The Importance of Removing Mold Immediately
So, you’ve discovered that your house has a mold problem. You’re probably wondering what to do next and if it’s really a problem that you should deal with right away or ignore. Instead of putting it off, you should make removing mold a priority. The reality is that mold is more than just a nuisance; it can affect your health and home when ignored.
What Is Mold?
In order to understand why removing mold is necessary, you should know what it is. You might already know that mold is essential in making cheese and certain medicines like penicillin, but it’s so much more than that. With over 100,000 varieties of mold in the world, it makes sense that not all are beneficial. In fact, many are the opposite of helpful, especially when they make their way into your home.
Mold is a type of fungus. It thrives in damp areas, living on organic matter like wood, dead leaves, and other decaying matter. You might find it on old bread or deli meat that’s been left in your fridge for too long, but it can also feed on materials all over your home – even dust. Mold spreads through microscopic spores that float through the air, in water, and they can even attach themselves to your shoes and clothes. Once they find their ideal breeding ground, they can start to multiply in as little as 48 hours. That means that a high-humidity environment is susceptible to mold growth, even inside, where the humidity levels might be lower.
Why Removing Mold is Necessary
Because mold spores are everywhere, they can quickly become an issue under ideal conditions. It doesn’t take long for mold to become a problem, and once it does, it can be difficult to remove. Mold spreads quickly, making removing mold time-sensitive. Once you have a mold infestation, it’s impossible to get rid of it on your own.
It Affects Your Health
One of the best reasons to remove the mold immediately is your and your family’s health. Unfortunately, mold is more than just an eyesore and nuisance. Many varieties found in homes can cause a range of health problems, from an itchy nose to respiratory issues. Because many mold symptoms are similar to allergies or asthma, they might not seem dangerous at first. However, long-term mold exposure can have lasting effects, especially in those with preexisting conditions. While some symptoms may seem mild, mold exposure can lead to more severe symptoms, including memory loss, skin conditions, and a suppressed immune system.
It Damages Your Home
Removing mold right away isn’t just essential to your health. Your home can also be negatively affected, and it only gets worse the longer the problem is left alone. Most houses are made of organic material, and as mentioned before, mold feeds on many building materials. From wood beams to carpet and drywall, mold can make a meal of just about any part of the building’s structure. When people think of mold in their home, they imagine it in areas like the bathroom or laundry room. While those areas are definitely typical mold havens, Florida’s climate makes mold possible just about anywhere. With heavy rains and damaging weather events, mold can make its way inside through a cracked foundation or damaged roof. Even a leaky faucet, burst pipe, or faulty appliance can create enough moisture for mold to start to grow. Finding the source and cause of your mold problem is the first step in getting rid of mold in your home to prevent damage and limit expensive repairs. It’s possible to remove mold from some materials, but if left for too long, mold can completely destroy them and make replacement necessary.
Who Removes Mold?
Because of the hazards associated with mold, removing mold should never be a DIY project. There’s a reason that mold removal experts require training and certification, and that’s because getting rid of mold requires specialized knowledge and equipment. Trying to do it yourself usually makes the infestation worse. Since disrupting mold causes spores to spread in the air, you could accidentally spread the mold to other areas of your home that haven’t yet been affected. Another issue is that mold isn’t always apparent to an untrained eye, or it could be hiding in areas that you can’t easily access. On the other hand, mold removal experts have tools like moisture meters that can find mold behind walls and under floors. Plus, they’ll know exactly how to contain the affected area to prevent spreading while they use special cleaners to remove the mold.
Mold Removal in Southwest Florida
At iMold, we understand the importance of a fast response time. As Southwest Florida’s preferred mold removal service, we have the experience and tools needed to remove mold from any area of your home. Along with a 30-minute response time, we use leak detection technology to find and stop mold right at the source. So call or contact us online for your free estimate and inspection, and be sure to follow iMold for on Instagram and Facebook more mold facts.