Mold can have significant effects on your health and wellness and consequences for the habitability and integrity of your property. For some people, mold can produce allergy symptoms, like a sore throat, nasal drainage, sneezing, a stuffy nose, coughing, and burning eyes. In others, it can cause dermatologic issues and produce rashes on the skin. For immune-compromised individuals, mold can have devastating health consequences and produce infections.
Mold can also make a home or business a health hazard, making it unusable or causing severe damage and destruction to the physical structure. Some amount of mold in a structure is normal, but mold levels that increase substantially can pose a big problem. As such, our Gainesville mold removal offers eight tips designed to help you prevent mold from taking hold in your home or business. Contact us today to request a quote for mold remediation and mold restoration services!
Where there is moisture, mold will likely grow. In fact, mold cannot grow without moisture, so any wet areas, such as damp bathrooms, moisture-rich kitchens, or areas prone to leaks and other forms of standing water, are havens for mold and mildew to grow and spread. As such, our Gainesville restoration experts know that keeping your home dry and your moisture levels at homeostasis are the best ways to prevent mold.
If any messes occur in the kitchen, bathroom, or elsewhere resulting in the presence of water, wipe it up right away. If you get caught in the rain, avoid leaving your wet clothing, rain jacket, or umbrella on the floor. This is important for structures with any type of flooring, but it’s particularly important for carpeted interiors. Carpet and other soft surfaces absorb moisture, so it can be more difficult to keep them dry. Maven Construction Group offers emergency water removal,
water leak detection, and water damage restoration you can count on! Contact us!
Mold and moisture go hand-in-hand, and, unfortunately, small water spills and leaks aren’t the only sources of moisture and potential for mold growth in a structure. In addition to the presence of spills and leaks, high levels of humidity and gaseous water in the form of air are among the primary catalysts for mold growth and reduced indoor air quality (IAQ) conditions.
Mold can grow on virtually any surface with an organic composition so long as both oxygen and moisture are present. Molds can grow on wood, paper, carpets, food, insulation, and much more. But mold doesn’t just grow on surfaces; it actually consumes or digests them, resulting in property damage and a risk to the structural integrity of rooms in a building. Eliminating all present mold and mold spores isn’t possible, but you can control indoor mold growth.
In addition to monitoring and correcting high indoor humidity levels and removing excess water as soon as possible, ventilation is among the most important factors for combatting mold at its source. Your indoor air can contain a specific amount of water vapor. When temperatures shift, water can condense, resulting in the presence of beaded water droplets on your windows and walls.
Ensuring there is proper ventilation in your indoor environment is the best way to prevent condensation and the potential for mold to grow and spread. Keeping your indoor air circulating and moving with adequate ventilation can help keep your property safe from high levels of moisture and mold. Need help to assess whether your ventilation is adequate or advice on how to prevent mold damage? Contact our restoration company!
A great way to prevent mold from growing in your home or business space is to start the new building, restoration, or remodeling process with mold-resistant materials, such as mold-resistant drywall, Sheetrock, mold-resistant gypsum board, and moisture-resistant paint. Unlike traditional drywall, which is composed of plies of paper pressing a gypsum plaster center, moisture-resistant drywall contains no paper, making it particularly beneficial for areas that are commonly exposed to humidity and excess moisture.
If you are able to choose your building materials, choose moisture-resistant materials for your bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms, mudrooms, garages, and other areas commonly and regularly exposed to high levels of moisture and humidity. Choosing traditional drywall over moisture-resistant drywall means increasing the probability that mold will grow, as traditional materials are far more susceptible to mold than resistant ones. Should your traditional drywall develop mold, it could be difficult to remediate the issue and replace affected surfaces.
One of the best ways to identify how prone an area of your home or business is to mold growth is with the help of a hygrometer, an inexpensive device that measures your indoor humidity in real time! Put this device in your bedroom, living room, or another room and monitor its readings each day, paying special attention to how the humidity may increase or decrease over each day.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends maintaining an indoor humidity range of 30% to 50% to prevent mold growth. Should your indoor humidity levels exceed 50%, mold will be more likely to develop. Using your air conditioner and installing a dehumidifier can keep excessively high humidity levels within the appropriate range.
The outdoor temperature has a significant impact on indoor moisture levels. As outdoor temperatures drop each fall and winter, the air holds less moisture than in warmer weather. Having a lack of adequate airflow in your residential or commercial property means that excessive moisture may collect and appear on the windows, walls, floors, and other surfaces within the space.
A good way to combat an accumulation of moisture indoors is to increase airflow or circulation indoors. To properly increase your indoor circulation, you should open interior doors, such as the doors between each room, as well as reorganize any furniture away from the walls and open closet doors for closets that might be cooler than their immediate rooms. Allowing fresh air to penetrate these spaces can help you keep mold at bay.
Keeping indoor plants can improve your air quality and enhance the aesthetic value of your indoor spaces. While they are beautiful and can be beneficial, unfortunately, mold loves plants too. The warmth and moisture common in indoor plant soil makes for a perfect breeding ground for mold and mold spores. When mold develops in plant soil, it can then spread to other areas of your indoor environment.
Although certain indoor plants can be ideal breeding grounds for mold and mold spores, you may not have to get rid of your plants. There are several simple things you can do to keep mold off of your houseplants. You should avoid overwatering as too much moisture can result in mold. Also, you should keep your houseplants in a place with adequate light and plenty of fresh air. Any dark, humid, and stuffy environments will encourage mold growth.
In some cases, even if you improve your indoor ventilation, use mold-resistant building materials, maintain normal indoor humidity levels, boost indoor airflow, keep mold off of your houseplants, identify and correct mold-prone areas, and remove any excess water and moisture from their indoor environment, mold may still appear in your indoor spaces.
Whether mold appears due to storm damage, water damage, roof damage, a leak, flooding, excess humidity, or another cause, the best thing you can do if you find mold is to contact Maven Construction Group! We offer expert-level mold removal, remediation, and restoration services to residential and commercial properties throughout North Central Florida.
Locally owned and operated in Gainesville, FL, Maven Construction Group is a licensed general contractor, Angie’s List Certified Contractor, and is accredited and A-rated by the Better Business Bureau. Maven has delivered the best damage restoration and reconstruction services in North Central Florida for more than 15 years.
Certified General Contractor Lic # CGC1519003 Certified Mold Remediation Lic # MRSR2344