It is normal to find mold spores in a home’s indoor air and surfaces such as clothes, walls, and furniture, most of the time mold spores found indoors are from outside sources, regular housekeeping and cleaning helps keep mold levels low, cleaning small areas of visible mold, like the mold around your shower, is obligatory to maintain sanitary conditions.
You should be more concerned when your home has a large-scale of active mold growth, such problems are most likely to happen when there’s been an on-going water leak, flood, or excessively high levels of humidity in the home. Indoor mold growth may lead to high levels of airborne mold spores, which, in turn, can trigger the spread of mold growth from the original source to additional areas of the home having high moisture levels.
Extensive mold growth will damage your home and furnishings, like carpets, sofas, and cabinets. Over extended periods of time, uncontrolled mold growth can instigate damage to structural elements of your home, while there is no practical way to eliminate all mold and mold spores in the indoor environment, keeping your home clean and dry can avert extensive mold growth and the ensuing damage.
Damage to your home and possessions is not the only reason to be concerned with mold, although most people are exposed to small amounts of mold or their spores on a daily basis without apparent harm, mold is an unsanitary condition that may present potential health risks to certain individuals.
Here are a few tips to keep moisture from becoming a breeding ground for molds.
1) Ventilation
Ensure that bathrooms, dryers and other moisture-creating sources are vented to the outside.
2) Airflow
Take care not to block any of your house’s air conditioning vents.
3) Control Humidity
Monitor humidifiers and install de-humidifiers in basements and crawlspaces.
4) Exhaust Fans
Use your kitchen’s exhaust fans when cooking.
5) Insulation
Install insulation on cold surfaces like piping, air ducts or basement walls to lessen possibilities of condensation.
6)Moisture Sensors
Install moisture sensor alarms in potential water back-up and overflow areas to alert you when a leak occurs.
Possible adverse health effects produced by molds can include allergic, irritating, or toxigenic effects, and even infections, allergic reactions being the most common, symptoms reported by affected people include respiratory conditions, such as wheezing, difficulty breathing, and shortness of breath, sneezing and/or nasal congestion, eye and/or throat irritation, headaches, and fatigue.