years, and nothing shows on the outside until the drywall stains or the baseboard swells.
Bathrooms with no exhaust. A lot of these homes were built without a bath fan. Steam has nowhere to go except into the walls and up into the attic through the ceiling. That is the origin of most of the bathroom mold contractors handle out here.
Evaporative coolers. Swamp coolers are still common in Shallowater and they work well in this climate. They also add serious moisture to a house on purpose. Run one with the windows shut, or run one in a house that has since had new windows and insulation put in, and that humidity condenses on the coldest surfaces it can find. Closet corners and north-facing exterior walls are where contractors find it.
Pier and beam. Some of the oldest houses in town are on pier and beam rather than slab. That means a crawl space that nobody has looked in since Reagan was president.
Farm and Ranch Property
Outside the city limits it is a different job entirely.
Well water systems are a common source. Pressure tanks, well houses and the lines running from them are frequently in unconditioned or partly conditioned spaces, and a slow leak there can go a long time without notice. Septic issues put moisture under and around a house in ways city sewer does not.
Metal buildings, shops and barns are their own category. A steel roof deck with little or no insulation condenses heavily on a clear cold night. That water drips onto stored equipment, feed, hay and whatever is below, and it grows mold on anything organic. The mold is the symptom. The condensation is the disease, and the fix is usually insulation or ventilation rather than a cleaning.
Older farmhouses often have had additions built on over the decades, and the transitions between the original structure and the additions are where the water gets in. Roof-to-wall junctions, mismatched foundations and abandoned plumbing runs are all common.
Hail Country
Shallowater is squarely in the hail corridor. The storms that come through the South Plains in spring hit this area regularly, and roofs here take a beating. A hail-bruised shingle sheds water in a quick storm and fails in a long slow one months later, which is why attic mold after a hail season is one of the most common Shallowater calls.
Metal roofs, which are more common out here than in town, fail differently. Fastener gaskets dry out and shrink, and every one of those screws becomes a small hole. It only takes a few.
Freeze Season
Rural and small-town properties get hit harder by hard freezes than Lubbock does. Longer exposed runs, well houses, unheated additions, outbuildings with plumbing, and lines in crawl spaces are all vulnerable. When those break, the water can run a long time before anybody catches it, especially in a shop or a rent house that is not occupied daily.
If a pipe broke on your place, the thing that decides whether this becomes a mold job is what happens in the next day or two. Call us and contractors will get drying equipment on it.
What Contractors Do in Shallowater
Every service contractors offer in Lubbock, at the same price, with no travel charge:
- Mold inspection and testing
- Black mold removal
- Attic mold removal
- Crawl space mold removal
- Air quality testing
- Water damage cleanup and drying
- Mold damage repair
- Commercial mold remediation for shops, offices and agricultural buildings
Free Inspection, Straight Answers
Contractors come out, contractors look, contractors take readings, and contractors tell you what is actually going on. If it is a small job you can handle yourself, contractors will say that. If it needs containment and licensed remediation, contractors will explain why and put it in writing.
Call (806) 552-9258 any time.
Common Questions About Mold Removal
Do you come out to Shallowater or just Lubbock?
Contractors serve Shallowater the same as Lubbock, no travel charge and no minimum. It is about twelve miles up US-84 and contractors are out there regularly.
We are on well water outside town. Does that change anything?
It changes where contractors look. Well houses, pressure tanks and the lines running to the house are frequent sources of slow leaks, and they sit in spaces nobody checks. Contractors include those in the inspection on rural properties.
Can you handle a metal shop building with mold?
Yes. Condensation on an uninsulated steel deck is the usual cause out here. Contractors clean what is growing and then talk to you about the insulation or ventilation change that stops it from coming back, because cleaning alone will not.
The swamp cooler runs all summer. Is that causing the problem?
It might be contributing. Evaporative coolers add humidity by design, and in a house that has been tightened up with newer windows and insulation that moisture has nowhere to go. Contractors check the walls and closets where it typically condenses.
The house is over sixty years old. Is remediation even worth it?
Usually yes, and older homes are often easier than people expect because the construction is simple and accessible. What matters is finding and killing the water source. Contractors will tell you honestly if a repair is not worth what the house can carry.