Mold is a progressive problem that can start off quite small. If you find the mold before it has a chance to multiply, you can clean it up and be done with it. If you ignore it, or if you fail to notice it, it can spread rapidly and cause severe, sometimes permanent damage to items or entire sections of your home. Mold colony removal can run you thousands of dollars, so it’s definitely in your best interest to squash the problem very early on.
First and foremost, you should periodically examine your home, including the areas you often ignore (like the inside of your attic and hot water eater), especially if you live with excessive humidity. Mold will often grow in dark, unexplored regions, so you’ll need to be proactive when dealing with the issue. As they say, leave no stone unturned. When searching your home for mold, or examining suspected areas of mold, consider some of the early warning signs:
MILDEW – Mildew is a very obvious early warning sign because it is in fact mold. Specifically, mildew constitutes an early appearance of mold in its initial stage of growth. It may sometimes be isolated to a wet shower stall or a collection of fabrics, and can take on a variety of different colors, just like a full-grown mold colony. Mildew can easily and quickly spread, so if you find it, dry it out and spray it liberally with a disinfecting agent like diluted bleach, vinegar or peroxide.
MUSTY ODOR – If you haven’t yet seen the mold or mildew, you may smell it. A musty odor will appear faintly at first, but will grow stronger as the mold colony matures. If the term “musty” has no meaning for you, think of the odor as a sour, pungent aroma, like wet socks. You may have smelled musty odors in very old homes or rundown libraries. If you smell even a faint musty odor in your home, you probably have mold growing somewhere.
STAGNANT MOISTURE – Does moisture constantly stick to your walls, leaving them feeling warm and sticky? This can result from high relative humidity in the home, and can very easily turn into a mold problem. Here’s another scenario: you may have water flooding a carpet after a prolonged rainstorm. Basically, if you have any source of standing moisture that will not easily disappear on its own, you have a very, very high likelihood of developing mold, if the mold spores have not already begun to germinate. Dry out your home immediately, because mold only needs about 24 hours to get the ball rolling.
All information on this website is intended for research purposes only, and is in no way intended as a substitute for professional consultation or inspection. Information is gathered from a variety of sources including government websites and mold remediation websites, and may not always be accurate. Any mold removal effort is done at your own risk. "Mold and Mildew Remedies" bears no responsibility in the event of illness or structural damage. Always contact a professional mold remediator for best results.
