Why You Should Be Concerned About Mold

8/24/2022 (Permalink)

Health Risks

There are over 10,000 kinds of mold. While most of these won't cause adverse health problems, a certain percentage can. It is important to remove mold quickly and safely from your house to avoid health effects that are linked with mold. 

Property Risks

In addition to the health risks, mold can cause damage to floors, walls, and ceilings that cost thousands of dollars in repair costs. By attaching to organic materials, mold leaves unsightly stains and smells throughout your home if not removed. For those trying to sell their homes, this can drastically reduce the home value. 

Mold damage is caused by humid and moist environments. Typical places include, crawlspaces, bathrooms, and basements, although mold growth can occur anywhere. Monitoring these areas for water leaks, high humidity, and making sure they have ventilation will go a long way in preventing damage from mold. If mold spores make its way into your heating and ventilation systems, they can spread throughout your entire house causing growth to happen all over your home. 

Although mold can't grow on inorganic surfaces such as concrete, brick, rock or glass, mold can grow on the dirt of those surfaces. If an uncleaned area accumulates a high amount of dust or dirt which is then exposed to moisture from either a leak or high humidity, there is potential for mold growth. 

Things You Can Do

You can prevent mold damage before it occurs. If left untreated, the cost for removal can go from hundreds to thousands of dollars quickly, and beyond your insurance coverage. Make sure to act as soon as you have a suspicion there is mold. 

Here are ways to prevent mold growth:

• Control moisture. Keep the humidity level under 60%.
• Dry up wet materials quickly. It only takes mold two days to grow. 
• Clean, disinfect, and dry surfaces prone to mold growth.
• Repair leaks. Replace dilapidated old pipes. Fix leaks on the roof, walls and the foundation of the house. Unclog HVAC units, drain regularly.
• Improve airflow at home. Start with opening closet doors more frequently and moving furniture far from walls to provide better ventilation to confined spaces. The more windows you can open, the better.