If you would like to safeguard your home from mold but don’t know what you should do to reach your goal, this guide by Aloha Restoration will help. It reveals the steps you should take to prevent, detect, and remove mold. The guide arms you with the required information to act quickly before the mold has a chance to spread to other areas of your home. As you move forward, you will discover when you can remove it on your own and when you should contact a professional for an expert touch. Taking fast action is one of the top ways to keep mold and the complications that come with it at bay.
Why Mold is a Problem
Learning about the problems you can face if you let mold grow in your home allows you to make an informed decision. You should consider all the options. From there, you can choose and take the path that best fits your goals.
Sneezing, runny nose, coughing, and eye irritation are just a few of the symptoms you may experience when exposed to mold. Mold that gets into your home can also cause a rash to develop on the skin. Persistent symptoms could be a sign that mold is present in your home and that you should take a closer look. In addition to causing health concerns, mold is unsightly and gives off an unpleasant smell.
Mold Prevention
While the ability to get mold out of your home is a valuable skill, it’s not where you should start. Your first goal should be to find ways to stop mold from growing in your home in the first place, which is much easier to achieve. Taking some proactive steps now can reduce the odds of a mold infestation in the future. Some people don’t even consider mold until they smell it or notice visible growth on their walls or floors, but you don’t want to follow that path. The tips you will soon discover will empower you to stop mold and mildew in its tracks, and it puts you one step closer to the outcome you need and deserve.
Use Mold-Resistant Products
Using mold-resistant products is a fantastic step toward your goal if you are building a home or remodeling the one you have. You can go to the store and pick up mold-resistant drywall, insulation, and paint to keep mold at bay before it has a chance to infest your home. These products work by reducing moisture or discouraging mold from growing on the surface, decreasing the speed at which it spreads. These products serve as the first line of defense for those who want to make it as hard as possible for mold to take over the homes in which they live. While mold-resistant products can never fully eliminate the chance of mold, they give you peace of mind by minimizing the risk.
Use a Humidity Meter
One of the things you can do to reduce mold growth is to prevent the conditions favorable to mold. Mold spores prefer to live in moist environments because they can spread much faster. If you allow the humidity in your home to get higher than 60 percent, you increase the chance of mold growing. Search online or visit your local department store to buy a humidity reader for your home, and you will be one step closer to your desired outcome. Leave the humidity reader in your living room or bedroom to monitor the environments in which you spend the most time. Placing a humidity reader in the bathroom is another wise move you don’t want to overlook. If you notice the humidity in your home going higher than 60 percent, do something to lower the amount of moisture in the air if you don’t want the issue to get out of hand.
Fix Leaks
The experts at Aloha Restoration recommend that homeowners find and address leaks as soon as possible. Even pipes that have a slow drip can create enough moisture for mold and mildew to form inside cabinets and on floors and walls. If you are not a skilled plumber, you can turn off the water to your pipes and place a waterproof sealant over the leak until you can get a professional to make long-term repairs. Since a leaky pipe can also run up your water bill, you have no reason to wait.
Repair Damaged Gutters
A building’s foundation is good at keeping water out when it’s still new, but old buildings and homes get cracks in their foundations that let water and moisture inside. You will need to address the cracks at some point, but keeping water away from your home is a good place to start. Your gutters do this job well as long as they are in good shape. Damaged gutters, however, allow water to run down the side of your home and into any cracks that are present. Walk along the outside of your house and look at the condition of your gutters to see if any damaged areas need your attention.
Use a notepad to mark sections you would like to repair so you can keep water out of your home. Some people opt to save money and do the repair work on their own, but you should only take that path if you have experience doing such projects. You could otherwise get hurt or accidentally make the situation worse. The team at Aloha Restoration can show you which path is best.
Quickly Dry Spills
Spilled liquids can seep into your carpet and create a breeding ground for mold, and you don’t want that to happen if you care about your home. As soon as a spill occurs on carpet, use a towel to dry as much of it as possible to reduce the odds of mold growth. Aloha Restoration often instructs people to use a vacuum that is rated to clean liquids, and you should not have to worry about the spill causing mold if you do. For spills on wood or tile, mopping them up is the best way to protect yourself from trouble. You can also use towels to remove liquid when you don’t have easy access to a mop.
