A dark damp, musty room, dripping with water and creaking with age……the lair of an insidious force, which has taken over, is growing, and growing, and growing, releasing spores into the air to propagate its existence throughout the land, and waiting to bring harm upon whoever stumbles upon it……sounds like the plot of a really bad horror movie, huh? You bet. In fact, I’m inspired to begin writing it just as soon as I’m done here.
But what I’ve described isn’t the opening scene to some Grade-Z horror flick playing at a grindhouse theater in backwoods Texas. No, what I am describing is happening in basements and crawlspaces all over the United States right now. Today. I am speaking, my friends, of mold.
Now, we’ve all seen mold. I’ve seen it when I let the loaf of bread go bad, or when I haven’t cleaned my shower in a while, and usually it is just a reminder to toss the bread and clean the bathroom. However, mold can play a far more sinister role.
Molds are a part of life. Well, not exactly, more a part of death. In nature, they break down dead organic matter, sort of nature’s own recycling plant (wow, a “green” job by Mother Nature, gosh I crack myself up!). They reproduce by way of spores (not the most fun way to reproduce but it gets the job done, I guess), which float through the air looking for somewhere to attach themselves and begin to grow. Preferably somewhere moist. Damp is good. And moist and damp are just the bee knees for mold. I mean, you just look at the water and say, “Hey, dude, let’s party!”
All this is fine outdoors, but when it happens indoors, it cannot end well. The same mold that breaks down organic matter is suddenly inhaled, in great quantities, by living people. Long term exposure to high levels of mold can cause health problems as slight as an allergic reaction (which many people mistake it for) to severe as neurological disorders and in rare cases, even death.
If all this seems like a bit much responsibility for a little growth like mold to bear, hey, I didn’t write the book. But the fact is that mold can be dangerous when grown in indoor environments. Black mold or toxic mold (great names, by the way) is even more sinister, producing mycotoxins (man, I sound like the ubiquitous mad scientist, don’t I?) that can have damaging and lethal effects on humans and animals.
One thing I find amusing….the people who insist on having their homes tested for mold. Mold presents itself as a blackish green, fuzzy growth on walls or pipes, and it is accompanied by a truly impressive smell. If you think you’ve got mold, guess what? You’ve got mold!
Mold is one of those times where I wholeheartedly encourage calling in a professional. Mold remediation is not only difficult, but dangerous. Don’t risk your health. Run, don’t walk, from your home and call somebody, preferably somebody who knows more than you who can take care of your mold problem.
Don’t let your home turn into a bad set from an old Roger Corman flick. Call your local mold remediation experts today.
Man, what can we find to talk about that is more exciting than mold? See me Monday to find out….cheers, mates….
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