Five Steps To Mold Free...

If there is anything that has been established beyond all reasonable doubt over the course of writing this blog, it is that mold is the single most common and most dangerous side effect of water damage.  As I’ve said before, it shows up within 48 hours following a water damage event, spreads rapidly, can be extremely difficult to remediate, and can bring with it all manner of various and sundry health problems.  To put it mildly, mold can be a bear to deal with.

We have also talked at length about how to deal with mold if you find it in your home or business.  What we haven’t talked much about, however, are the simple things you can do to prevent the problem from cropping up in the first place.  That being said, I present you with five basic steps you can take in your home to reduce the chances of mold occurring.

Ceiling fans.  These are an excellent and inexpensive way to combat mold.  They are ornate and functional, adding beauty to your home while at the same time increasing the air circulation for the room they are in, keeping things cool in the winter and warm in the summer (a fan will prevent the heat from rising as quickly).  

Proper air circulation is vital to preventing mold from making an appearance, and ceiling fans go a long way towards helping this goal.

Dehumidifiers.  You see these mentioned a lot in our blog entries, usually as something to be utilized after the water damage fact.  Yet they are a valuable commodity.  Costing around $200 for a decent model, dehumidifiers do exactly what their name implies, they remove excess humidity from the surrounding air, making it inhospitable for mold spores to take root and grow.

Bathroom exhaust.  You could easily make your own jokes here, but I’m referring to the idea of removing humidity from what is normally one of the most humid rooms in any household.  Showers and baths build up moisture levels rapidly, so using your bathroom fan really helps keep levels in check.  Mold is quite common in bathrooms, however, so keep an eye out for it around sinks, showers and tubs, and treat these small growths before they have the chance to be fruitful and multiply.

Bleach is a common weapon used against mold.  It is one of the accepted cleaning agents for mold growth, and spraying mold prone areas with bleach every week or two is a good way to prevent mold from getting a foothold and becoming a serious problem.  Always wear gloves when working with bleach, and make sure the area where you are working is properly ventilated.

Keep things clean.  I’ve long maintained that the best defense is a great offense.  Keeping your bathroom, kitchen, and other surfaces clean will do much when it comes to preventing mold.  It is far easier to keep it clean now as opposed to having to declare war on a mold invasion later on.  Adopt a cleaning schedule for your home and stick to it.

Of course if you do have mold, it isn’t enough to simply clean it up….you have to make the environment an unwelcome one for mold spores.  Clean up, disinfect, sanitize, but go one further and increase the ventilation.  Bring down the humidity levels.  Only by doing so will you be able to prevent the mold from returning like some refugee from a Grade Z horror film. 

Water Damage Local.com is of course available 24/7 to handle all of your mold removal and other water restoration problems.