Avoiding Mold Growth in Your Home

There is one small word that means colossal headaches — mold. Mold can grow wherever there is moisture. When mold is present in your home, it can cause serious health problems to you and your family, including throat irritation, nasal stuffiness, eye irritation, coughing, or skin irritation. To avoid feeling ill, you need to learn how to prevent mold growth.

The most likely places where mold will grow are those that deal with the most moisture. Bathrooms and basements are prime locations, but mold can also grow under kitchen sinks, in attics and crawl spaces, and even in closets or between walls. Controlling your home’s moisture level is key.

Keeping your home’s humidity level below 60 percent is a great start. When dealing with wet materials, dry them up immediately. When you find a leak anywhere in the house, repair them as soon as possible. Replace old pipes and fix a leaky roof. Simply put, if you are lacking good home upkeep, you could encourage mold growth.

Another great way to prevent mold growth is to improve the airflow in your home. You can start with opening closet doors more frequently and moving furniture away from the wall to provide improved ventilation in confined spaces. If the weather is comfortable outside, have your windows open.

For your bathroom, make sure you have an exhaust fan installed. These vents can pull the moisture from the room and send it outside. Long showers put a lot of moisture in the air, and when it has no place to escape to, it can linger and create trouble spots where mold will grow.

You will also want to remove and replace old or worn out caulking in the bathroom. If a proper seal isn’t made, water will find a way through to unseen areas. Just because you can’t see it does not mean mold won’t grow there.

Along with the bathroom, the basement is a likely location for mold growth. Like other areas of your home, controlling the moisture level and airflow will be the first and best step in stopping mold growth. A dehumidifier in the basement can work wonders, but you need to do more work beyond just that.

Laundry rooms, bathrooms, and windows downstairs are other problem areas. Make sure there is enough ventilation around these areas. If you ever experience an event that causes water damage down there, it needs to be taken care of immediately. Cleaning and drying out the area is imperative, and you may need to throw away items and belongings that have become too damaged by the water.

Controlling the moisture in your home also means controlling mold growth. Letting the moisture get out of hand allows the problem to get out of hand. For more information on avoiding mold growth, call the professionals at Sunrise Heating and Plumbing today at (616) 293-9326. We pride ourselves in providing nothing but exceptional customer service.