BASEMENT MOLD AND TREATMENTS

Mold: Causes and Prevention

While it might sound relatively benign, mold growth is a large and widely-occurring problem that can lead to various complications for both health and home.  There are many issues rooted in mold, but often it goes unnoticed, and once identified can be challenging to remove. In order to reduce the chances of a mold outbreak, it’s important to be aware of what causes it, and how to take steps to keep it from growing in your home.

Causes and Complications of Mold

Mold needs certain conditions to grow, but the primary ingredient is any kind of moisture.  This moisture can come from any source, but some of the more common ones to look for are humidity, condensation, poor ventilation, as well as leaking pipes, roofs, or windows.  In addition to moisture, mold needs darkness, non-freezing temperatures, and some kind of ‘food’ source, such as wood or drywall.  It doesn’t take long for mold spores to develop – within as soon as 24 hours mold can start growing.  

These ingredients make basements an ideal breeding ground for mold, and because the basement is usually a less-visited and infrequently cleaned part of the house, often mold can grow for weeks or months unnoticed.  This can lead to various negative effects on health. Mold frequently exacerbates pre-existing conditions such as asthma and allergies, often making life difficult or even unbearable by worsening these symptoms. Additionally, the presence of mold is linked to the development of infections such as bronchitis and other similar respiratory illnesses.  

Mold Prevention

If you discover you have a mild mold infestation, there are some ways to eradicate mold growth within your home by yourself depending on where the mold is growing.  However, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and once you’re sure your basement is free of mold, you can safeguard yourself from future infestations by coating concrete floors with a moisture mitigating coating. for your floors and wall coating for your walls  This helps to prevent moisture (not water) from coming up through the floor and walls, and is ideal for ensuring against one of the primary ingredients of mold, thus keeping further outbreaks from occurring in one of the top spots for mold development.  Increasing ventilation, and use of dehmidifcation equipment also assists greatly. 

Overall, mold is a fairly common household issue, and one that you can eradicate and prevent.  As long as you take the right steps towards prevention, you can protect yourself against damage to health and property, and keep your home and family safe.