Mold Prevention Tips
We talk a lot about how to deal with mold once you’ve found it in your house (call us, of course 😉) and we’ve mentioned some of the illnesses that can result from mold toxicity, but today we want to give you a few tips to avoid getting mold in the first place!
There is one important thing to keep in mind when it comes to mold: mold occurs naturally in the environment, so your spore count will almost never get down to 0, and if it does, it definitely won’t stay that way for long. The acceptable mold spore count is different depending on the humidity of the environment. The indoor mold spore count should be substantially less than the outdoor count, regardless of where you live. Give us a call TODAY for the specific spore count thresholds in any of the following locations:
Northern Utah
Pocatello or Chubbuck, Idaho
Fort Worth, Dallas, or Lewisville, Texas
Tulsa, Oklahoma City, or Stillwater, Oklahoma
Mold needs three things to grow: high heat (77-87°F), humidity (62-93%), and snacks (cellulose and organic material). This means that “hot spots” tend to be the bathroom, kitchen, and crawl spaces. But basically, mold can grow anywhere there’s moisture and a little warmth. With that in mind, here are a few tips to help prevent mold from growing in your house, office, or business.
- Install a moisture sensor bathroom fan. These are a great tool to help regulate the moisture levels in your bathroom. They only turn on when the moisture hits a certain level, so they are energy efficient as well. Take those long, hot showers without worrying about mold! Here are a few “top pick” models for 2021.
- Try to avoid wall-to-wall carpeting in your basement whenever possible as it can hide water and mold growth. It would be better to use area rugs instead. Use a rug to avoid sweeping your mold problem “under the rug” 😂. But if you must have carpet, then carpet cleaning from a reputable professional carpet cleaning service can help prevent you from having to throw it away.
- Make sure the crawl space in your house is properly vented. Builders focus on keeping the home tight and well insulated, but a crawl space without ventilation spells M-O-L-D. We’ve seen it too many times in new construction. Sometimes the crawl space is already moldy before the home is even completed! A way to prevent this is to make sure a “new construction” home is roofed before winter sets in, or before heavy rains.
- Keep an eye on your indoor plants to make sure you aren’t also growing mold. You can help prevent this by repotting new plants in sterile soil, not overwatering, and making sure your plants are in pots with holes in the bottom so they can ventilate properly. If your plants appear to be growing mold, you can mix different solutions when you water plants to help kill the mold.
As always, we are here for all of your mold remediation needs. Feel free to call us to set up a mold test, house inspections to identify mold problems, or with any additional mold prevention questions that you may have!
So, who ya gonna call?
MOLD BUSTERS!
