BUSINESS NEWS
COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL
Meet the Merchant
In the past two years, Ben Wiscombe’s busi-
ness has pivoted from û ghting viruses to battling
spores.
He began AXION Clean Mold Remediation in
e astern Idaho and spent the early months of the
pandemic decontaminating medical facilities and
businesses.
Wiscombe9s family, and the business, moved
to Astoria soon after. He said that as communi-
ties lived with the coronavirus longer, demand for
professional cleaning declined. He realized that
he needed to shift AXION9s focus and already
had the air purifying tools to do it.
Now, the company works almost exclusively
in mold remediation, with locations in Astoria
and Hillsboro.
Coast River Business Journal asked Wiscombe
for some insight on his work and tips for prevent-
ing mold at home. His responses have been edited
for brevity and clarity.
Q: How does the coastal climate impact
mold growth?
A: It’s just more humid down on the coast and
also just generally speaking 4 because of how
close we are to the ocean 4 we get a lot more
rot and decay. It just seems to happen at a faster
rate because the moisture just seems to kind of
come from all directions. And as a result, I feel
like mold is a bigger issue probably on the coast
than it is further away from the coast.
Q: What are some common issues you see in
homes and what can people do about it?
A: Mold is fairly simple, as far as the ingre-
dients that are needed to make mold growth. And
out where we live, there9s a lot of things that
are very simple that can be done to minimize
the impact of mold or prevent it from growing:
Mold needs organic material, which is inevitably
everywhere. Organic material is dirt, it9s grime,
it9s dead skin cells. Anything that is derived from
the E arth is considered organic. So it9s wood,
it9s even the stuû that S heetrock9s made out of is
organic material so it is a very good incubator for
mold. So you can9t avoid that aspect of it, organic
material is everywhere.
It also needs moisture. And again, in the
Paciû c Northwest, particularly on the coast,
there9s a lot of moisture just even in the air we
live in. So that one is also a little bit more chal-
lenging to address. But mold also needs basically
stagnation or stagnant air, meaning very low air-
û ow, so if you can allow airû ow in a space, that
dramatically reduces the ability of mold to grow.
For tenants that are concerned about mold
issues, or whether it9s just a home that is having a
mold issue that keeps recurring, I always give this
recommendation: I call it < û ush, = and it basically
means in the mornings, you open windows on a
couple sides of your home and you allow air to
passively û ow through the home for 10 to 15 min-
utes and close it up and then do the same thing at
Interview by Abbey McDonald amcdonald@dailyastorian.com
MARCH 2022 • 11
AXION CLEAN
MOLD REMEDIATION
1981 SE 1st St., Astoria
Ben Wiscombe, owner
axionclean.com
503-998-3626
nitely have a professional come out and take a
look.
Q: Anything else you want to add?
A: A lot of times I9m happy to do a phone
consultation with people. I understand that peo-
ple aren9t made of money, and not everyone has
the money to have mold remediation done in their
home. A lot of times there9s simple things that
can be addressed if people have concerns. I hon-
estly probably help 10 to 15 people a week where
I helped them avoid having a mold person come
out when they were planning on it.
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Ben Wiscombe is the owner of AXION Clean Mold Remediation.
nighttime before you go to bed. Sometimes it can
be concerning with winter time and cold weather,
but you9re trading really good clean, fresh air
for a slightly higher power bill. It9s a small price
to pay for signiû cantly increased beneû ts. Air-
û ow makes a big diû erence to reduce mold spore
spread in a home and just make your air quality
improve signiû cantly.
Homes that have HVAC do signiû cantly bet-
ter. That9s not something everyone has, especially
in the Paciû c Northwest, and because of that it9s
very easy for stagnation to allow for mold growth
in places like closets and and just old nooks and
corners that air doesn9t move very well.
Fans are a simple thing, like if you have
a closet or you9re seeing some mold growth
if you just put a fan there for a couple of days
that9s going to help move that airû ow. Another
thing is a dehumidiû er. The general rule is that if
your home9s indoor humidity is above 60%, then
you9re kind of in an environment where mold can
start growing.
Q: At what point in their mold infestation
should people call you?
A: I9m not a medical personnel, but a lot of
times people call me when they start having what
they feel might be health-related issues in regards
to mold. It9s usually not the point you want to get
to. So the time to address mold is when you see
it visibly growing on things. When you need a
professional is oftentimes when it9s reoccurring.
In other words, you’ve made numerous attempts,
like if you see a little bit of mold in your closet
on a wall, and it9s real light and it9s kind of grow-
ing maybe on a cardboard box, you can proba-
bly address that yourself and it9s not a big issue.
When you9ve got a really dark black mold and
it9s growing right underneath the faucet of your
sink, that9s when you need to call a professional.
There9s diû erent types of mold, and obviously no
mold is good in high quantities, but there9s some
molds that even in very low quantities can have
the potential to cause a more severe reaction. I
think the simplest answer would be if you9re
experiencing some health issues and you see visi-
ble mold growing in your home, you should deû -
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