How to prevent, combat mold inside your home
High humidity, heat and rain create an excellent environment for mold to thrive. Mold is an important part of the outdoor environment, commonly found in soil and on decaying matter. When mold travels indoors, however, it can be hazardous to your health. Types of mold: Mold comes in a variety of colors, including white, brown, orange, green and black. Mold often has a furry look or resembles a stringy slime, but certain molds can also have a powdery look.
Black mold is considered to be the most dangerous type of mold found in homes. Black mold in your home should be addressed immediately to avoid potential adverse reactions.
Mold grows at an extremely fast pace — one more reason to address it quickly. A mold colony can form in as little as 48 hours from the initial contact a mold spore makes with a surface. It doesn’t take long for a small mold infestation to grow into a massive and expensive problem to remediate.
Worse still, once mold takes hold in your home, it may lay dormant until provided with the required heat and moisture to multiply, which is why summer is such a dangerous time for mold. Mold tends to attach to porous items or damp surfaces, which is why it tends to appear in cabinets, under tarps, behind furniture — or worst of all, inside walls.
Once it gets into the air, mold can cause asthma, allergic reactions, respiratory infections and skin rashes. How to prevent mold: Many mold remediators will tell you the same thing: You don’t have a mold problem; you have a moisture problem. So before removing mold, you should figure out the source.
Make sure basements are properly ventilated, which brings fresh air in and pushes water vapor out. Fix your foundation cracks and seal window frames and doors.
Change your HVAC filters regularly, which will help prevent mold from spreading through the home. What to do about mold: If you discover a smaller area of mold — less than 10 square feet — you can probably tackle the job yourself. Bleach cleaning is no longer the recommended cleaning method. First, be sure to wear protective gear, like gloves, goggles and a respirator. If it’s a hard surface, remove the mold by scrubbing it with water and detergent, or a multipurpose cleaner.
Dry the surface thoroughly and as quickly as you can. Any porous material affected with mold will likely need to be removed. That material should then be sealed in plastic bags before you dispose of it. After you’ve cleaned the area, be sure to revisit the site of the mold often to check for signs of additional damage or more mold growth.
If it’s a larger area that’s affected, find a professional who is trained to deal properly with mold. Reputable remediation experts can advise you on the best approach for your particular issue. To ensure objectivity, if you hire someone to test for mold, be sure it’s not the same person who remediates it.
A mold remediation professional should contain the mold, remove it, and restore the affected area to its pre-mold condition, which sometimes includes replacing structures or sealing the area with a mold inhibitor so it will not reappear.
Once the cleanup is complete, bring in an independent third-party inspection company to perform a clearance inspection and certify that the mold has been removed.
Mold licensing varies from state to state and city to city, so be sure anyone you hire has the correct licensing, bonding and insurance for your municipality.