Having black mold exposure in your home can be particularly detrimental to your home aesthetics. It can single-handedly bring down the value of your home and make it look unkept and unsanitary. Black mold is most likely to appear in homes that have some kind of dampness and moisture in its surrounding. Whether it is leakage in the plumbing system or any kind of seepage in the crawlspace or the basement, the moisture can lead to toxic black mold. As the name suggests, black mold is easily identifiable by its distinct color. A mold of any kind can cause a variety of health problems, especially for people already suffering from allergies and respiratory problems or compromised immunity. If your home has been infested by mold and you want to know about mold removal in Louisville, KY, and the different ways to prevent black mold exposure in your home, read on.
How to Prevent Black Mold Growth and Exposure?
- Control Humidity Levels: Moisture is required for mold to grow. Keeping your home moisture free is an important step toward managing black mold growth. Make sure your home’s humidity level never increases beyond 60% to avoid this.
- Repair Leaks: Wood, plasterboard, grout, and other permeable surfaces can all become favorable environments for the growth of mold with only a minor leak. Fix leaking fixtures, windows, roofs, and pipes right away.
- Keep it Dry: Never stack wet shoes, clothes, or towels. In just two days, mold can start to spread, grow, and start smell musty. Hanging your wet clothes will hasten their drying time. After each use, be sure to use a squeegee to dry the tubs and shower enclosures. Plan your wet tasks, such as mopping flooring, steam cleaning clothes, or power washing surfaces, for a warm, windy day to ensure speedy drying of the surfaces.
- Improve Ventilation: When cooking, use the fans in the bathroom and kitchen to quickly dry the food and remove any steam. When the moisture is excessive, adding ceiling fans and ventilation fans is very beneficial. On dry, windy days, open the doors and windows. Also, make absolutely sure your HVAC ducts are not obstructed by furniture, and open tiny rooms like closets frequently to let moisture out.
- Use a Dehumidifier: Use one dehumidifier to reduce moisture in the air if the humidity in your basement or laundry room is high. Make sure to keep the appliances in good working order and to at least daily empty any water collection bin.
- Check Ductwork: To avoid clogs or leakage that let moisture back into your home, you must always check or clean the ducting for your HVAC system and clothes dryer at a minimum once a year.
- Install Moisture Barriers: Crawl spaces and basements are vulnerable to excess moisture. If you notice that your crawl space is a little dirty and there are signs of mold exposure, you should definitely consider getting a crawl space clean up.
- Decontaminate The Infested Area: If at all feasible, tape plastic wrapping over the doors to close off the area of the property that contains black mold. To stop the mold’s spores from spreading into the air, softly mist the mold with water if the leakage has been fixed and the environment is dry.
- Clean Safe: Use the chemicals correctly and keep the area clean around the mold-infested area if you are cleaning it yourself to stop the spread. So that the spores won’t spread to other locations, but cleaning materials, disposable safety equipment, and tarps are in a secured heavy-duty plastic bag.
Cleaning Instruction and Tips
Start by using a commercial mold removal product, hot, soapy water, or a solution of 1 cup bleach to 1 gallon of water to remove apparent mold growth from hard surfaces. Bleach shouldn’t be combined with other cleaning supplies. Start removing and always throwing away soft or porous materials, such as wallboard, insulation, or carpets, that exhibit mold growth. Remember to clean while wearing safety gear such as rubber boots, gloves, and goggles
As already highlighted above, black mold not only makes your home look less than perfect, but it also can prove to be detrimental to your health. Mold spores are pretty much ubiquitous in the air, making it impossible to avoid coming into contact with them. Any exposure to mold may result in allergy symptoms in large doses or in allergy sufferers. It could result in more severe problems in those with underlying medical disorders. Whichever the mold kind, it must be removed from the house for hygienic and health reasons. Dealing with mold in the right way is important to control the situation and prevent further growth. It is important to call in a professional as soon as you discover black mold in your residence as it is something that you don’t want to neglect and let fester.
