So, you have a few spots of mold appearing here and there. No big deal, right? Certainly, you can live with a little bit of mildew, dealing with spots as they appear. However, mold isn’t merely something to co-exist with complacently. In fact, mold colonies are made up of microscopic organisms, many of which are harmful. Before you decide to live with mold in your home, consider this: those stuffy noses, irritated eyes, and respiratory ailments you and your family have been suffering from could be due to mold exposure! If any of your family members is pregnant, has asthma, is elderly, is an infant, or has a compromised immune system, they are at a higher risk for potential adverse health effects from mold. From a health standpoint alone, you do not want to live with mold. Even if there weren’t unhealthy side effects, mold has other negatives including: aesthetics (mold spots and large patches of mold are ugly!), smell (entering a moldy home is unpleasant due to the musty stench), and property damage. While a few spots of mold on your bathroom ceiling may be easy to overlook, larger mold spots are eye grabbers. Moldy wallpaper and dark patches on your walls, furnishings, or carpets is unsightly and may have your house guests questioning your housekeeping skills or worse – wondering if your home is going to make them sick. Take a look around your home as if you were a homebuyer. Would you want to buy a home with obvious signs of mold? Not only is mold unhealthy and visually unappealing, it stinks! Even if you can’t see mold in your home, your nose will alert you to its presence thanks to its musty odor. However, your sense of smell may have become accustomed to the unique smells of your own home; you may not smell the obvious! One way to overcome this is to take a short vacation, leaving your home closed up. When you return, you’ll be more likely to detect a musty odor. This is a good time to follow your nose and see if you can find the area where the smell originates. You’ve likely heard horror stories of homeowners who have had to demolish their homes because of mold. While your house isn’t likely to be encased in mold, even a small area of mold infestation can lead to significant damage to your property. Mold literally eats the materials on which it resides. Therefore, if you have mold on your carpet, the mold is devouring the carpet’s fibers! If you have mold on your walls, it is eating the wallpaper, paint, and drywall! The same goes for drapes, upholstery, ceiling tiles, and other porous surfaces. With its deep roots, mold quickly returns after a surface cleaning, much like a weed, making cleanup a temporary measure. In many cases, the only way to get rid of the mold is to discard the infested materials. Throwing away sheets of drywall, insulation, carpets, or furnishings means that these materials must be replaced. Depending on what’s been damaged, repairs can be costly – and your homeowners insurance may specifically exclude mold damage from your coverage! If you notice mold in your home, it’s not going to go away by itself and you certainly should not “live with it.” As a living organism, mold reproduces and colonies grow, making the problem progressively worse. The sooner you can stop mold, the happier – and most likely healthier – you will be. By: Mr. Mark Decherd
