How Indoor Mold Affects Our Lives and Why Mold Removal Is a Must
Indoor mold is a hazardous addition to any home and must be eliminated immediately. Continue reading to learn more about the hazards of mold and why you need professional help to get rid of this problem.
Indoor Mold: Is It Really Hazardous?
Mold exists in substantial amounts outdoors and can easily spread indoors, which means your home or business premises most likely have some levels of mold spores in them. However, when these mold spores find enough moisture and sources of food, they settle and form colonies. In turn, these colonies produce more spores which further increases the number of mold spores present on your property.
Negative Impacts of Mold Indoors
Having mold growing indoors may seem like something you can ignore, but indoor mold is hazardous. It can cause health issues, as well as structural and aesthetic damage. Therefore, whenever you notice mold in your home or office, it's best to call the mold specialists.
Health Hazards
Having excessive levels of mold spores in your home or office creates air pollution. It greatly reduces indoor air quality, and prolonged exposure can lead to respiratory problems. People with asthma and other respiratory disorders may have a hard time living in a mold-infested property.
But most importantly, some mold species emit toxins as a survival and defense mechanism. These toxins, known as mycotoxins, are dangerous to humans and pets and can lead to complications like mold poisoning, neurological problems, body aches, nosebleeds, and breathing difficulties. These mycotoxins can also aggravate allergy-like symptoms such as skin rash, coughing, runny nose, and sore throat.
Toxic molds are even more dangerous for people with a weakened immune system as they increase the risk of contracting all other fungal infections. In rare cases, prolonged exposure to indoor mold can also lead to hypersensitivity pneumonitis.
Building Structural Damage
Indoor mold lives and feeds on various materials like wood, fabric, and upholstery. So when you allow mold to thrive in your home, it can destroy the structural integrity of your property slowly over time.
It's important to note that DIY mold removal methods cannot deal with extensive mold growth and at best will only eliminate mold growing on the surface. Only professional services from mold removal companies like Mold KO can truly remedy the mold damage in your home and prevent future occurrences.
Esthetic Issues
Indoor mold growth can not only destroy your furnishings or cause health complications, but it can also make your home or business premises an eyesore. Apart from the visible damage that results when mold feeds on your walls and furniture, these fungi also have distinct and unpleasant colors.
Who would want to live in or visit a house with disgusting discolorations on the walls, furniture, or wallpaper? Even more, with musty and stale smells?
What You Should Know About Indoor Mold
How It Gets Into the House
Indoor mold gets into your home by traveling through the air. You can also give mold spores from outdoors a ride into your home through clothing, toys, shoes, and items left outdoors for prolonged periods. Your pets can also transport mold into your home through their furs. However, the air purification process done by professional mold companies during mold removal can eliminate any airborne mold spores in your home.
Common Types of Mold
The most common types of mold are Aspergillus, Alternia, Cladosporium, Penicillium, and Stachybotrys.
Ideal Conditions for Mold Growth
Mold grows in places with moisture, warmth, and a food source. Moisture can come from leaks, standing water, or flooding. While the food source can be organic, such as soil, plants, wood, upholstery, and carpet fabrics.
Common Places Where Mold Grows
Since mold needs moisture and warmth to grow, its spores usually settle in parts of the home that have excessive moisture levels. This includes the attic, basement, bathrooms, underneath the kitchen sink, and behind the drywall.
Why It's Better to Call a Professional Instead of DIY
There are so many DIY mold removal solutions out there. However, they can only help you remove surface mold from your home. In addition, DIY mold removal methods do not address the root cause of the mold problem. So, you'll almost always have mold regrowing in places you just conducted a DIY removal, shortly after.
Plus, when you try these DIY methods, you can expose yourself to a dangerous amount of mold spores, which can lead to various health complications. You may also end up spreading these spores to other unaffected parts of your home.
It's always better and safer to call the mold experts when you have a mold infestation in your home.
Schedule Services with Mold KO
Given how toxic and appalling indoor mold growth can be, it is best handled by professional mold remediation specialists like Mold KO. Our experts are experienced and well-trained to eliminate all types of mold and save your home from damage caused by these fungi.
Don't wait until indoor mold causes health or structural damage in your home. Instead, reach out to Mold KO for mold removal and remediation today. Call 888-253-4551!