Everything You Need to Know About Mold

Mold is a very common problem in basements and crawl spaces.  It’s important to be aware if your home has mold because it can cause severe damage to your home and even your health.  There are ways to prevent mold before it becomes an issue.

Mold needs four things to grow: spores, food, water, and temperature between 32 degrees and 110 degrees Fahrenheit.  Spores are seeds of mold, and they are everywhere.  You are constantly breathing them in, and there’s not much you can do to get rid of them.  The temperature isn’t a factor you can eliminate either, because your home is always between 32 and 110 degrees.

So that leaves food and water.  Food is any material that is organic such as wood, plywood, cardboard, paper, and rubber.  If it was once living, it is susceptible to mold.  The purpose of mold is to decay organic materials and return them to the earth as dirt, which is why mold always finds those materials so easily.  Eliminate as much of the “food” as you possibly can in your basement, especially with things that are difficult and expensive to replace such as flooring, walls, trim, and finishes.

Water can also be in the form of high humidity to create the perfect environment for mold to grow.  Mold doesn’t grow underwater, but rather in humid environments.  It is important to eliminate as much water as possible from your basement including groundwater leaks, water vapor, and condensation.  This can be done by waterproofing your basement and installing a high-performance dehumidification system, such as the SaniDry XP.  It is impossible to completely eliminate water, which is why it’s so important to get rid of any organic materials in your basement, since that is the only factor that you truly have control over.

Mold is incredibly harmful to your home and your health.  All doctors would agree that mold in your home is not good.  It can severely irritate your asthma and allergies, making you and your family uncomfortable.  Also, studies have shown that prolonged exposure to mold can actually cause asthma.

Do everything you can to prevent mold by eliminating any and all organic materials in your basement.  All basements need to be finished with inorganic materials, regardless of whether or not they have groundwater leakage.