How mold grows in our house?
There are variety of factors that cause mold in our households; here are some of the conditions that are considered most favourable for mold to grow on our properties:
- first and foremost there should be mold spores for mold to develop;
- secondly, mold needs some food source to feed upon and since mold is among the most ancient living form on Earth it feed on almost anything ranging from wood to drywall and cotton, to name but a few;
- thirdly, darkness is a true friend to mold; if it is dark and damp mold develops extremely fast as it cannot develop under ultraviolet light;
- fourthly, warmth is considered another favourable condition for mold to grow since it cannot grow in cold conditions;
- fifthly, mold needs oxygen to develop, after all it is a life form as mentioned above and like all life forms it needs to ‘breath’ no matter how primitive this breathing is;
- last but not least, moisture is what triggers the development of mold faster than anything;
- eventually, time is also important; given enough time mold can spread to enormous areas – give it from 24 to 48 hours and your full living area could be full of mold if not treated or spotted at all.
Let me emphasise once more on the key factor triggering the developing of mold – moisture – the other above listed conditions are ever present in a home but if moisture is present then you could be most sure that moisture will spread to enormous amounts. So the essential thing is to deal with moisture in your home so that to prevent mold growth and mold development.
Damp causes mold growth
So if the weather has been extremely humid for several days in a row or the humidity in your living space has risen you will most surely notice mold starting to grow on your premises. In case it is raining for a few days the walls in your home or the benches outside on the veranda of the house or other surfaces will be covered in mold and this is especially because of the excessive amount of humidity present in the air inside and outside of your home. Besides mold could be some recurring problem if your live in a naturally damp area, say, by the coast or another large body of water like a river or a lake.
Moreover, in case your house or apartment is not well-ventilated you can expect mold growth to be on the increase due to the indoor humidity levels.
Another essential mistake that people make is to cook on closed premises without proper ventilation or dry clothes indoors – these create the perfect conditions for mold to start developing.
Don’t forget that your home’s HVAC system can help you as much as it can do you harm since it artificially heats and cools the air inside your home hence making the place damp all over thus encouraging mold growth.
Of course, some people think that when using humidifiers in their homes there are saving up the situation and getting rid of mold growth; unfortunately this is not precisely the case – for your humidifier to work as some precaution measure the humidity level should be kept below 55% at all times, in this way it is less likely for some types of mold to start developing.
Finally, high humidity levels do not only feed mold and make it grow and spread but they also create excessive amount of moisture leading to damp materials, wet surfaces and even puddles of water that are extremely hard to dry out especially in the winter months when we keep the windows closed almost all of the time.
Roof leaks
Leaks in roofs are yet another source of mold growth, say, some leakage into the attic might not be discovered for weeks on end until mold has spread so severely that you do not know how to handle it and will need to call some professional help. The only think that you can take as a kind of precaution measure is to monitor the attic on a regular basis for any leaks; you should also keep any eye on the ceiling since.
Mold caused by condensation
Your home is full of surfaces that get colder, say, during the night thus causing the condensation process, which, in turn, leads to mold and mildew growth. Condensation appears on cold metal pipes, concrete floors even if there is a carpet or a rug on top of it as well as on walls no matter what paint or covering they’ve got. These are actually the very prime spots where condensation occurs leading to mold growth. Besides if you are used to drying your clothes inside there could awful condensation appear leading to mold or mold can even start growing on them especially if you put them away in the closet if they are not fully dry – they start smelling awful and this is a sure way to ruin your clothes, even your favourite and most expensive ones. What’s more, mold can grow on other surfaces not only the clothes themselves and then you will, in the best case scenario, have to repaint the whole of the room or call in for a mold-growth inspector to determine the damage done by some simple damp clothes.
Poor ventilation
In case your property is poorly ventilated there could be pockets of stagnant moist air where mold thrives, to say the least. Water and steam evaporating into the very air causes rise of humidity levels inside your property; to deal with the problem you need to get air circulate inside and outdoors through windows and doors; in other words, you need to let fresh air into the room so that to keep the moisture level balanced.
What’s more, poor ventilation happens when the surfaces dry slower hence the ventilation process is crucial especially in rooms such as the bathroom or the kitchen where there is a lot of steam coming out of the bath, shower or just out of your freshly cooked dishes.