You don’t want to live in a mold-friendly home. Not only will the presence of mold in your home threaten the building’s structural integrity, but it will lower its resale value and put the health of your family or any renting residents at risk.
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Dealing With Mold In Your Home
If you suspect mold may have taken root in your home, you’ll want to do everything you can to deal with it quickly and effectively. Mold left to grow at its leisure can have a significant impact on the health of a house’s residents as well as that house’s value.
According to the CDC, mold can worsen a number of respiratory problems while also causing others. It’s also known to cause conditions including:
- Asthma in younger children
- Coughing
- Congestion
- Difficulty breathing
- Wheezing
- Itching eyes and/or skin
In terms of your home’s value, mold can make its way into your structural supports and begin to wear them away. If you’re not careful, or if you don’t act quickly after finding a cluster, you may lose up to 30 percent of your home’s resale value when you put it back on the market.
Identifying Mold In Your Home
There are several species of mold that can take root in your home. While there are distinctions that can be made between these species, all of them will enter your home via various air currents. While mold may love the water, it will not travel into your home via moisture or standing pools. Most spores, however, will begin to sprout clusters within 48 hours of finding themselves inside of your home, provided that the environment is suitable enough.
The good news is that you can usually identify mold just after it takes root. Signs of an infestation can include:
- Clusters and growths
- Moistness
- Unpleasant or otherwise musty smells
- Residents struggling to breathe when respiratory problems previously weren’t present
Mold, as suggested, tends to smell musty and generally unpleasant. If you notice something wrong with the scent of your home, but you can’t identify the problem right away, follow your nose to where the scent is strongest. You may be able to identify the start of a mold cluster before it can grow.
Finding Mold
Mold thrives when it can go undisturbed in a damp and dark location for an extended period of time. As such, it’s most likely to take root in your:
- Basement
- Crawl space
- Attic
- Bathroom
- HVAC system
- Air ducts
Mold and Moisture
As mentioned, mold loves dark and moist locations. Unfortunately, if you’re seeing mold in your home where there previously wasn’t any, that may mean more moisture is making its way into your home. This, in turn, can be a sign of structural damage.
You’ll want to speak with a professional working in the Raleigh and Winston-Salem, NC, area to determine what, if anything, may have gone wrong with your home. With that knowledge under your belt, you can first address the source of the moisture and then the mold itself. As such, you’ll have a better chance of keeping the mold in your home from re-growing.
Mold Removal
If you do find mold in the damper corners of your home, do not try to remove it on your own. You’ll need the help of a professional to ensure all of the growths have been removed, even those that may have settled in your drywall or other hard-to-reach places. Professionals can also ensure that you have the right equipment on hand to proceed with a removal, thus protecting your health while also restoring your home’s value.
Preventing Mold From Growing In Your Home
When you’re trying to keep mold out of your home, it’s best to enlist the help of a basement waterproofing and crawl space repair professional working in the Raleigh and Winston-Salem, NC, area. After a home inspection, a professional with Tar Heel Basement Systems can provide you with a free quote on the waterproofing services you may need to keep excess moisture – and subsequently mold – out of your home.
Do note that the presence of mold often indicates that something may have fallen victim to damage in your basement, crawl space, or foundation. Regular home inspections can help you stay on top of this damage and will better allow you to respond to it quickly if the need for repairs arises.
