Spring has fully sprung in Iowa! The oak trees have released all their pollen, and blossoms are all around. Everything is beautiful, but sniffly noses become the norm. What happens when sniffly noses become sore throats, headaches, and a skin rash? You realize that this may not be a normal allergy response in your family.
Before you add to your headache with the brain pain of setting up doctor appointments for you and your kiddos, it may be time to consider that your indoor environment is just as instrumental in maintaining your family’s health as the ever-changing outdoor environment. April showers may bring May flowers, but they may also bring set-in mold to your home.
Why Is Mold Growing in My Home?
Molds are part of the natural environment. Outdoors, molds play a part in nature by breaking down dead organic matter, such as fallen leaves and dead trees. But indoors, mold growth should be avoided. Molds reproduce by means of tiny spores; the spores are invisible to the naked eye and float through outdoor and indoor air. Mold may begin growing indoors when mold spores land on surfaces that are wet. There are many types of mold, and none of them will grow without water or moisture.
Mold Basics:
✓ The key to mold control is moisture control.
✓ If mold is a problem in your home, you should clean up the mold promptly and fix the water problem.
✓ It is important to dry water-damaged areas and items within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold growth.
Source: https://www.nachi.org/mold.htm
How Water Intrusion Turns to Mold Intrusion
Water can get into the home through small cracks in the seal of windows and doors, through leaks in the roof, and even up through the foundation. It can also find its way into your home internally, through common occurrences like high-humidity areas such as bathrooms with low ventilation or accidental indoor floods from appliances like washing machines, water heaters, and dishwashers (we’ve been seeing this one a lot lately!)
Any water spill or leak left unattended can soak into the wall into the insulation or settle under the floor. When this happens, mold spores can take hold and take over. There are many tips and tricks to prevent mold, but if it has already entered your home, it is time for action. Mold can be aggressive and spread, so early detection and intervention are key.
You may feel as though your house is unaffected by mold because you have checked surfaces and are not able to see evidence of mold spores. However, mold does not always present on the outside of surfaces until later stages. It can be growing, hidden from sight, for quite some time before you notice the outward signs of it.
Look to the Health of Residents as a Good Indicator of Mold Intrusion
The best litmus test is your own health. If you begin to notice signs and symptoms of mold impact on health, it is time to call in a professional to make an assessment. Health problems that may arise from mold in the home are respiratory problems, skin irritation, and neurological irregularities such as brain fog from increased fatigue and headaches. The health impact of mold can be especially hard-hitting on those who suffer from asthma.
Particularly if any of these symptoms fall outside the range of normal allergy season or affect family members who do not typically experience allergies, take action and call your local mold testing and mitigation company.
Add Periodic Mold Testing to Your Home Care Calendar
Some families may feel that mold testing is the best first step for them. If you feel unsure about whether your home has been infected with mold, it is appropriate for home ownership hygiene to periodically call for a home mold test. You may be lucky enough to catch a small issue before it becomes a full-blown mold epidemic.
If you fall under the category of a family who just wants to ensure air quality is in tip-top shape in the home as a preventative measure or who is not certain if any mold outbreak is quietly happening under your noses, a home mold test is an excellent step to take.
Other families may recognize that mold mitigation is the appropriate measure to protect their family’s health and prevent mold. For still others, there may be conditions within the home that are ripe for breeding mold spores in the future, or mold spread may have already occurred, and finding a specialist in mold remediation is of paramount importance.
HOW TO FIND AND REMOVE MOLD FROM YOUR TULSA AREA HOME
Air Quality Test Near Tulsa
Different times of a home’s life require different needs, and that means that you may require one or more companies to fulfill your specific needs at this time. For example, the company who performs the air quality test may not be the same company who performs the mold remediation.
When you hire a professional service, like you can expect for them to take samples of your home to test for types of mold. They can even tell you whether the prevention steps you’ve taken against mold in the past are effective.
If you learn that you have effectively warded off mold spores then you will want schedule yearly appointments to make sure mold, or other organic growth, hasn’t begun to grow inside the home. But anytime you discover a leak of any kind you’ll also want to order an air quality test in order to determine whether or not mold spores have been present, because sometimes it can be difficult to determine how the leak has been active and unaddressed.
Mold Mitigation Experts in the Tulsa Area
If your testing service provider informs you that, while you do not currently have a mold outbreak, the conditions are right for one, you’ll need to take action by contacting a mold mitigation expert.
Mitigation is the process of stopping a problem in its tracks as much as possible and reducing the harm it may cause. Mitigation is an important step in the prevention of future outbreaks as well as prevention against a re-outbreak (if one has already occurred). These experts can advise and service your home with better protection against mold outbreaks. Examples of this might include window and door sealing, foundation sealing, and/or leak detection and repair.
Mold in the home can be scary. Whether you are worried about a potential mold outbreak, making the changes to actively prevent one, or coping with the realities of one already in progress, you are not alone, and Forever Home Inspection has already done the hard work for you of identifying trusted and trustworthy Tulsa companies to take care of your mold needs, whatever they might be.
Sources:
https://www.nachi.org/mold.htm
