Good Neighbor Podcast: Frisco

EP 397: How DCG Environmental Calms Fears And Solves Mold And Asbestos Problems

• Sophia Yvette

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 11:12

What makes Shelley Hines with DCG Environmental a good neighbor?

 Shelley believes the most frightening part of mold or asbestos is rarely the material itself. It is the unknowns surrounding it. In this episode, we sit down with Shelley Hines of DCG Environmental to replace internet panic with facts families and property owners can actually use. She explains how to tell the difference between a minor moisture issue and a serious mold problem, why some people react while others do not, and the step by step process that turns a messy cleanup into a verified, safe space.

We start with the fundamentals. Mold spores are naturally present everywhere, so accurate testing compares indoor air to an outdoor baseline based on that day’s conditions. Shelley walks through when it is safe to remain in place with a contained cleanup and when larger remediation means stepping out. She also shares practical prevention tips you can implement right away, including proper HVAC filter schedules, annual system balancing to reduce condensation, routine cleaning to remove dust that feeds mold, and fast leak repairs that stop hidden growth before it spreads.

The conversation then shifts to asbestos, where Shelley separates myth from compliance reality. Asbestos is durable and only becomes hazardous when disturbed. In Texas, any commercial remodel, repair, or demolition requires an asbestos survey regardless of a building’s age. Shelley explains what that means for property managers, contractors, and tenants, and how understanding the process ahead of time protects people, projects, and budgets.

At the core of DCG Environmental’s work is integrity and clarity. They do not remove mold or asbestos themselves. Instead, they specialize in finding it, overseeing qualified remediation teams, and monitoring the work to ensure it is done correctly. Shelley emphasizes treating every building like family, explaining data in plain language, and confirming safety through clearance testing before anyone reoccupies the space. Whether you manage commercial properties, oversee tenant improvements, or care for a busy home, this conversation offers a grounded framework for making confident, informed decisions.

If you are looking for clarity instead of fear and facts instead of guesswork, this episode will help you breathe easier.

To learn more about DCG Environmental go to:
 https://dcgenvironmental.com

DCG Environmental
+1 (254) 681 3161

SPEAKER_00:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of an environmental firm? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Shelly Hines, with DCG Environmental. Shelly, how are you today? I'm doing great, Sophia. How are you? I am also doing great. Now we are so excited today to learn all about you and your business. Can you start off by telling us just a little bit about your company?

SPEAKER_02:

Sure. Uh DCG Environmental is an environmental firm. We mostly focus on asbestos and mold. We can do a lot of environmental testing, but that's our mainstays. And uh we're in our 10th year of business this year.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, 10th year of business. Now, how did you originally get started in this industry and where does your heart for it come from?

SPEAKER_02:

Um it's actually my husband's career. Um he works on really big projects like uh the DFW Airport, and on those big projects, they get laid off when they're done, and then they have to go find another big project to do. And about the third time that happened, I was like, why don't you just start your own company? And uh he's he's like, I don't really know how to do that. And I was just joking, but I'm like, I do you could work for me. And and it we kind of laughed about it, but then we kind of got serious about it. We're like, yeah, what would happen if we started our own company? And so we just kind of jumped in. I didn't know anything about this industry or asbestos or mold except for, hey, honey, how was your day and what did you do today and why did you do it like that? Like I have a very curious mind. And so um, we did. We just jumped in about 10 years ago and and started our own thing. And my heart in it comes from helping people, like a lot of people call um panicked, if you will, or my favorite is um you've googled yourself into a frenzy. You know, there's a lot of things out there about asbestos ML that scare people when they're not familiar or know about it, and so that's my favorite part is just calming people down, giving them the regulations, the rules, the truth. You know, can it be dangerous? Sure. In real big extreme cases, if you know how to handle it and protect yourself, then everything's fine. And I just I really love helping building owners um negotiate on price based on these two things, um, keeping people safe in their businesses or their offices while they're working all day. And then homeowners and with new babies are my favorite because those are the ones that are usually really the most scared about these two topics, and um, we just make it easy for them.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow. Well, you know, safety is always number one, and getting into things deeper here. When it comes to mold, what is that number one myth or misconception you come across in your industry?

SPEAKER_02:

