A lot of people think that mold is a scary monster that lurks in the deep corners of your house, waiting and ready to strike. In reality mold is just the symptom of a water problem, the end of a formula. Mold really does cause health problems, but it can be easily eliminated if you understand it.
Mold is part of a larger family of fungi that include many organisms, including mushrooms and yeast. They aren’t alive in the same way we think about plants and animals, and only can continue to grow, survive, and perpetuate if they have the right set of circumstances.
The largest part of this puzzle is water!
Therefore, if you eliminate water, then you really take away any ability for the mold to grow or survive. Using this principle, we can always stop mold from growing and causing indoor air, quality issues, if we first identify and eliminate the moisture issue.
Mold needs effectively four things to successfully grow and survive. Water, and organic surface in which to grow on, an undisturbed area, and the right temperature and pH. If you remove any of these things you stop the mold from spreading. A healthy mold colony will give off mold spores into the air to spread itself. It is these aerosolized mold spores that are often causing respiratory distress, allergies, or indoor air quality issues.
Mold has a difficult time growing on inorganic surfaces, like metal or plastic, or even a painted surface. Sometimes when people find mold growing on these inorganic surfaces, what’s really going on is that dust and a small amount of moisture in the air have mixed together to create a bio film, and mold is then able to grow on the bio film. But because there is not a lot of organic material in which to grow on, the mold will be largely unsuccessful in perpetuating. If there’s not a lot of water, or intermittent moisture, the mold may also struggle to grow. This is why maintaining a clean environment is so important! Keeping your dust levels down, or wiping surfaces can go along way.
Trying to figure out if you have a mold problem, usually requires that you’re working with a independent environmental professional (IEP).
It is best to use these types of professionals to help identify whether you have a mold problem, rather than going directly to a mold, remediation, contractor, or Home Inspector. An IEP will be familiar with moisture dynamics, fungal, mycology, and how moisture and mold interact a house.
Usually, a professional mold test, inspection, or assessment will involve some type of air sample test and a visual inspection. You should be wary of companies that only provide testing without a thorough inspection. After the results come back from laboratory, an environmentalist will be able to tell you whether they think you have an issue that would affect interior occupants and whether you might need molder mediation or cleanup to improve the indoor air quality within your home.
If you have more questions about mold, or remediation, please give our office a call at 615-200-8220.
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