Whether you see it or not, mold is present in and on almost every surface, but too much mold can not only be a nuisance but also unhealthy. Moisture is the primary issue, and prevention is key, so at some point knowing how to eliminate it will come in handy — click below the jump to find out more.
Mold is always present and generally tolerable indoors, but once it finds moisture it will grow and eat away at whatever surface it's growing on. Mold growth can damage any surfaces and furnishings in your home, diminish a building's structural integrity, and can adversely affect the health of your family members, so it is very important to keep it in check!
Prevention
- Always Fix Leaks Immediately: Any broken plumbing, leaky faucets or leaks in your building shell should be fixed as soon as possible.
- Increase Ventilation: Use exhaust fans (or windows) in bathrooms and kitchens, and ensure your clothes dryer is exhausting moisture to the outside — recirculating fans only help move air but do not get rid of moisture.
- Slope Grade Away from House: Also make sure all downspouts and landscaping are draining away from the house to prevent water infiltration.
- Use Dehumidifiers Keep humidity in check in moist rooms and in high humidity environments. Indoor humidity levels should ideally stay between 30 - 50%.
- Provide Fresh Air: For tightly constructed homes it is necessary provide a regular amount of fresh air, this can be done through your furnace with an air cycler or even better an energy/heat recovery ventilator.
- Use a Vapor Barrier: Depending on how your house was constructed use a vapor barrier with concrete slabs and/or put a plastic cover over dirt in crawl spaces and provide adequate ventilation.
Remediation
Always dry any wet items as soon as possible to prevent mold, and use a respirator, goggles and gloves when handling mold:
- Hard, Non-porous Surfaces: Wipe or vacuum up water, scrub clean with a mild detergent and allow to dry. Don't use bleach!
- Porous Surfaces: Attempt water removal with a water extraction vacuum and expedite drying time with fans, heaters and dehumidifiers. Carpet, rugs, drywall, ceiling tiles and so forth should all be removed and discarded. Upholstered items maybe be salvageable with replacement of fabric and filling. However, most water damaged porous surfaces will not be salvageable and should be discarded in a sealed bag to prevent the spread of mold.
If your house has been damaged by flooding you should contact a professional immediately for proper repair and assessment for more significant structural damage. Additionally, for health and safety, contact a professional if the mold issue is persistent, and unresponsive to the items outlined above.
For more information, visit the EPA's website.
Related:
- Effective Non-Toxic Ways to Get Rid Of Mold in the Shower?
- Green Cleaning: The Grout Chore, Part I
- Green Cleaning: The Grout Chore, Part II
- Controlling Humidity Levels at Home
- The Importance of Air Sealing
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Comments (6)
The last (basement) apartment I moved into had gleaming white walls everywhere. After about a year I pulled my bed out and was mortified to find black mold covering the wall behind the tall headboard. Found it on the backs of the closet doors, too...the ones that fold in half so all you see are the fronts. Obviously the landlord had cleaned it up from the last tenant but never mentioned to me to keep an eye on it. That could only mean one thing...the dry wall was damp behind and was thick with black mold. That would explain some of my mild allergy-like symptoms and headaches. I was happy to move on from there. I understand there's nothing you can do when black mold spreads like that up the backs of dry wall.
After a fair amount of water in our porous concrete basement this winter/spring, we had white mold growing all over the floor. Did a lot of research and first tried a mold fogger rented from Home Depot that has TSP as its active ingredient - it coats everything with a fine dust. It may work for walls and ceiling beams (though hard to know) but with more water coming in after the bombing, it either washed away on the floor or didn't work at all, because the white mold came back. I then generously wet mopped the entire floor with straight 5% vinegar and that seems to have worked. The mold was growing back fairly quickly, and it's been a good 6-weeks since the vinegar. It surprisingly didn't stink either. The next step was going to be tea tree oil, which definitely would have smelled!
The EPA suggests washing with detergent and water, and that's it (if the area is small enough to be handled by the homeowner; larger areas, especially 100 sq ft or greater, should be handled by a professional).
A lot of people recommend a bleach-water solution, but unless you or someone you live with has severely compromised immune response, EPA does not encourage this.
A product that my husband and I have used, which the EPA has evaluated so that its manufacturer can make the claim that it kills mold, is Concrobium. It is nontoxic. I've even read that demonstrators will drink the stuff to prove this (though I'm sure they wouldn't recommend it!).
Regarding drywall--unless you're sure that the source of the moisture is from the inside of your house--*and* that the mold hasn't penetrated the drywall--you generally need to remove affected wallboard (and usually the insulation behind it). Mold just loves drywall. It pretty much powdered a section of drywall that had been covered by cabinets in my home.
Check out the EPA's website for more information than you might ever need on mold prevention and remediation!
Concrobium, as mentioned by Jenny B, is the brand the fogger from Home Depot that I mentioned uses. If you read the ingredients, the active one is TSP - though I don't know if it is "real" TSP or the substitute, as I don't think you can buy straight TSP anymore. The fog machine turns the liquid into a ultra fine mist to coat everything, but you can also buy it in standard spray bottles. It didn't work for our floor - perhaps the concrete is too porous or perhaps subsequent leaking washed it away. But presumably it coated the wood support beams and walls too - time will only tell, though we don't plan on letting the basement get humid enough to grow mold again.
OMG, we bought a duplex recently and found out by the tenants that they had been fighting mold for the last year with the previous owner...that has obviously "forgotten" to mention it. You cannot imagine how hopeless we are right now ; having to deal with legal procedures and everything!
Why would somebody be so meanfull and toughtless is beyond me ;(
wich me luck!
EW! That is so gross. Mold from neglected water damage repairs can not only be an unsightly mess, but an unsanitary one. (Duh.) Consult a an experienced water damage clean up professional before agreeing to live in a place with this much damage. It may be more hassle then it's worth.