Of the many different varieties of mold, black or green, that can live in your house, one of them, stachybotrys, throws off spores that, once inhaled, can lead to the symptoms of "sick building syndrome:" burning eyes, headaches, fatigue, and more.
Though small patches of mold can be treated with a diluted bleach solution, big areas call for professional treatment. The trouble is, you may not know when you have big patches because mold likes to grow in dark, hidden areas like corners, behind wet wallboard, or under your floorboards. If you don't want to get down in the basement or in the crawl space under your floor with a flashlight, you'll have to hire an inspector to do it. It should be easy enough, though, for the average homeowner to pull appliances away from the wall and look inside floor-level cabinets for signs of mold. Likewise, it takes only a slight push on drywall to tell if it's wet on the other side - there will be some, possibly a lot, of give. You may go right through it. Mold's Preferred Environment: Mold Loves to Get Down and Dirty
Molds thrive on moisture, which is why New Orleans, in the wake of Katrina, turned into a giant Petri dish growing mold inside buildings everywhere. But you don't have to live in the wake of a flood or even in a humid area to have a mold problem. You can get it if you have leaks in your house or if you have a central air conditioning system; cold air running through ducts is especially good at producing mold because it alternates between high humidity and low humidity, just what mold thrives on.
Mold also needs dirt to flourish; keeping your ductwork clean and patching any leaks where dirt can get in will cut off mold growth. The same goes for keeping dust from building up in places like the space under your refrigerator. Change the filters in your heating/air conditioning system frequently, using the newer filters that are more effective at catching small particles than the old fiberglass models.
Should you get dirt buildup in your ductwork followed by mold, you've got yourself a big problem. If the ducts are lined with a fiberglass surface, it's even worse because nothing can be done except to tear them out and replace them. Mold leaches into fiberglass linings. Where to Find Mold: Look for Your Mold in All the Right Places
As for dirty ducts that are not lined with fiberglass, a number of professional services have been developed to clean them out (be sure to check out such mold clean-up services before committing to one - there are fly-by-night operators in this business), but only one seems to be effective on a consistent basis. It involves running a fiber optic television camera into the ducts to locate the areas of dirt. These areas are usually moist, sticky and resistant to all but the strongest removal methods. Holes are cut into the ducts at the spots where the dirt is found and a strong suction hose reaches in and pulls out the dirt. How do you find out whether you have mold?
What should you do if you suspect you have it? Daniel Friedman provides an excellent and thorough guide for dealing with household mold. The procedure he lays out - in more detail than presented here - follows these steps:
1. Reduce your exposure. If you have a damp, musty basement, don't use it for anything more than storing sauerkraut. Stay out. 2. Find the mold. In particular, check for leaks; you'll generally find mold. 3. Clean up the mold. 4. Check areas that hold the potential for forming mold. Correct them.
Friedman believes that the average handyman can take care of small mold problems. "You don't need to hire an expert to clean up moldy bath tiles or a square foot of moldy drywall." But, he says, be alert to the possibility of unfortunate discoveries large enough to warrant calling in a professional.
Should you be building a house or an addition to a house, there are things you can do to reduce the possibility of mold attacks. Some drywall sheets, for instance, are now manufactured using a material impervious to mold rather than paper. Metal framing does not absorb water like wood framing. Keep interior materials dry. If materials are stored outside, cover them with loose tarps (to insure air flow) and keep them off the ground. Make sure any wet materials are fully dried out before installing them.
There is no shortage of attention being given to the damage that mold could possibly do in a home. Mold will grow in accommodating places where there is dampness for a specific length of time. Several surfaces are more subject to mold growth than others. When items like cloth, paper, sheet rock, carpeting, and wood become wet, they are a hot environment for the appearance of mildew and mold.
In houses or buildings that could have had significant water present due to flooding, either from faulty plumbing or from extreme weather conditions, they will very easily obtain some damage directly resulting from the water itself. This water destruction may possibly be made worse even more when many surfaces are saturated long enough to grow mold.
In instances where a large amount of water damage has occurred from Mother Nature like flooding heavy rainfall, tornadoes, and hurricanes that encourages waterways to over extend their banks, very often the bottom floor of a home will get covered in water, beginning at a few inches to many feet. In disasters like the homes flooded by hurricane Katrina, so many structures were flooded even on their second floors and attics. Those residences obtained the worst devastation. Innumerable people could not restore their living spaces because when the water departed enough to gain access to them, the water had been there so long that it was not possible to salvage anything. Thousands of living places were swept away all together, and those individuals had nothing left at all.
With individuals that went through less destruction and received only minor flooding of several inches, most of their homes could be saved. It was still a tremendous undertaking to rework their dwelling places and get it back to its previous condition. Ruined sheet rock, wood, and flooring were all concerns in the clean up process. Protective clothes and paper breathing mask was worn to prevent sickening mold contact while cleaning up.
When there has been water inundation in a home on a smaller scale, like that caused by plumbing occurrences, the harm might not be hardly as bad to damage floors and walls when it can be resolved speedily enough. Mold contamination can be stopped if any water affected items are dried out completely and quickly. Many times residence owners will take care of small flooding such as this on their own. The most important thing is that if an area does develope mold, it must be eliminated by using chlorine bleach if you can or removing the contaminated thing or area completely. Mold on things like sheet rock or wood will sometimes need to be removed because it is very hard to prevent the growth from getting worse.
Both Dark Sith & Dror Klar are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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