Ventilate Your Kitchen and Bathroom
Your bathroom and kitchen are the most likely places for mold to grow because they have more moisture than the other parts of your home. The steam that rises from pots when you cook spreads to the walls, floors, and other parts of your kitchen. The fog that appears on your bathroom mirror when you shower is a strong indication that enough moisture is present to let mold thrive.
Defeat those problems by using ventilation systems in your kitchen and bathroom to keep excess moisture away, stopping the threat before it has the chance to begin. You can buy a dehumidifier for your kitchen and bathroom if you don’t have ventilation fans installed.
Mold Detection
You have to detect mold before you can address it, so learning how to spot mold is another step in the right direction. Most people detect mold by seeing or smelling it in their homes. If you notice mold in any part of your home, you can skip the detection step and jump right into the mold removal process. Using mold test kits once a year should be enough to keep you ahead of the problem and out of harm’s way.
But if you experience water damage, you should test for mold as soon as possible. Local stores and online shops have a variety of mold kits you can use to give yourself peace of mind. Mold does not waste time when it comes to spreading to other areas of your home, and that is why testing for it is wise.
Air Testers
Air testers are a great way to check for mold particles in the area, even if you don’t know the location from which the mold is coming. You can find mold kits that you have to send to the lab once you collect the sample, but some mold kits give a visual indication.
Homeowners will often use one test kit to collect samples from different parts of their homes. Doing so makes it impossible to determine which rooms have the most mold growth, so you don’t want to take that path. Instead, use a new kit for each part of your home you would like to test so you can identify problem areas.
Surface Testers
A surface tester checks for mold by analyzing the presence of mold particles in samples you take from the targeted area, and most surface kits let you know you have mold without requiring you to send the kit to a lab. You take the swab and move it across the surface you would like to test before placing it in an analysis device or Petri dish.
Mold Removal
Once you have determined that mold is in your home, you want to move quickly so that you can stop it from spreading and avoid the symptoms of mold exposure. Below are a few mold removal tips you can use to protect yourself and your home.
This advice works best for mold that is in easy-to-reach places. If mold is rooted on the surface of the targeted areas, you can get rid of it for good by following the correct process. Mold that hides beneath the surface is much harder to treat.
Bleach
Bleach is a powerful tool for mold removal that offers excellent results when used the right way. The only issue is that bleach is harmful if swallowed or touched, and the fumes can cause damage if you are not in a ventilated area. Using bleach right from the bottle is unsafe and will harm your surfaces.
Before you begin, mix one ounce of bleach for every 10 ounces of water to make a solution that is much safer to use. You can use a spray bottle or rag to apply bleach to the nonporous surfaces you wish to treat. If you have pets or children in your home, make sure they don’t enter the treated areas. If you treat tile floors or other areas to which people or animals have access, block off the area until you rinse the bleach away. You don’t need to wash treated areas that are in hard-to-reach places because the bleach will continue stopping mold growth.
Vinegar
Although it’s not as effective as bleach, vinegar kills between 80 and 90 percent of mold on surfaces. People often shy away from this method because they don’t like the smell of vinegar, but it’s a small price to pay and will dissipate within a few hours. Place undiluted vinegar in a spray bottle and apply it to the spots you wish to treat. Once you complete the application process, let the vinegar sit for about an hour before you wipe it off.
Getting Started with Aloha Restoration
If you have trouble keeping mold at bay or have suffered heavy water damage, it’s time to contact an expert. The team at Aloha Restoration provides water removal and a range of other services that keep mold away from you and your home. They can treat stubborn spots and access hard-to-reach places to ensure that your home is mold-free by the time they finish the task.
Water removal prevents future mold from growing and lets you put your worries to rest. No matter how much or how little mold you have, Aloha Restoration is ready to give you a hand and provide you with impressive results. Reach out to the team right away for mold and water removal services on which you can depend. The hard work and experienced support of Aloha Restoration have already earned the trust and respect of the community, and you will be pleased when you see what they can do for you.
