Pets and mold in a Calgary basement, what precautions?

The sources we use do not give pet-specific mould advice, so the practical approach is to treat pets the way the guidance treats people who are not doing the work: keep them out of the area. How much else you need to do depends on how much mould there is and whether the material underneath it is porous.

Keep Pets Out Until the Work Is Done

Health Canada describes mould patches as small (one to three patches, each under one square metre), medium (more than three patches, or a single patch between one and three square metres), or extensive (any patch larger than three square metres). A person in good health can clean a small area with water and dish detergent, wearing safety glasses, a disposable N95 respirator and gloves. Pets should be moved to another part of the house and kept away from the area during cleaning and until surfaces are fully dry. Alberta Health Services notes that porous materials such as drywall, carpet and ceiling tiles typically need to be removed rather than cleaned, so if the mould has grown into the material, keep pets out until that removal is finished.

For medium or extensive mould, CMHC says medium areas should be handled by qualified and trained maintenance staff, and extensive areas by qualified and trained mould remediation contractors. In either case, keep pets and people who are not doing the work out of the basement for the duration. The Alberta OHS bulletin notes mould can begin growing within 24 to 48 hours on a damp surface, so fixing the moisture source, whether a leaking pipe, condensation or groundwater, is as important as the cleaning itself. Health Canada advises keeping indoor relative humidity between 30 and 50 per cent to prevent regrowth.

A few practical points worth knowing:

• Alberta Health Services advises that air testing for mould is usually not recommended, especially when you can already see it.
• There is no numerical mould exposure limit in Canada. Health Canada explains that the variability in how people respond to mould makes it impossible to set one, so the focus stays on removing the mould and correcting the moisture.
• We found no City of Calgary permit for mould remediation and no Alberta licence or certification for mould remediation contractors. Ask any contractor you hire what training their workers have completed and what containment they will use to keep spores from spreading to the rest of the house during removal.
• If your basement was finished before 1990, drywall, joint compound or ceiling tiles that need to come out may contain asbestos. Alberta OHS bulletin ASB004 identifies drywall mud and ceiling tiles as materials with a higher risk of asbestos content in pre-1990 buildings. Have suspect materials tested before any cutting or removal begins.

For a medium or extensive job, published Calgary-area prices read in September 2026 range from roughly $1,800 to $6,000 for a medium basement wall area, and $3,000 to $15,000 or more for a whole basement. A mould inspection or air-quality test, if you want a baseline assessment before work starts, runs $200 to $800.

If you want quotes from local remediation contractors, the request form on this page forwards your details to contractors listed in the Calgary Construction Network directory. Before you agree to anything, ask the contractor to show you what the quote includes for containment and for a post-remediation check, and when it will be safe to let your pets back into the basement.