Mold is a fungus that is very dangerous to our health and can make us very ill and is in fact sometimes deadly. Many of us have seen horror stories on the news about families that became deathly ill for unknown reasons and even deaths and having it ultimately being traced back to mold in a home. The mold’s microscopic pores reproduce and are absorbed through the air, landing on places that are damp. Mold can grow on wood, foods, paper, fabrics and many other places. I have seen books with obvious mold on them from sitting in a damp garage. It can grow anywhere indoors with the help of it’s favorite “friend” moisture. It will not grow without it. Moisture is the food that mold grows on. The object of avoiding mold is therefore to avoid allowing moisture to sit indoors.
In order to keep your home safe and free of mold, be sure to fix any and all leaks and seepage as fast as you find them! There is no time to spare. The sooner sitting moisture is gone, the better your chances of not allowing mold to grow. If you have water leaking into your house from the outside then you must deal with the problem as quickly and completely as possible. Have the foundation around your house checked by a professional to find out exactly where the leak is coming from and have it fixed right away. During rain, be sure that your roof is designed properly with quality guttering in order to be certain that the water drains away from your house. To do this, check to be sure that the slope of the ground where the water drops goes away from and not towards your house.
If your home happens to have a crawlspace underneath it then check to be sure that it is draining properly and that it is properly ventilated. Poor ventilation in these spaces can be a hidden source of moisture and growth of mold.
In order to find out if your house has mold, use your senses. If you smell something that is musty then it is quite likely mold. If you see something that looks suspicious then do not hesitate to have it checked out by a professional. Better safe than sorry. A dehumidifier is always a good idea to help reduce the amount of moisture in the air and help reduce the threat of mold growth.
If you have even the slightest suspicion of having mold in your home then I very strongly advise having a professional come in to check it out. There are companies who can perform very accurate tests to find out if it is in fact mold or not. Once mold is diagnosed then there are techniques that these professionals use to dry out the problem and repair it before it becomes uncontrollable. If it is caught in a timely manner then the damage can be stopped. If you wait around and figure you will keep an eye on it, chances are that by the time you act on fixing the problem that it will be so out of control that the environment in your home will be unsafe to live in. Don’t allow mold to destroy your health and those that you love