A lot of people think that it's the lack of better terms, they think they're gonna die tomorrow, they're gonna get affected, they're gonna be hurt. Um, there's natural mold spores in the air everywhere. And so the best way to figure out, you know, do you have a big problem, a little problem is to get testing done. We do one outside as a baseline. What is that natural mold spore level? And that changes by the day and by the hour. It can change by weather, it can change by um atmosphere if you live close to something, you know, that produces a lot of off-gassing or something like that. Um it's it's not always as bad as it seems, although I'm not a doctor, so I don't give medical advice, but some people respond to it differently. Um, a perfect example of my husband and I were in a hotel and I kept telling myself like there's mold in here. And this is before we even started our company. He's like, There's no mold in here. I'm like, yeah, there is. And so he started looking around and he found by the door the paper was peeling just a little bit and behind it was all black. So there was mold there. And he's like, How did you know that? I'm like, I can smell it. So obviously I was responding to that type of mold, and he wasn't. So it's very different for everybody. You might react to it, I might not. Um, it's a case-by-case basis, and then depending upon how severely you react to it or what type of mold is there, how long has it been there? You know, sometimes we go into buildings that have been sitting for years and they're mold from the ground to the ceiling. Um, those are big extreme cases, right? Nobody's living there, it's an empty building. But we do come across, we had one client that left and they left out of the country for a month and came back, and something had leaked in their house, and their whole house was covered in mold. So obviously they couldn't come move back in. There's a lot of times where you can't use, you know, maybe your kitchen or your bathroom. Um, those are reasons not to be in the home while we're doing it. But for the most case, most people have a little mold underneath the kitchen sink or um, you know, behind the refrigerator for some reason, something leaked back there. Those are minor, those are pretty easy to clean up. Um, those aren't reasons to move out, those are they come in and build a containment, is what it's called. It's like a big plastic bubble, and then they remove everything moldy inside that bubble. So all the yuck stays inside there and they get it all cleaned up. We come back and make sure they've cleaned it all correctly. We give them clearance testing, making sure there's no mold left. Then they can remove that containment, and then the homeowner or building occupants can go back to normal everyday life. But that's probably the biggest one is that it can get blown out of proportion really fast. Um, and it can it can be very serious and it can be very minor in both instances. So just depends. For preventative services, I can give a lot of recommendations that um building owners and homeowners can do themselves. A big one is make sure that you are diligent on changing that um HVAC filter. Make sure you're changing that filter on a regular basis, at least every three months. If you're near construction at all, if maybe you're in a new home area and they're building, you'll want to change it every month. Um, if you have four dogs like I do, you might want to change it more than every three months, depending upon what type of dog and how much they shed. But keeping that filter clean is a big one for any HVAC systems. And we see a lot of mold in the HVAC because they're not keeping it maintained. Um, if it's out of balance, make sure you're getting that checked every year by your HVAC person that that's staying in balance because if it gets out of balance, then it produces either too much hot or too much cold for the space that it's in, and then it will condensate. And so that's you know, you'll start seeing drips on your um vents. You'll see a lot of mold loves dust, so keep things clean, and that's where it grows the most is in dust. Um, it has to have a food source, so keeping things nice and tight, tidy, keeping it clean. Um asbestos, there's not a lot, a whole bunch of prevention. It's either here or it's not. It's a great building material, it's um fireproof, it's weatherproof, it's why all the old 1970s houses are still standing. And um, it's not dangerous until you disturb it. So for asbestos, there's not a lot of prevention. It's just a matter of once it's disturbed, that's when it can become dangerous. So making sure whether you know if you've got asbestos in your building or not prior to any demolition, renovation, or repair is really important, and we can help do that testing prior to those things to make sure that your building either has it or doesn't have it so that you know how to handle it correctly if it does, if it does have it.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, Shelly, thank you for those tips on how to keep all of us and the listeners today safe. Now, we know marketing is the heart of every business, so let's switch gears for a second. Okay. Who are some of your target customers and how do you attract them?

SPEAKER_02:

Um, we do a lot of networking and website, obviously. Um, my biggest favorite in the most way that we've grown has been word of mouth. Um, we're very um honesty, integrity, responsibility are my keywords, and my um I I hire and fire for those. So my team is full of people that have that. And so when we're in a person's building, we treat it like it's ours, or we treat it like it's our own mothers or grandmothers, so that we are in it for the heart and not in it for the dollar. Um we've we've grown a lot just by word of mouth. One client here, and then they've loved what we've done. But then really good clients for us are building management, anybody that owns a building or a home, um, anybody that's managing an office or um even an office building, like multiple tenants, to where we can help when a tenant flips out. So if it's an apartment complex and somebody new is going to come in, sometimes we can do that testing prior to the new tenant coming in, making sure that everything's clean and safe. If it's commercial buildings, then we can um, if they want to change it for the next tenant coming in, maybe they want to put in a wall or take out a wall or change the flooring. It is a uh Texas state law that anytime you remodel, repair, or demo a commercial building, you have to have an asbestos test, no matter when it was built. You could have built it yesterday. If you're changing it today, you have to have that test. So anybody in the construction industry that does remodels or repairs, um, demo companies, of course, they are always taking down buildings, so they got to know whether it's there or not, if asbestos is present. So anybody that has a building or an office or a home pretty much is a good client for us. But um, we partner a lot with management companies, homeowners, um, and we do build their insurance company if we need to. So that's another plus that we can go direct to the insurance company as long as they approve it.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, Shelly, so much great information for us today. Now, with all this education you have to share, have you ever thought about having your own podcast for the business?

SPEAKER_02:

I haven't. Um, I've been on a few different podcasts, uh commercial or construction related, but this is my first good neighbor podcast. I was really excited about the opportunity. I love what you're doing for your community. Um, but now you've got my brain spinning. Maybe I need to throw something in there like this.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, Shelly, we are almost out of time today. So I only have time to ask you one more question, and that is where can our listeners go to learn more about DCG Environmental?

SPEAKER_02:

Um, just like that, DCGenvironmental.com is the easiest way to find us. Uh, our phone number is 972-876-0008. We're great at answering questions. If you just want to know something, if you Googled and you want a backup or another opinion, we're happy to help. And um that's the easiest way to find us, is our website.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, Shelly, I really appreciate you being on the show today, and we wish you and your business the best moving forward. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gmpfrisco.com. That's gmpfrisco.com or call 469 221 9345.