Mold is a very common problem to have within homes and buildings because it is everywhere.  Mold spores are a constant presence in indoor and outdoor air and when the spores find the right conditions, mold colonies will form. The appearance of mold growth within your home is a major problem because it can cause serious property damage over time and negatively impact the health of those who are exposed.

The best way to protect your home from mold growth is to prevent it from occurring in the first place.  The most effective way to prevent mold growth is to control the environment within your home and address any issues involving moisture or water damage.  In this guide, we will discuss the best tips to help you prevent mold growth from ever appearing in your home.  By keeping your home mold free, you will protect your home from damage and protect the health of those within your home.

What is Mold?

Mold is a naturally occurring fungus that breaks down organic materials.  There is always a certain concentration of mold spores in the air both indoors and outdoors, and high concentrations increase the risk of mold growth and related health effects.  The mold spores will accumulate in areas that provide ideal conditions and quickly form mold colonies.

Mold only needs two main things to survive: a moisture source and an organic food source.  Cellulose is an organic material found in common building materials like wood and drywall and it is the main source of food for mold growth in homes.  The risk of mold growth is also higher when the temperature is between 77 and 87 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity is between 60 and 90 percent.

There are many types of molds that can appear within a home, and they may vary in appearance.  Indoor mold growth may look slimy or fuzzy and can be black, blue, brown, or green in color.  No matter what type of mold is in your property, it can cause significant damage and affect your health.

Problems Caused by Mold Growth

As mentioned above, mold growth is likely to appear in any area of a home that meets the right conditions.  Mold takes hold on surfaces that contain cellulose, and the damage will increase over time as the mold continues to eat away at the materials.  The affected materials will become discolored and weakened and extensive damage to structural elements like wood supports, walls, and ceilings can lead to severe structural damage.  The longer you wait to remove mold, the worse the damage will get and the more likely it is to spread to new areas.

The health issues caused by mold are of great concern as those exposed to mold can experience allergic reactions and more serious issues.  The most common allergic reactions caused by mold exposure include sore throat, coughing, trouble breathing, stuffy nose, eye irritation, and skin rashes.  These reactions will get worse the longer one is exposed.  Those who have asthma or compromised immune systems are especially vulnerable to severe allergic reactions.

Responding to mold growth in your home immediately will help limit the damage and protect your health.

How to Prevent Mold Growth

Mold growth cannot form without moisture, so the key to mold prevention is to control the moisture and humidity levels in your home.  The following tips will help you prevent mold from ever appearing in your home.

Identify and Monitor High Risk Areas

Because moisture is the main trigger of mold growth, areas of the home where there is water or moisture are the most vulnerable.  This includes kitchens, bathrooms, attics, basements, and crawlspaces.  Make sure you check these areas regularly for mold growth and try to keep the water and moisture levels in these areas under control.  You should also check windows where there is condensation.

Clean Excess Water and Moisture

When there is water or an elevated level of moisture in an area of the home, mold growth can form in as little as 24 to 48 hours.  This means that spills, moisture, condensation, and standing water needs to be wiped up and removed within 24 hours to prevent mold growth.  Clean up your kitchen and bathroom after use so there is no water left behind and wipe up spills and condensation.  If an indoor flood has caused your flooring, furnishings, and other materials in your home to become wet, call a water damage restoration professional immediately to remove the water and dry the affected materials.

Taking the following actions to waterproof your home will reduce the risk of water damage and help prevent mold growth:

• Install and maintain a sump pump in the basement
• Find and seal leaks around your windows and foundation
• Keep gutters and downspouts clean and in good repair
• Repair leaks right away
• Install a drainage system to improve the drainage around your home

Reduce Humidity with Ventilation

Keeping the moisture and humidity levels under control in your home will reduce the risk of mold growth.  You can effectively control the moisture level in your home by improving ventilation.

