Invisible Mold Can Destroy Architecture Silently: How To Treat Mold In Buildings
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Mold can cause serious problems in a home and lead to expensive remediation costs for homeowners. It can grow anywhere in your home, especially if there is moisture or organic matter to grow on.
The condition of your house will be worsened if the mold is invisible, which can destroy your house silently. Invisible mold can quickly multiply and cause health issues such as nasal congestion, chronic headaches, and allergies, apart from destroying your house.
The good thing is that you can treat mold in your building by employing some simple measures. For your help, we will let you know how to explore and deal with invisible mold in this context.
How To Identify Invisible Mold In The Basement?
Finding the invisible mold will be challenging if you don't have any previous experience. Invisible mold usually grows in the house’s basement. In that case, following some simple techniques will help to find the invisible mold. The techniques are as follows:
Smell The Air For Mold
The smell is the first sign to find out whether your basement has mold. So, if you experience any musty, dusty, or earthy smell in your basement, there could be mold growing. Besides, wet wood or dirty socks smell also indicate that your basement has mold.
Explore The Mold Area
If you find any suspicious odor in your basement, locate the mold area. In that case, you can inspect sewage pipes, water supply lines, and water drainage pipes. Additionally, look to the ceiling above the finished basement, around the sump pumps, and cavities inside the wall to find the mold-affected area.
Visually Locate The Mold
Look for signs of mold through a light. At this stage, inspect any spots, whether your surface has black mold or dust. Both of these are common household allergens, but black mold can cause damage to your house. Ordinary people may not be able to identify between black mold and dust. So, you should have a good idea about black mold vs dust to identify the grown mold on your house.
Verify The Mold With Bleach
If you get anything that seems to mold, you can check the area by making a solution. To make the solution, add 1 cup bleach with 10 cups of water in a container. Then apply the solution to the suspected area. If the applied area doesn't change the color, it would be a normal dirty surface. If it is moldy, the area will be lightened.
Things You Will Need To Treat Mold In Your Buildings
If you wish to treat mold in your building, you will need some instruments and ingredients to make the task easier. Here we have listed these needed instruments and ingredients for your help.
Bucket
Liquid dishwashing detergent
Chlorine bleach
Soft, non-abrasive sponges
Container
Contractor’s heavy-duty garbage bags
Measuring cup
Hard and soft bristle brush
Garden hose
How To Treat Mold In Buildings
After arranging all the instruments and ingredients, you can start the process of treating mold in your house. Here, we have explained how you can treat mold in your house.
Remove Invisible Mold From The Basement
Bleach is usually a strong acid that can destroy wood and even concrete. That means you can’t use bleaching solutions on your foundations, especially in your house’s basement. According to the EPS, mold cleanup shouldn't involve bleach as a routine practice. In such cases, a vinegar solution can be a better option to treat the mold-affected areas. Studies found that vinegar contains antibacterial and antifungal properties that can be used for mold treatment. To treat mold in your basement, check out the steps below.
Ventilate the room with a fan so that the airflow moves toward the outside. Tape around the work area and turn off the HVAC system to avoid mold spreading.
Dry the place by increasing the heat of the room. Keep running the fan until the room is completely dry.
Make a solution with vinegar and water and spray down the areas of basement mold.
Rub the surface where the solution is applied with a soft sponge.
Once the mold has dried, clean the surface physically so that there is no mold remaining on the surface.
Remove Mold from Interior Walls
When working with mold on your interior walls, you should wear safety glasses and get respiratory protection. Check out the steps below to remove mold from your house’s interior walls.
First, make a solution with detergent, bleach, and water, following the ratio of 1:10:20. To clean off mold from your walls, this mixer will help to adhere to the poured area.
Spread the solution with a sponge over the mold-affected area. Try not to over-saturate the surfaces and toss sponges after use.
Let the solution air-dry completely before making any required repairs. So, don’t wash away the applied solution.
Now rub the entire mold area with the soft sponge for a few minutes until all the mold spots clear out.
After that, wash the wall with clean water and bag all disposed materials in a heavy-duty plastic bag.
Remove Mold From Exterior Home Surfaces
Chlorine bleach is a quite effective cleaner to remove mold from house siding, concrete, stone, and brick. However, use caution and put on a respirator, gloves, safety goggles, and protective gear. Check out the steps below to remove mold from your exterior surface with chlorine bleach.
Mix 1 cup of chlorine bleach to a gallon of water in a bucket.
Wet the moldy spots with normal water using a sprayer or by hand, then spread the solution to the affected area using the sprayer.
Scrub the area and re-apply the bleach and water mixture if any stains are still present.
Let the surface air dry completely and clean the areas with normal water.
Remove Mold From Tile and Grout
Humidity and soil on surfaces create a suitable environment for mold growth. For that reason, bathroom tiles and grout are more exposed to mold growth, especially in the shower stall area. Following the steps below you can easily clean the moldy tiles and grout.
Simply mix one cup of bleach with one gallon of water.
Apply the made solution to the mold-affected area using a brush.
Give the solution at least 15 minutes to dry in the applied area.
Scrub or treat the affected area a second time, if needed.
Now, rinse the area with normal water and let the area air dry.
Why Does Mold Grow In House?
Mold can grow in your house for different reasons, but it needs some conditions to begin to grow. These conditions are as follows:
Mold spores
A food source (e.g., wood, drywall, cotton)
Darkness (Under ultraviolet light, mold cannot grow)
Warmth (In freezing temperatures, mold cannot grow.)
Oxygen
Moisture (e.g. humidity, water leaks)
Moisture is the main cause of mold growth, but the other reasons on the list are also responsible for that. However, here we have discussed some common causes of mold growth in your house.
Humidity Causes Mold
If it's extremely humid outside for a few days, mold can start to form inside your house. This mainly happens for wet air when it rains for several days.
Besides, if you live where the humidity in the air is naturally high, such as in coastal areas, mold growth can be a regular issue in your home. Interior humidity usually rises when moisture evaporates into the air.
Leaking Pipes Cause Mold
Water leakage from pipes is another prime cause of mold growth. The situation will be worse when the leaking pipes are undetected, like inside a wall.
When you discover the leak, mold has already started growing. Besides, if water damages the ceiling, you will find mold growth in your home.
Condensation Cause Mold
Condensation can form on cold surfaces in your home. Moisture in the air typically condenses when it comes into touch with cold surfaces like windows, mirrors, and walls. This leads to the growth of molds that appear as small black dot clouds on the surfaces.
Poor Ventilation Causes Mold
Poor ventilation can create pockets of stagnant moist air where mold thrives. Water evaporates in the air to create moisture inside the house, which needs to be carried out through the windows to balance the humidity level. If it can’t do that, the humidity will make the indoor walls wet, causing mold growth.
Conclusion
Mold is always harmful to any building as well as to health. If the mold remains invisible, the situation will be worsened. So, you should treat mold properly, even if your house builds mold.
For your help, we have demonstrated a complete guideline about how to treat mold in your building, including invisible mold.
Following the simple steps, you can easily deal with the grown mold in your house. However, if you cannot find the invisible mold, follow the instructions mentioned above. This will help you to specify the mold-affected area in your house.
Guest Contributor: Bernita Fregoso