Clean Up Mold

Home Mold Clean Up And Prevention

There are over 30, 000 varieties of mold in the world. The majority of these varieties can grow and flourish in the right conditions inside a person home. Mold spores are everywhere. They attach to surfaces and await the optimum growth conditions to flourish. Normally all that is required to grow mold is damp conditions or high humidity and some sort of organic substance such as dirt, dust, paper or cardboard. Mold sprouts roots like any other plant life. In order for the roots to set and take the mold requires the organic substance to adhere too.

The most common locations in a home to suffer extreme mold growth are bathrooms and basements. This is because these rooms provide enough moisture through steam, humidity, shower droplets, sweating walls and ground water for the mold to thrive.

If a home is found to contain any mold growth during a home inspection the mold must be promptly removed and the source of the water rectified. Most finance companies and the Environmental Protection Agency will allow the home owner to remove any mold if it covers less then ten feet in the home. If the mold covers an area that is more then ten feet such as the walls of a basement then a professional mold removal crew must be brought in to deal with the problem.

The ideal way to clean mold is to place a large fan in a window so the mold growth spores can be sucked out as you clean. Mist the mold with a combination of twenty five percent chlorine bleach and water. Always wear rubber gloves when handling mold. A pair of safety goggles with no holes is important to protect the sensitive eye area. A respirator is also recommended but many homeowners do not own one.

After the area is mold free through scrubbing it is important to promptly clean all supplies to remove mold spores, wash clothing promptly and take shoes outside to try to wipe clean.

Mold can easily trigger an allergic reaction that can prove life threatening in a small percentage of individuals. Anyone with a chronic lung should avoid all mold cleanup. Certain lung conditions can become aggravated by mold inhalation and lead to pneumonia or other life threatening disorders.

After taking a shower it is advisable to dry all surfaces promptly with a towel. Utilize the exhaust fan that most modern bathrooms have. Shower curtains should be regularly changed since the plastic lining is an ideal area for water to pool at the bottom seem and a colony of mold to secretly hide.

Wood molding around tubs and showers should be avoided since wood quickly soaks up water and humidity. It is hard to remove mold once it is established in wood molding because of the porous nature of the wood and the length of time that wood takes to dry completely out. It is bes to simply avoid using wood in bathrooms. Granite and ceramic tile are excellent for wiping dry quickly, however, mold can easily grow in the grout of between the tiles if this area is not thoroughly dried after ever shower or bath.

Mold can prove a challenge to prevent in tropical areas and the southern United States due to the ongoing humidity of the region.

Sources:

http://www.askthebuilder.com/556_Black_Mold.shtml

http://healthandenergy.com/mold.htm

http://www.advancedmoldinspections.com/types_of_mold.html