It’s a natural part of the environment and plays an important role in the ecosystem, but you don’t want it under sinks and behind walls.
Mold grows inside your home because it thrives in temperatures between 40 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit when indoor humidity is above 60 percent.
Add cold-condensing surfaces and areas that stay damp, and you have an environment that encourages unhealthy mold growth.
We know that you always take good care of your home, but over the years, our experience with mold testing in Chicago residential properties has given us an inside look at the problem.
Here are 14 surprising ways that you’re contributing to mold growth around the house.
1. Forgetting to Ventilate the Bathroom
Enjoying a hot shower creates a damp environment that breeds mold. If you don’t open a window or turn on the ventilation fan, all that steam builds up and lingers on walls and inside vanity cabinets.
2. Not Using the Exhaust Fan in the Kitchen
When you cook a meal or run the dishwasher, you’re filling up the kitchen with moist air. When you forget to use the exhaust fan, you’re giving mold a better chance to take hold.
3. Ignoring Condensation on Windows
Ignore condensation on windows, and you overlook another source of mold growth. Moisture on any indoor surface means high humidity, and it should be addressed right away.
4. Turning off the Heater
Completely turning off your heater can lead to mold growth
Completely turning off your heater can lead to mold growth
Although a money-saving strategy, leaving the heater off when you’re away from home for several days can cause mold-friendly condensation inside walls.
5. Forgetting to Inspect Your Home for Mold
Without regular inspections around toilets and under sinks, you miss the first signs of mold problems. Even drip pans under the refrigerator and AC unit are breeding grounds for unhealthy growth.
6. Postponing Plumbing Repairs
You keep putting off small plumbing repairs, and that gives mold a head start. In just 48 hours, a tiny leak can lead to problems that require professional mold remediation
7. Pushing Out Bathroom Chores
Bathrooms don’t clean themselves, and it’s easy to put off this chore. Mold takes advantage of dirty corners; consider the advantages of professional home cleaning services.
8. Improperly Removing Mold
Your DIY mold cleanup efforts may make the problem worse if you don’t take proper precautions. While you think that you’re eliminating its source, airborne mold spores easily spread throughout the house.
9. Painting Over Mold
Painting over mold doesn’t make it go away. That fresh color you apply to exterior or interior walls is a temporary cover that will eventually peel as mold continues to grow and undo all your hard work.
10. Not Cleaning Out Overflowing Gutters
Overflowing gutters are ideal breeding grounds for mold growth
You may not like cleaning out the gutters, but did you know that mold can make itself at home in the drainage system around your roofline?
11. Ignoring Pooling Water
It’s easy to ignore water that pools around house foundations. It’s better to grade areas away from your home’s base so that mold can’t take hold and start growing up exterior walls.
12. Forgetting to Insulate Water Pipes
You don’t realize that insulating cold water pipes year-round helps control mold. When a surface is constantly cool, changes in surrounding temperatures cause condensation that breeds mold.
13. Not Checking the Attic for Leaks
You’re up in the attic, but you aren’t looking for small roof leaks. Whatever takes you up there, tend to it, and then check rafters and insulation for any signs of damp and mold.
Always by Your Side
Controlling mold isn’t easy, but you have an advantage when you understand how quickly it takes hold in different areas around your home. We shared DIY techniques for solving small mold problems in an earlier post, and our teams are always available to tackle the big jobs.
Whether you need advice and tips or professional mold removal here in Chicago and suburbs, you can count on ServiceMaster Restoration by Zaba.
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