Your home is your castle and it’s as comfortable and welcoming as you make it, but it’s also home to unseen dangers that you may not even realize are there. Black mold can grow in the darkest reaches of your basement and can continue to fester for years given the right damp conditions to feed it, like water damage.
And mold is a serious concern, as it poses a major health risk. It’s particularly dangerous to anyone with asthma, allergies, or even something you wouldn’t think could be affected by an external factor like mold, depression. In such instances, mold can send you to the hospital or even cause death.
Where Does Mold Come From?
It’s no secret that mold loves moist places that don’t have much air circulation, and this is something we see frequently as a Red Deer mold removal company. But it doesn’t have to be a wet surface for conditions to be ripe for mold growth. Simply having a room full of humid air is enough to set the stage, which is why basement water damage is ideal for mold to strike.
When you add dust or other particulates into the mix, that gives mold the opportunity to start growing and by the time you notice it, there may be enough growth to create a hazard to your health.
However, as with most things, not all mold is dangerous and in minute quantities, mold is typically harmless. There are certain things to look for to avoid the dangers of mold, especially in the basement, where your furnace can send spores through the ducts and all throughout your home with relative ease. That’s why taking care of basement water damage quickly is important.
How to Detect Mold and What to Do About It
You may not know it, but mold spores are usually quite common in the air or on surfaces throughout your home, but they are in small, harmless quantities. If you begin feeling irritations on your skin for no apparent reason, you are getting sick more often than you used to, or you can’t get rid of sickness, you may have mold growth.
Search the most obvious places first, like inside kitchen and bathroom cabinets, windowsills, and shower curtains for black spots. If you see mold, it’s a relatively easy clean up with water and a little bleach. But not all mold can be seen. In fact, some of the most dangerous molds are not visible and are airborne, and they can go undetected for some time, causing prolonged exposure.
In a water-damaged basement, check every surface touched by the water to see if you can spot anything that doesn’t belong there. You may only smell a musty odor in the area, which is a sure sign of mold growing somewhere. A call to a mold specialist is always recommended following basement water damage.
Mold is no joke, typically if found small quantities it can handled by you with the use of a good Mold cleaner and sealant. However, if found in large quantities it is best to call a Mold removal specialist.