So, you
have a few spots of mold appearing here and there. No big deal, right?
Certainly, you can live with a little bit of mildew, dealing with spots as they
appear. However, mold isn’t merely something to co-exist with complacently. In
fact, mold colonies are made up of microscopic organisms, many of which are
harmful.
Before you
decide to live with mold in your home, consider this: those stuffy noses,
irritated eyes, and respiratory ailments you and your family have been
suffering from could be due to mold exposure! If any of your family members is
pregnant, has asthma, is elderly, is an infant, or has a compromised immune
system, they are at a higher risk for potential adverse health effects from
mold.
From a
health standpoint alone, you do not want to live with mold. Even if there
weren’t unhealthy side effects, mold has other negatives including: aesthetics
(mold spots and large patches of mold are ugly!), smell (entering a moldy home
is unpleasant due to the musty stench), and property damage.
While a
few spots of mold on your bathroom ceiling may be easy to overlook, larger mold
spots are eye grabbers. Moldy wallpaper and dark patches on your walls,
furnishings, or carpets is unsightly and may have your house guests questioning
your housekeeping skills or worse – wondering if your home is going to make
them sick. Take a look around your home as if you were a homebuyer. Would you
want to buy a home with obvious signs of mold?
Not only
is mold unhealthy and visually unappealing, it stinks! Even if you can’t see
mold in your home, your nose will alert you to its presence thanks to its musty
odor. However, your sense of smell may have become accustomed to the unique
smells of your own home; you may not smell the obvious! One way to overcome
this is to take a short vacation, leaving your home closed up. When you return,
you’ll be more likely to detect a musty odor. This is a good time to follow
your nose and see if you can find the area where the smell originates.
You’ve likely
heard horror stories of homeowners who have had to demolish their homes because
of mold. While your house isn’t likely to be encased in mold, even a small area
of mold infestation can lead to significant damage to your property. Mold
literally eats the materials on which it resides. Therefore, if you have mold
on your carpet, the mold is devouring the carpet’s fibers! If you have mold on
your walls, it is eating the wallpaper, paint, and drywall! The same goes for
drapes, upholstery, ceiling tiles, and other porous surfaces. With its deep
roots, mold quickly returns after a surface cleaning, much like a weed, making
cleanup a temporary measure. In many cases, the only way to get rid of the mold
is to discard the infested materials. Throwing away sheets of drywall,
insulation, carpets, or furnishings means that these materials must be
replaced. Depending on what’s been damaged, repairs can be costly – and your
homeowners insurance may specifically exclude mold damage from your coverage!
If you
notice mold in your home, it’s not going to go away by itself and you certainly
should not “live with it.” As a living organism, mold reproduces and colonies
grow, making the problem progressively worse. The sooner you can stop mold, the
happier – and most likely healthier – you will be.
By: Mr.
Mark Decherd
For more information and other articles by Mark Decherd go to:
Dryout® Inc.
239-437-7100
Dryout Inc
Emergency water damage restoration, drying,
deodorization, decontamination, disinfection, mold removal, water damage
repair, restoration and reconstruction of commercial and residential properties
damaged by fire, water and other disasters by a network of trained specialists,
technicians and restoration professionals across the USA and Canada.
Good post Mark. People dont realize how bad living with mold can be.
Posted by: mold damage company | 09/20/2010 at 05:05 PM