It is important to keep high moisture areas like kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry rooms well ventilated and use fans, AC units, and dehumidifiers to improve ventilation.  Appliances such as dryers and stoves should be vented to the outside of the home, not your attic.  You can also open windows or run an exhaust fan for improved ventilation, especially when cooking, showering, or washing dishes.

Monitor Humidity Levels

To ensure that you are keeping the humidity levels low enough in your home, you should monitor the levels with a moisture meter.  You can buy a moisture meter at a hardware store to easily check the humidity levels in your home.  The EPA suggests keeping the indoor humidity between 30 and 60 percent.  If your humidity levels are too high, clean up excess water and moisture and improve the ventilation.

Use Mold Resistant Products in Your Home

There are building materials like drywall and sheetrock that are developed to be resistant to mold.  Mold resistant drywall is actually moisture resistant as it consists of a gypsum core covered in fiberglass.  These walls are ideal for areas like the kitchen and bathroom where there is a lot of moisture.  If you are remodeling your kitchen or bathroom, consider installing mold resistant drywall.

Remove Clutter

Keeping your home free of clutter will reduce the risk of mold growth as cluttered items create small climates with little ventilation that allow mold to grow.  The risk is especially high if cluttered items are blocking HVAC vents and registers.  Make sure to clean up any clutter in your home and check that there is enough room in front of all the vents in your home.  If there is furniture blocking any vents, move it out of the way to give the vents some space.

Landscaping and Gutter Maintenance

Some outside maintenance can protect the inside of your home from water damage.  It is important to make sure that the ground surrounding your home slopes away from the foundation to ensure that water drains away from your home.  If the ground slopes towards your home, water will pool around the foundation and seep into the basement.

Cleaning the gutters and downspouts also helps prevent indoor water damage that can lead to mold.  Removing debris from the gutters will ensure that rainwater drains properly and is taken far enough away from the foundation with the downspouts.  Clogged gutters can cause the water to spill over which can cause water damage to the siding and windows and cause water to accumulate near the foundation.

Use a Dehumidifier

If there are areas of your home like the basement that are moist or humid no matter what you do, put a dehumidifier in these areas.  Dehumidifiers are appliances that take moisture out of the air and help eliminate musty smells.  You can use a portable dehumidifier for specific areas of the home or install a whole house dehumidifier that treats your entire home.  Whole house dehumidifiers can be rather expensive, but a portable dehumidifier may cost between $150 and $200.

How to Treat Mold in Your Home

Taking the actions described above will greatly reduce the risk of mold growth in your home. However, because there is always mold spores in the air, there is still a possibility that mold growth can occur despite your best efforts to prevent it.  The following steps can help you treat minor mold issues:

• Protect yourself with a mask or N-95 respirator, rubber gloves that extend to the middle of your forearm, and goggles with no ventilation holes to keep out mold spores.
• Treat the source of the moisture that caused the mold growth if possible.
• Use a mixture of detergent and water or diluted cleaning strength vinegar on affected surfaces.
• Use a brush to scrub hard surfaces like tile and a rag for porous surfaces such as drywall. Wipe away as much of the mold as possible.
• After cleaning affected wood surfaces, you may need to sand the wood.
• For mold that is difficult to remove, try undiluted white vinegar.
• When done, dispose of all rags, brushes, and rubber gloves in a sealed garbage bag and wash your clothes with hot water in a separate load.

You should only try to remove mold growth yourself if it covers a space smaller than 10 square feet.  If the mold growth is too difficult for you to remove or covers a larger area, it is best to call mold remediation professionals to handle the job.

Professional Mold Remediation

If there is a mold problem in your home, it is safer and more effective to call a professional for mold remediation services.  Technicians will first uncover and isolate all the mold growth on your property to prevent its spread and locate the source of moisture that caused the mold growth.  After fixing the moisture source, they will treat the affected surfaces and materials to remove the mold and permanently damaged materials while preventing the mold spores from spreading any further in your home.  After all the mold is removed, the technicians will repair and restore the affected areas.