Mold Removal: When To Call A Pro?

It’s only right to be alarmed once you see mold forming in certain areas of your home. After all, mold is unsightly, it can smell awful, and worse, certain types can make you sick. You need to get rid of mold right away, because it can only get worse if you ignore it.

Mold is easy enough to take care of once you detect it early. You can fix the mold problem yourself, but there are situations when you will need to call in mold remediation professionals.

Facts About Mold

For home and business owners, mold is nothing more than a nuisance, and they will be right. However, mold is an entirely different thing for the ecosystem. Mold is a fungus that helps break down dead leaves, plants, trees, and other biological matter.

Mold only becomes a bother when they form inside our homes and buildings. Then again, if the moisture levels in your property are high, it’s but normal for mold to form since the fungus thrives in damp areas.

The bathroom, for example, is a favorite place for mold. If your bathroom has poor ventilation, it’s very likely for mold to form on its floors, walls, and shower curtains.

The basement is also a place where mold formation is common, as the presence of water heater tanks and sump pumps there contributes to making it a damp and humid environment.

Plumbing issues like leaking pipes inside walls can also cause mold to form. Fail to notice such a leak early, and an entire mold colony will likely form on that wall within a short period.

What Mold Looks and Smells Like

Mold can look like a fuzzy patch, a slimy spot, or a slick film on surfaces, and they come in a wide variety of colors. According to experts, the colors produced by molds can vary according to region. In the Pacific Northwest, for example, blue and green mold are common. In South America, on the other hand, orange is a more prevalent color. Mold can also be purple, white, brown, yellow, or black.

Mold typically gives off a musty smell, so if your nose detects the slightest bit of mustiness, there is a high possibility that the fungus has already invaded your property.

Health Issues Mold Can Cause

Considering that our homes and businesses will always have more humid than usual spots, it’s entirely possible that we already have mold spores flying around. For all we know, we may be inhaling them unknowingly, but it shouldn’t be a problem if it’s in small amounts, and you’re not allergic to mold. What would make you sick is if you inhale them in larger quantities. Sneezing and coughing fits, red, itchy, and watery eyes, and skin rashes are symptoms of an allergic reaction to mold.

In severe cases, exposure to mold can trigger breathing difficulties or even an asthma attack, both of which should be given immediate medical attention.

DIY Mold Removal

When your mold problem only occupies a small and limited area, you can easily deal with it yourself. There are commercial mold removers on the market, but if you want a safe, effective, and cheap way of removing mold, look no further than your kitchen cabinet.

Vinegar is very good for removing mold, as it kills 80% of mold species. It may also be the safest mold remover out there. It’s safer than other home mold solutions like bleach, hydrogen peroxide, borax, and ammonia.

All you have to do is put vinegar in a spray bottle, and apply it on walls, floors, and other surfaces affected by mold. Rinse the vinegar off after an hour. Reapply vinegar every few days to keep mold from coming back.

When To Call A Pro

Some mold problems are far too big and complicated for DIY mold removal. Vinegar won’t do any good if the affected area is at least 10 square feet. A spray bottle also won’t cut it if you had to reach mold growth behind drywall, sub-flooring, and other hard-to-reach places.

When you’ve got a nasty mold problem, you may have no other choice but to bring in mold removal professionals.

Those who are pros at removing mold don’t just expertly pinpoint areas with excess moisture, identify mold colonies, and clean them off surfaces. They also restore mold-damaged parts of your property to the way they were, and take steps and give you advice to ensure that mold will never return.

Call mold removal professionals now if your mold problem is too big to handle so it doesn’t get any worse.

Guest Contributor: Rachel Anderson