Preventing Mold Growth In Your Home
7/2/2024 (Permalink)
Preventing Mold Growth In Your Home
Mold can grow anywhere inside your home and become a pesky problem. Although it is manageable, the best case scenario is to prevent mold growth as best as you can. Read on to learn about ways you can prevent possible mold growth inside your home provided by the University of Georgia Extension.
Is Your Home Inviting In Mold?
Without knowing it, a great number of us live in homes that provide conditions in which mold growth can occur. In order for mold to grow, these are the requirements:
- A food source (organic matter)
- Moisture
- Appropriate temperature
- Oxygen
Prevention Tips
There are many materials in a home that can provide food for mold, such as wood, paper, textiles, leather, or surfaces covered with organic matter such as dirt. Moisture in your home can be caused by a leak, flooding, or high humidity. Although you may not be able to control all of the food sources for mold growth, there are ways you can control the moisture. These include:
- Keeping indoor humidity below 60% relative humidity, ideally between 30% and 50%
- Repair any leaky pipes or faucets
- Turn on exhaust fans when bathing or cooking
- Clean out gutters
- Make sure water drains away from your home
- Increase the temperatures of cold items or surfaces in your home by adding insulation
- Prevent the flow of moisture by sealing air leaks, installing vapor barriers in the crawl space, and sealing HVAC system air duct and return plenum leaks
- Get a home inspection to find and correct moisture problems
- Increase air circulation within the home with heating and cooling systems along with ceiling fans
- Control household humidity levels by venting appliances such as the dryer to the outside, reducing bathing time and heat, washing only full loads for laundry and dishes and opening windows to increase air flow when the relative humidity level for the outside is below 50%
- Improve your roof by upgrading to stronger synthetic underlayment and wind-rated shingles
- Protect foundations and raised floors from moisture
- Install a weather barrier material and drainage gap behind siding
- Ensure proper installation of flashing around the windows and other wall penetrations using a “shingle fashion” layering system, especially at bottom corners
- Manage external water by ensuring proper drainage around the house
For more information, visit: https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C1047-1&title=preventing-mold-in-your-home
If you experience mold in your home, contact SERVPRO of Denton. Our team of certified technicians has the skills, experience and state-of-the-art equipment to remove mold at its source, clean affected areas, and check moisture levels to prevent any possible mold growth in the future.