How to Prevent Mold and Mildew in Your House

Molds are fungi that grow naturally in moist and humid places. When they grow inside the house, they can negatively affect air quality and pose other health risks. So, it is essential to prevent their growth in your home. 

Mildew and molds are the same organisms in different stages of their lifecycle. They can be useful in the outer environment to compose a lead to enrich the soil with nutrients. However, they are detrimental when they grow indoors. It can cause respiratory problems, headaches, sinus congestion, throat, and eye irritation. Infants, children, older people, pregnant women, and others have respiratory issues. 

In dealing with molds or preventing them in your house, here are some things that you should try out. 

A correct possible point of growth in your house

It is no secret that molds and mildew need a moist environment to grow in. Their presence in your house means that you have a breeding ground. What you should do is check your home. Look for a possible breeding ground and remove it. It might be that your basement is flooded or a persistent leak has led to water stains on your ceiling. There are many other possibilities, but the point is, it’s impossible to stop the growth and spread of mold in your house if you don’t find that breeding ground and correct it. 

Addressing this problem might mean that you have to rip up old products and buy new mold-resistant ones. You might have to excavate or waterproof. The solution might be expensive, but it will help to prevent molds from growing in your house, which might be more costly in the future if left unchecked. 

Keep your home’s humidity level in check.

Molds won’t grow if the humidity level in your house is not high enough. So an ideal first step to preventing their growth is to keep the humidity level in check. Make sure that your home is dry. It might mean that you have to install a hydrometer to check your house’s moisture and humidity level. According to professional essay writers, your house must not have a humidity level that is higher than 60 percent if you are to prevent the growth of molds. 

If you live in an area likely to have excessive moisture quickly, you must ventilate. Make sure the vent fans are turned on when you use the bathroom, kitchen, or basement. If you don’t have vent fans, install them in those places and if they are faulty, repair them. 

Natural ventilation and fresh air

A natural way to prevent moisture from building up and creating an ideal environment for molds to grow is ventilation. Keep your home always ventilated by opening your windows. When the levels of carbon dioxide are too high, it will reduce the body’s oxygen level. When this happens, oxygen flow to the brain is hampered. If you have closed up your house for months (probably because you traveled), carbon dioxide would have built up inside, especially in the most used rooms in the house. So, open your house up to fresh air first before entering. Fresh air also helps dry out musty and damp areas in your home and reduces stiffness and odors. Make sure that your windows are opened every day, even if it’s for only 5 - 15 minutes, to allow natural ventilation in your house. 

Use mold-resistant products in your house.

If you are renovating your old house or you’re just building a new one, you should seek to use mold-resistant products. Common examples of products that you can use are mold inhibitors, mold-resistant Sheetrock, and mold-resistant drywall. Drywall is traditionally made of gypsum plaster that is pressed to the core by two plies of paper. In comparison, mold-resistant drywall doesn’t have paper. Fiberglass covers the gypsum core, and this makes the surface resistant to water. Drywalls that are moisture-resistant will be valuable for you in areas prone to getting wet, such as the kitchen, basements, laundry rooms, and bathrooms.

The problem with traditional drywall is that they are more susceptible to mold than paperless ones. Worse still, it’s challenging to get rid of molds when they start to grow on the wall, and if you have to remove them and replace them, it will be costly. You can also get a mold-resistant gypsum board in which the drywall is built to prevent absorption of moisture and prevent mold growth. 

The green cleaning product is helpful.

In one article by a college paper writer, he states that the largest source of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) in a house are cleaning products that have a severe odor. Lemon and artificial pine products are especially notorious for this. When you clean your house with these products, especially if you are cleaning areas where mold is present, you’re trading a problem for the other. During your home cleaning or when you have to deal with mold, make sure you use water-based cleaners that are non-aerosol and non-toxic. 

Introduce household plants

Household plants are not just beautiful, they also help to improve the quality of your indoor air. These plants can remove VOCs such as benzene, paints, and formaldehyde. Although they have moist soil that is a good ground for mold to breed, you can ensure that molds don’t grow by adding some Taheebo tea when watering the plant. The oil can withstand fungi, so molds are unable to grow in the plant's soil. 

Conclusion

In dealing with molds and mildew in your house, an excellent first step is to know your region’s climate. Southwest is hot and dry, Northeast is cold and wet, West is cold and dry, and South is hot and wet. Knowing this little detail and how it affects moisture is essential. You should know that there’s no one solution to this problem. So, find out what works for your house and your climate for a start. 

Author Bio

Leon Collier is a blogger from Edinburgh. He's one of those providing service with professional coursework writers at essay writing service UK, and he also writes custom essay papers. He loves to write about everything: house renovation, history, travel, self-development, education, and marketing. When not writing, you can find him behind a book or playing tabletop games with his friends. Follow him on Twitter @LeonCollier12.

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