Living in the Gulf South has its perks such as mild winters, warm summers, and comfortably cool weather during spring and autumn. However, the tropical climate in New Orleans has a downside. It can get a bit humid due to high amounts of rainfall.
Humidity isn’t just uncomfortable for most people. It also has adverse effects on houses. High humidity can create a lot of moisture in a home. This results in mold growth and long-lasting damage to your property.
Mold growth is a problem that no homeowner wants to experience. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to prevent mold growth and spores from entering your home because mold spores are all around us. When coupled with humidity, mold spores can grow into severe mold growth if left untreated.
The Effects of Mold
Mold can cause an array of problems for your health. This is because mold produces mycotoxins and these metabolites are capable of causing disease and even death in humans or animals.
The most common mold exposure symptoms are respiratory health effects such as asthma, coughing, and wheezing. These are just mild symptoms. When left unchecked, mold growth can cause severe health effects and may even cause poisoning, especially if the mold is toxic, such as black mold.
Black mold symptoms, like all mold symptoms, are usually related to the respiratory system. However, they tend to be more severe. If you’re exposed to black mold, you might experience chronic coughing, sneezing, and even irritation to the eyes.
Mold can also affect pets. When pets are exposed to mold, they can experience wheezing, coughing, and the struggle to breathe. In severe cases, they might experience pulmonary hemorrhage, bleeding, hair loss, and allergic reactions.
Preventing Mold Growth
Mold growth usually occurs when moisture is present, which is why when there is water damage, mold is most likely to be there as well.
Since mold spores are everywhere, how can you prevent mold growth from happening in your home? Here are 5 tips to help you keep mold spores at bay and prevent them from growing.
1. Check Your Humidity Levels
Keep humidity levels in your home as low as possible. It should be no more than 50%. However, you might be wondering, how can you know how humid your home is?
Thankfully, you can check your humidity levels by using a humidity meter. You can purchase this meter at your local home improvement store.
Over the course of a day, humidity levels will change. So, it would be best to check it throughout the day multiple times to get a rough idea of how humid your home is.
2. Increase Air Circulation
The next tip would be to increase air circulation in your home. This is extremely important if you have certain rooms in your home that don’t have enough ventilation or exits, such as a basement or bathroom.
Installing an air conditioner or dehumidifier will do wonders for your home in battling high humidity levels. For bathrooms and kitchens, you should consider installing exhaust fans. The key to keeping mold from growing is to make sure that the air in your home is flowing freely.
3. Clean Your Home Quickly and Thoroughly
Another tip to keep mold from growing is to keep your home clean and dry. Mold can grow on various surfaces such as wood, ceiling tiles, cardboard, wallpaper, carpets, fabric, food, or even plants.
Hard surfaces such as concrete floors are easier to clean, but when it comes to porous surfaces such as carpets, wood, and fabric, cleaning mold can be tedious.
To prevent mold growth and severe mold buildup, clean your home thoroughly and quickly. Use mold-destroying cleaning agents and check every nook and cranny for any signs of mold. Once you’ve finished cleaning, remember to dry every surface of your home.
Leaving any areas moist will invite more mold and might even create a mold problem for your home.
4. Be On the Lookout for Water Damage
Water damage and mold growth go hand in hand. So, always be on the lookout for signs of water damage. This includes leaks and cracks in pipes, walls, home foundation, and even appliances.
Floods are unpredictable and can cause water damage if the water enters your home. Pipes also tend to leak over time, and water will seep into parts of your house. Appliances that rely on water can also tend to malfunction, especially if they are outdated. Catching signs of water damage early on will help you in the long run and prevent mold growth in the future.
5. Dry Carpets Properly
Lastly, if you clean your carpets regularly, always remember to dry them properly. Since carpets are porous, they are the perfect home for mold spores to grow. If your carpets have been soaked in water and have not dried completely, remove them immediately and replace them.
You should also avoid using carpets in places with little ventilation, such as bathrooms or basements since these areas have higher humidity than other parts of the home.
Wrapping Up
No one wants to experience mold growth in their homes. It causes many problems that affect your health, your home’s physical exteriors, and interiors, and they can be a pain to remove if left untreated.
To keep your home safe from mold growth and its dangerous effects, it’s essential to measure your home’s humidity levels regularly, keep it clean, dry, increase air circulation, and actively lookout for signs of water damage.
Although mold can grow anytime and anywhere, following these tips to a tee will reduce the chances of mold growth significantly.
If mold growth has damaged your home extensively and you’re unsure of what to do, at MLM Incorporated, we can help you rebuild your home and keep the mold away. Get in touch today.