Water damage and mold growth are two of the most common problems that the structure of a home will face over its lifetime, but there are a lot of things that you can do to prevent this from happening. The better you do at fighting against both of these things, the more value your home will retain over the years and the overall structure of your home will be better able to endure the passing of time. Let's look at a few things that you can do to guard against water damage and mold.



When you take a bath or a shower, you often do not realize that the steam put off by both of these things (and just the wet nature of your bathroom in general) is sponged up by the walls and ceiling in the room if it is not properly ventilated. If you have a window in the bathroom, try to keep it open as much as you can to let the steam out. If you do not have a window in the bathroom, try to have an exhaust vent installed that will release this humid air to the outside of your home. You should also have one of these vents in your kitchen to release steam from cooking, as well. If you allow steam to soak into the ceiling and walls, it will not take very long for mold to form.

Your hot water heater should also be installed on the lowest floor of your home, preferably up off the floor with a drain pan underneath that is connected to your plumbing system. This is so any water that leaks out of it will flow into your home's plumbing instead of onto the floor.

Almost everyone has let the bathtub or the toilet overflow and most of the time it is due to the fact that we are not paying attention. If you let these things overflow onto the floor of your home over and over, this can end up causing a lot of structural damage to your floor. If you have hardwood for your bathroom floor (and you should not), this will typically cause these boards to buckle.

The rain gutters outside your home need to be cleaned out regularly and at the very least, once a year. You should also make sure that any precipitation does not stay settled around the foundation of your home. This can be cured by adding more dirt around the base of the house so the water will flow away from the home after it rains. If it does not move away from the house, it can seep down into your basement or cause cracks in the foundation.