ARE YOU BEGINNING TO GET MOLDY?

Now that we are getting into winter and the wet weather, it’s probably time to start being on the lookout for moisture intrusion and/or moisture accumulation issues in our homes. Moisture can be very damaging to our home and its’ various systems. But, what can be another negative add-on to moisture is mold. A lot has been made of mold over the past several years due to some high profile lawsuits against builders and insurance companies, so much so, that most insurance companies now have disclaimers in their policies that disavow coverage for mold issues. Although I don’t really know the merits of these legal cases, I do know some were way overblown, as mold is everywhere. You and I are breathing in mold spores right now. There are literally millions of different strains of mold and mildew on this earth. If there was no mold or mildew we would be buried in leaves and other material because it wouldn’t break down, decay and return to the soil as nutrients. Unfortunately, when mold begins to grow in our homes due to leaks or other moisture issues, the mold does what it does best and begins breaking down and decaying the materials that it is flourishing on. Some molds can even make you very ill, especially if you are allergic to them or you have pulmonary issues or a weakened immune system. So, for whatever reason, you don’t want mold to get a foothold in your home.

It takes three things for mold to grow: food (natural nutrients), water (moisture) and habitat (40 – 130 degrees/high humidity). Take any one item away, and mold can’t grow. As our homes are loaded with mold ‘food’ such as sheetrock (the paper exterior covering on it), wood, carpet, textiles, plastics, skin oils, vegetables and grains to name a few, and the temperatures that we are comfortable in are the same that mold flourishes in, we need to concentrate on correcting and/or controlling moisture conditions. Some things that should be on your ‘fix it’ list to keep mold away would be leaky pipes, damp basements, flooding/moisture intrusion, houseplants, refrigerators, damp clothes, humidity, condensation, poor ventilation and spills and leaks of any kind.

So, now it’s time to set aside a part of your day to methodically go through your home and search for any kind of moisture build-up or leaks and to then ‘fix’ them. Take a slow walk around the exterior of your home and check to see if there are any cracks or gaps in the wall siding and trim members that need caulking and/or securing. Look at how the soil slopes at the base of the walls at the foundation. The soil should slope away from the foundation and there should not be any depressions that can hold water. Don’t forget to look up also – is there stains or darkening of the eave wood members? Are the rain gutters cleaned out of debris so that they drain properly and don’t overflow or back up onto the eave wood members? And, talking about looking up, don’t forget to look up in the attic spaces to double check that there is no condensation collecting on the underside of the roof framing due to lack of adequate ventilation.

If your house inspection turns up some mold, by fixing the leak, correcting the humidity or removing the ‘food’ source should control the mold. Fresh air and sunlight will also help kill the mold. For a small area of mold growth, you can mix 2 teaspoons of white distilled vinegar or tree oil with 2 cups of water in a spray bottle, spray the mixture on the mold and do not rinse. Vinegar kills most mold spores, and tea tree oil is a fungicide. However, cleaning mold can be dangerous, so if you have more than 10 square feet of mold, or the mold is black or greenish-black in color, you probably better hire a contractor familiar with mold remediation. To get additional information on mold issues and remediation, try the following resources:

Environmental Protection Agency (www.epa.gov/mold/preventionandcontrol.html ) “Guide to Mold, Moisture and Your Home”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( www.cdc.gov/mold ) mold information site

National Association of Homebuilders ( www.moldtips.com ) mold resource center