Home Maintenance: How To Know If You Need Mold Removal

In order to combat mold, you first need to identify it. How do you know if you have mold in your home? Mold thrives in damp places as The New York Times reports. Take a look and see what symptoms you and your family could be experiencing to trigger if you have mold.

[ad#co-1]

Most Common Mold Allergy Symptoms:

In most cases, people have no reaction to mold and will likely discover the problem through the smell. However, some members of a household may well have an allergic response to its presence, displaying symptoms similar to those triggered by pollen or animal hair.

The most common symptoms are:

• Feeling congested
• Watering eyes
• Coughing
• Sore throat
• Irritated skin
• Itchy eyes
• Itchy ears
• Hives

If mold is left undetected and in place, ongoing exposure can lead to serious health concerns beyond these initial symptoms.

Effects of mold on your health

Ongoing exposure to mold can lead to skin rashes, aggravate asthma, and (rarely) fungal infections may well affect those with extensive immune diseases. These effects are usually temporary, and should clear up following the removal of the mold itself.

In extreme cases, mold may pose a greater risk to households’ health. There are around 16 species of mold which release toxic chemicals (mycotoxins), triggering symptoms like:

• Bleeding
• Impaired mentality
• Damaged internal organs (after prolonged exposure)
• Cancer (after prolonged exposure)

The most poisonous, harmful species of toxic mold is perhaps the most well-known: black mold. Black mold.Award Space warns of black mold having a certain odor. If this is spotted in the home, it should be removed as soon as possible.

How to know if you need mold removal

If you see or smell mold in your home, the key step is to arrange removal while actually combating the moisture issue causing its growth. Simply taking the mold away will not solve the problem.

While some households may well attempt to do this themselves, it is best avoided: professional mold remediation services can do this for you. Mold is typically caused by a leaking roof, burst pipe, flooding, rising damp, or structural problems; condensation is also a common cause.

Mold remediation by mold removal professionals

After hiring a mold removal service, households should take steps to prevent mold returning in the future. A mold-killing product should be used on all surfaces affected by the growth as well as those which appear clean – spores may well have made their way to parts of the room in question discretely.

Mold remediation professionals will wear protective gear when handling mold and treating the affected area. This clothing and equipment includes:

• Goggles
• Dust filter or respirator
• Full-body suit
• Gloves

The room containing the mold itself will be sealed off, to eliminate the threat of spores filtering to other areas of the home. The process itself is time-consuming, but professionals will ensure the problem has been handled effectively to avoid further health-concerns.

For more home maintenance tips on Stagetecture review our archives.

When it comes to spring cleaning, there are some things that we know to look for: dust, trash, items that we know longer need. But there are others that could be accumulating that are far more detrimental than all of those combined. One of these examples is mold.

Mold is something that naturally occurs within the environment. It’s a fuzzy and slimy fungus that comes in a variety of colors from white and black to green and brown. A part of the reason why it’s such a threat to a home is because, over time, it actually breaks down something as simple as leaves and also something as foundational as wood. Therefore, if a mold infestation gets into your house, you can see how it can cause a huge problem.

Image via: House of Turquoise

[ad#co-1]

How Does Mold Develop Within the Home?

Unless you are looking for it, mold may not be something that would appear to be obvious for you. That’s because wood is oftentimes used as a part of a home’s foundation behind all of the paint and plaster. However, because mold thrives off of moisture, one of the preventative measures that you can take in keeping it from being in your house is to regularly check for roof and plumbing leaks (this would mean checking out kitchens and bathrooms especially). Another thing to keep in mind is that while mold can grow on basically anything, it does like to feed off of cloth and insulation and so it’s also wise to do a once over in your attic and basement once a season. If you don’t see any immediate signs, but you’re still sensing that some mold could be there, there are other ways to detect it.

How Do You Detect Mold in Your House?

One of the greatest risks with having a mold infestation is that it can attach to your skin and even get into your lungs. This is especially challenging for people with allergies or those who are asthmatic. Also, over time, mold can bring toxins into the air that can result in other health concerns and so if you find that you feel groggy or congested in your house and then you’re noticeably better once you leave it, that’s a potential symptom of there being mold in your house. However, when it comes to the actual structure of your house, there are relatively inexpensive mold home testing kits that are available at home improvement stores for around $50. Because mold can grow in an optimal setting within 24-48 hours, it’s definitely not something that you want to wait to do. A mold infestation can be very costly over time and so an initial fifty bucks is money well spent.

Image via: House of Turquoise

How Do You Get Rid of the Mold?

Once you know that you have mold in your house, it’s now time to get to work. First, you’ll want to have a plumber or home inspector come and inspect the house to make sure there are no unseen water leaks. If there are and s/he senses that it has gotten into the insulation of your house, you will probably need a contractor to remove the mold and replace any of the foundational damage that has been done. If you’re told that it’s a manageable job that you can do on your own, before you start cleaning up, make sure to put on some gloves, goggles and a filter mask (you don’t want to have to get a temporary health insurance quote to treat a mold allergy!). Then, with some non-ammonia detergent and warm water, use a damp wipe to clean the mold off of the tiles or drywall that it is growing on. You can also use bleach, but make sure that you use one or the other; both could prove to be toxic. If you see mold on the baseboards that carpet is connected to, use a dry vacuum to air the carpet out. Do make sure to keep in mind that while these tips can help to remove mold, it doesn’t guarantee that it will prevent it from coming back. Some tips to keep mold at bay are to keep your home at around 77-78 degrees to keep the humidity out of the air, keep the windows and doors close when the air conditioning is running, and to have your air conditioning serviced regularly for any potential leaks.

For more DIY ideas on Stagetecture, & Stagetecture’s YouTube Channel, click here.