Some molds, like those that appear on bread when you leave it out for too long, are harmless unless you ingest them. Others can cause severe health problems just by being in close proximity to you and your loved ones.
Dealing with dangerous molds can be a trial, but it isn’t one you have to undertake alone. You can collaborate with the foundation and crawl space professionals in your area to identify any mold clusters that may have already formed in your home and work to prevent them from taking root at all.
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Mold In Your Home: What Does It Mean?
Mold on its own can prove a substantial problem. Its presence can also indicate a larger problem in the rest of your home. Mold loves moisture. Mold spores get into your home through your air vents, as they travel most easily on air currents, but said spores can begin to sprout within 48 hours of arriving if the conditions in your home are right.
You’ll likely have mold-friendly conditions if your crawl space or foundation has suffered damage. Cracks and leaks alike can allow groundwater and rain runoff into your space, raising the humidity levels throughout the whole of your home. Not only can this damage make it easier for mold to take root, but they can also compromise the overall structural integrity of your house.
Common Molds To Find In Your Home
There are multiple types of mold that you may find yourself contending with. The most common include:
- Cladosporium
- Penicillium
- Alternaria
- Stachybotrys chartarum
Cladosporium, Penicillium, and Alternaria can all cause respiratory problems in individuals with poor immune systems or previous health conditions. These molds tend to impact the quality of the air in your home while leaving your structural supports alone.
Stachybotrys chartarum, or black mold, is one of the more severe mold types you may find yourself contending with. This mold can not only cause severe health conditions in everyone who comes into contact with it unprotected, but it can also cause structural damage to the home it’s found in.
Removing Mold From Your Home
You can remove mold from your home on your own time. Molds like Cladosporium, Penicillium, and Alternaria, for example, may lessen the air quality in your home, but as long as you have gloves on, you can scrape their clusters off of your walls without worrying about your health. You’ll need to scrub the surrounding areas with soapy water or commercial mold remover, however, as mold spores can dig deep into any porous materials they interact with.
Black mold, comparatively, can be more dangerous to clear out of your home. More often than not, you’ll want to reach out to a mold removal specialist in your area to remove any existing clusters and to clean out the surrounding area. If you do want to try and remove this type of mold on your own, you’ll need to have gloves and a mask at a minimum to keep yourself safe.
Preventing Mold Growth In Your Home
Prevention is often the best medicine when it comes to interacting with mold in your home. If you want to keep mold out of your home, you’ll need to take a few steps before the first spores can settle. This way, you can deny mold the space it needs to thrive from the get-go.
The best ways to protect your home from mold include:
- Move air through your home
- Keep the air vents in your home clean
- Get rid of excess moisture with a dehumidifier
- Don’t let leaks go untreated
- Invest in waterproofing measures for your home
Sump pumps and interior drains can help you limit the amount of moisture in your home, thereby starving any mold spores in the area of the nutrients they need to survive. You can also use rigid insulation panels like ExTremeBloc™ or a CrawlSeal™ vapor barrier if you want to invest in alternative means of home waterproofing.
Mold spores are prevalent all across the nation. It’s up to you to determine how you want them to interact with your home. By taking a few steps to protect your space, you can make your home uninhabitable for ambitious spores and preserve both your space’s structural integrity and overall value.
If you want help dealing with mold or related damage, you can reach out to the foundation and crawl space repair professionals in your area. The experts at Alpha Foundations can provide a home inspection and a free quote on the repair services you may need.
