Structural Weaknesses to Mold: What Mold Can Do to the Integrity of Your Home
If you found a moldy piece of bread, would you wipe it off and eat the rest?
Mold typically grows beyond the surface of materials, so just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there.
Mold can grow on any porous material under the right circumstances. This includes the materials that make up a large portion of your home. Mold can grow in walls, cabinets, crawlspaces, attics and in your carpet. This contamination can be detrimental to your health, as well as the integrity of your home.
Molds live and feed on organic material, breaking down and gradually destroying the structure of your home. All molds need to grow is oxygen and water, and then they are able to grow on wood, paper, carpet, insulation and food.
The key to preventing mold from growing – and destroying – your home is keep moisture out. Within 24-48 hours after a leak or flood occurs, mold will begin to grow if proper drying does not take place.
Some common causes of mold growth are:
• Leaky water pipes
• Roof leaks
• Window leaks
• Floods
• Poor ventilation in bathrooms and/or kitchens
• High levels of indoor humidity
• Poor/improper insulation
Crawlspaces with elevated relative humidity are a common area for mold growth to begin. Those especially susceptible have bare earth flooring. The soil holds moisture and is then wicked around, through capillary action, from moist to dry areas. The relative warmth of a crawlspace will dry the soil by evaporation, moving the moisture to the air where it begins to cause mold growth.
When mold begins to grow in a crawlspace, the moisture and mold can then enter buildings through cracks in walls and floors. Crawlspaces should be designed to avoid moisture problems. However, if moisture issues begin to occur in your home, moisture barriers, sump pumps and other means of moisture control should be installed in your crawlspace.
Similar actions can also take place in attics and eventually spread mold throughout your home.
Once mold has begun to grow in your home, the only way to successfully get rid of it is to remove the materials themselves. This can also include furniture items such as couches and beds, due to their porous composition, it is nearly impossible for mold spores to be completely removed. These items should be discarded and replaced once contaminated with mold.
It is important to have a professional mold remediation company do the work of removing contaminated materials from your home. If the areas are not properly isolated or if the materials are not properly removed, cross contamination can occur; spreading mold from one area of the property to many more. This turns a potentially small problem into a major one.
However, the best way to control mold growth in your home is to catch issues early and take care of them immediately. If a leak or flood occurs in your home you, should have a company that deals with mold remediation and/or water damage dry the area(s) for you. These companies use commercial sized fans, dehumidifies, HEPA air filtration systems and other equipment to dry buildings quickly before mold begins to grow.
Having your space professionally dried will save you money in the long run; preventing mold growth and the eventual need for remediation.
Sources:
Miller Law Inc. FindLaw.com Copyright © 2009 FindLaw, a Thomson Reuters business. All rights reserved. http://injury.findlaw.com/toxic-mold/mold-basics/mold-signs.html
EPA Mold Course. EPA. Tuesday, July 10th, 2007. http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldcourse/chapter2/index.html
Janet Wickell. About.com ©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company http://homebuying.about.com/cs/mold/a/toxic_mold.htm