Mold in your home or office can cause health problems such as allergic reactions and asthma attacks. Prolonged exposure can also irritate the eyes, skin and lungs, even if you are not allergic to mold. Keeping your home or office free from mold growth is essential to maintaining a healthy environment.

Mold Prevention

Mold needs moisture in order to grow. It is common in bathrooms, kitchens, and around plumbing, where water can collect. If you live in a humid climate, rooms that are not well ventilated, such as the basement or attic, may also harbor mold.

Removing moisture is the key to mold prevention. When water leaks from the pipes or the roof, clean and dry the area within 24-48 hours. If certain rooms are always humid, invest in a dehumidifier to remove moisture from the air.

If your home or office has been flooded or has extensive water damage, call a professional restoration team immediately. The sooner they begin to dry the area, the less chance mold has to grow.

Mold Cleanup

If you have relatively small areas of mold growth on nonporous surfaces, you can clean them yourself. Use hot water and detergent to scrub the area until the visible mold is removed. Do not attempt to clean porous surfaces such as ceiling tiles or carpet. Mold can grow inside these materials and is impossible to clean thoroughly. These materials must be thrown away and replaced.

If the mold covers a large area, or you suspect it may be inside the ceiling, drywall, or under your carpet, it is best to call a professional mold cleanup crew. Attempting a large-scale mold cleanup project yourself requires specialized safety equipment such as respirators that you may not have.

Mold Removal

If you smell mold, but cannot locate the source, it may be growing inside the drywall, behind wallpaper, or even inside the HVAC system. This type of damage requires a professional restoration crew trained in flood restoration and hidden mold removal.

Before you attempt any mold removal or cleanup project, be sure the area is well ventilated. If you have mold allergies, asthma, a compromised immune system, or other heath concerns, consider hiring a restoration crew to do the mold cleanup instead.

Images – courtesy of Renewit Cleaning & Restoration

About Vince Sandri

Vince Sandri is a content writer and blogger with more than 12 years of experience. His expertise is in creating content related to disaster restoration, including information about preventing and reacting to natural disasters like flooding, water damage, fire and smoke damage, mold growth, storm damage and more.
Vince has been the main contributor to RestorationMasterFinder.com since 2014. Over that time, he has written numerous service pages and blogs for disaster restoration providers featured on RestorationMasterFinder.com. Vince has done extensive research and covered a wide range of topics relating to disaster restoration to help homeowners, business owners, and property managers better protect their property. He understands the problems that disasters like flooding, fire, smoke, and mold can cause as well as the best ways to respond to these issues to limit the damage.
Vince completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at Aurora University and his master’s degree at DePaul University. He has been writing SEO website pages, blogs, and press releases since 2012. Vince is also a musician and can be seen playing in the Chicago, IL area.