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How Mold Can Damage Your Home & Your Health

mold damage

Mold spores are everywhere around us, in the air outside and in our homes. There are hundreds of thousands of different species of mold that exist, and while they are generally not harmful in the small quantities that you might find them outside and inside, they can quickly become harmful if they are allowed to grow and thrive inside your home. When you find that mold has started growing in your home, it’s critical that you take quick action to eliminate it for the health and safety of your home and family.

What is Mold?

Mold is a fungus that grows best in warm, damp environments. It reproduces and spreads through spores that can float through the air and attach to just about any surface. These spores can also survive in very harsh conditions, even dry environments that would not normally support mold growth, which means that you are not necessarily immune to mold just because you don’t see it right now.

How Mold Affects Your Family

Not everyone is particularly sensitive to mold growth, but even those who may not notice an immediate reaction to mold might find that they are suffering from long-term exposure. For some people mold can cause very minor irritations to the respiratory tract, such as nasal congestion, stuffiness, eye irritation, and perhaps skin irritation as well. Others may have a more serious allergic reaction, and in extreme cases it can cause more serious illness such as fever, shortness of breath, and pneumonia, or chronic illness such as asthma and respiratory infections.

Where to Find Mold

Mold in your home is most likely to thrive in places where it can find a warm, moist environment. That generally includes your kitchen and bathrooms, but may also include the basement if the area is humid or damp, or places that were recently flooded, such as wet carpet. You may be able to see visible signs of the mold, such as black or dark spots on the walls or ceiling, or in the grout of your tile in the bathroom, but it’s not always growing in visible areas. If you notice that you have some of the symptoms of mold irritations or illnesses, you should immediately call a place like AAA Restoration to check your home for mold and clean it immediately if you find it. You might have mold growing behind your walls or in the ceilings or vent areas where you can’t see it but it is still harmful.

The best way to prevent the harmful effects of mold is to get it cleaned by a professional company that has the proper equipment to not only locate and eliminate existing mold, but can also clean up the traces of mold that might be left behind and can lead to future infestation. Once cleaned, it’s important to control humidity levels in your home to prevent future growth.