Avoid Mold in Your House This Spring
With Wisconsin finally emerging from a long, frigid winter season, the next challenge for homeowners is mold. Since warmer spring weather increases humidity and encourages optimal growing temperatures, mold spores find a foothold and multiply quickly.
Warning Signs of Mold in Your Home
Some warning signs and situations that may point to an issue with mold in your home:
- Strong, musty, or sour odors
- Visible mold (may be white, grey, brown, green, black, yellow or orange)
- Poor ventilation in humid areas (bathrooms, laundry room, kitchen)
- Bowing or discolored wood or drywall
- History of flooding, a leaky roof, or cracked pipes
Don’t forget to look in the attic or crawl space if you suspect mold. Many problems start out of sight and don’t appear until they have grown much larger.
Where to check in your home for mold
Wherever moisture builds up, mold can develop. It only takes a small amount of dampness and warmth to encourage springtime mold to grow. As part of your spring clean, check places like:
- Under sinks in the bathrooms and kitchen
- Around appliances in the basement or laundry room
- Behind and under the refrigerator and freezer
- On baseboards in laundry rooms and bathrooms
- Near hoses or vents for HVAC units or clothes dryers
Any part of your home that is warm and damp is the ideal hiding place for mold, so check such rooms frequently and use fans or dehumidifiers to dry out suspect areas.
Health issues associated with mold
Mold growth can cause health problems or make health problems worse. If your household includes people with allergies or asthma, mold should be a big concern. Mold can also cause:
- Sore throat
- Chronic cough
- Runny nose
- Congestion
- Respiratory infections
- Headaches
- Skin rashes
Other more serious conditions can arise through long term exposure to mold, even if it isn’t what is commonly referred to as “toxic mold” or “black mold”.
Mold Remediation in Racine and Kenosha
Keeping a vigilant watch out for mold can help you swiftly identify and eradicate spores when they appear. Some household cleaning products can ward-off mold on surfaces. But note that mold growing on porous surfaces can hide and then explode into sight in heavy bloom. In many cases, cleaning surfaces yourself will not always get rid of mold!
The Dry Guys can help determine the severity and extent of the mold growth, perform expert mold remediation to completely clear your home of mold. Please call us if you suspect mold is in your home, if your family has symptoms associated with mold spores, or you can smell or see mold growing in your house.