Jamaica is the commercial heart of southeast Queens, with Jamaica Avenue, Hillside Avenue, Sutphin Boulevard and the transit hub at Jamaica Center. Around it lie streets of detached and attached houses, many with full basements, and apartment buildings along the main roads. In houses like these, mold often starts below ground: a basement that took water in a heavy storm, a pipe that leaked behind paneling, a damp corner that never dried. This page covers mold removal in Jamaica, Queens, and the water damage that comes before it.
Queens Water Damage Restoration is an independent referral service, not a restoration company. When you send the form, your details go to an independent local restoration provider serving Queens, who can contact you, inspect and quote any work directly. You decide whether to hire them.
Why Jamaica basements grow mold
The EPA’s rule is that the key to mold control is moisture control, and that water-damaged areas and items should be dried within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth. Basements make that hard. They are cool, the air is often damp, and finished basements hide water behind carpet, drywall and drop ceilings. A basement that flooded during a storm and was pumped out but not properly dried can grow mold.
Southeast Queens is inland, but inland does not mean dry. The NYC Health Department’s lesson from Hurricane Ida is that rainfall flooding can happen anywhere in the city, and that low-lying areas and basement apartments are at higher risk. DEP lists groundwater through foundation cracks and sewer backups through basement connections among the four ways the city floods.
Basement apartments
Some Queens houses have someone living in the basement. Ida showed the danger: of the fourteen people who died from causes related to the storm in New York City, ten drowned in unregulated basement apartments, the Health Department reports. Damp and mold are a lesser but real problem in the same spaces. If a basement unit has taken water, the person living there should be out of it until it is dry and safe, and the owner should know that DOB can vacate a building for conditions posing imminent danger and can fine owners up to $25,000 for illegal apartments.
Cleaning small areas yourself
The EPA says that if the moldy area is less than about 10 square feet, roughly 3 feet by 3 feet, in most cases you can handle it yourself. NYC’s Health Department steps for small areas:
- Keep children and pets away.
- Use water and soap or dish detergent on hard surfaces.
- Wear waterproof gloves.
- Dry the area completely.
- Wash or throw away sponges and rags.
If mold returns quickly, the Health Department says there may be an underlying problem such as a water leak. The EPA does not recommend bleach as a routine practice. Mold after sewage or floodwater is a job for professionals with experience in contaminated water.
Larger jobs and the rules
For larger areas, the removal follows a plan: find and fix the water, contain the area, remove moldy porous materials, clean, dry and check. New York State does not allow the same license holder to both assess and remediate a property, and its Mold Program requires a post-remediation assessment for covered work. In buildings with 10 or more apartments, mold over 10 square feet must be handled by workers holding a New York State Department of Labor mold license. See mold remediation in Queens and mold inspection in Queens.
Renting in Jamaica
In buildings with three or more apartments, Local Law 55 makes the owner responsible for keeping units free of mold and fixing the leaks behind it, with yearly inspections. If you rent and see a leak or mold, notify your landlord; if it is not fixed or the work is unsafe, file a complaint online or call 311.
Near Jamaica
Nearby pages: Richmond Hill to the west, Forest Hills to the northwest and Howard Beach to the southwest. The Queens neighborhoods page lists St. Albans, Rosedale and the rest.
Mold or basement water in Jamaica, Queens? Send the form, pick Jamaica, and an independent local provider can contact you.
Questions people ask
Why does my basement smell musty after it dried?
It may not be fully dry, or mold may have started behind finishes. The EPA says water-damaged areas should be dried within 24 to 48 hours. A musty smell with no visible mold is a good reason for an inspection.
Can I use bleach on basement mold?
The EPA says bleach and other biocides are not recommended as a routine practice in mold cleanup. For small areas, soap and water on hard surfaces, then drying, is the Health Department’s advice.
Is this site a restoration company in Jamaica?
No. Queens Water Damage Restoration is an independent referral service, not a restoration company. When you send the form, your details go to an independent local restoration provider serving Queens, who can contact you, inspect and quote any work directly. You decide whether to hire them.
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