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You may be like many people and are concerned about the prospect of mold growth in your home. You may have legitimate worries about the damage that mold can do to your house itself as well as objects in your home. In addition, you may have real concerns about how mold (and mold spores) potentially can endanger the health of your family. With all of this in mind, there are some important strategies that you need to consider using to prevent mold growth in your home:
- Maintain low humidity levels
- Ensure free airflow
- Repair leaks
- Rapidly clean and dry your home
- Add mold inhibitors to paint
- Use mold-killing cleaning products
- Remove and replace soaked carpeting and upholstery
Maintain Low Humidity Levels
Mold initially blooms and then thrives in damp environments. A very important strategy you need to employ to effectively prevent mold growth in your home is to maintain low humidity levels. Ideally, you should strive to keep humidity levels in your home no higher than 50 percent throughout the day.
During the summer months, an air conditioner as well as a dehumidifier will assist you in keeping humidity levels at the desired level. In the wintertime, keeping humidity levels at a suitable level may be a bit easier, but you may still want to have a humidifier on hand.
There are meters that you can purchase at a reasonable price to monitor the humidity level in your home. Humidity levels can change over the course of the day. Therefore, you are well-advised to check the humidity level in your home more than once during the course of a day.
Ensure Free Airflow in Your Home
Another important strategy to maintain or implement at your residence to protect against mold growth is ensuring free airflow throughout your home. For example, take advantage of exhaust fans that vent air outside of your home in the bathroom and kitchen. Make certain that your home’s HVAC system is in optimal working order when it comes to moving air through your home.
Repair Leaks at Your Residence
Pooled water, even very small amounts of water, can provide the foundation for rapid mold growth. If you’re aware of leaks in your home, make sure that they are addressed properly. At the moment, if you are unaware of any leaks in your home, perform a thorough inspection of your property to attempt to identify issues of this nature. You may even want to consider engaging the services of a specialist to identify any leaks you have in your home currently that you do not know exist. Commonplace examples of leaks in a home include:
- Roof leaks
- Wall leaks
- Plumbing issues
Rapidly Clean and Dry Your Home After a Flood or Other Water Problem
If you experience a flood in your home, or any other type of situation that results in a more considerable amount of water in your home, you need to take prompt action. The recommended course of action is to cleanup and dry out your home in these types of situations rapidly. You should accomplish the task within 24 to 48 hours in order to avoid mold growth.
The necessity for a rapid response in these types of scenarios underscores the need to engage a professional to provide flood cleanup services. A professional has the tools, equipment, and resources to rapidly remediate the aftereffects of a flood or a similar situation.
Add Mold Inhibitors to Paint
When it comes to effective strategies to prevent mold growth in your home, being as proactive as possible is important. One of the proactive tactics you can employ to prevent mold growth in your home can occur if you are planning to repaint some or all of the interior in your home.
If you are planning on repainting, add mold inhibitors to your paint before application. You can purchase effective mold inhibitors to add to your paint at an affordable price at a paint supply center or home improvement store.
Use Mold-Killing Cleaning Products
When it comes to your everyday cleaning at your residence, take advantage of kitchen and bathroom cleaners that include mold-killing elements. Indeed, you may want to regularly use cleaners for any room in your home that has a mold-killing additive.
Clean bathrooms with mold-killing products.
Remove and Replace Soaked Carpeting and Upholstery That Cannot Be Rapidly Replaced
If you experience a flood or some other situation in your home that results in carpeting or upholstery becoming soaked, you have only two realistic solutions to prevent mold growth. First, you can immediately engage the services of a flood and mold remediation specialist. In some situations, a professional may be able to salvage carpeting or upholstery by rapidly drying it. The reality is that in most cases the only way in which you can prevent mold growth when carpeting or upholstery is soaked is to remove it from your home.
As an aside, consider not using carpeting in certain places in your home. For example, consider avoiding carpeting in bathrooms as well as basements.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a helpful guide that includes effective strategies to prevent mold growth. A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home which is a booklet that every person should have on hand.
