10 Tips to Banish Mold from the Home
Anywhere near where water flows or where air doesn’t penetrate readily, you may have mold in your home. A home inspector can help determine if your home in Louisville may need a mold test.
Follow these 10 tips to drastically reduce the mold in your home:
- Call in a home inspection company to assess water-damaged areas.
- Keep humidity low. Humidity levels should be under 40% in order for mold to stop its forward march.
- Replace any carpets and furniture that have ever been significantly damaged (i.e., saturated in water), even if they look OK on the outside.
- Carpet in the bathroom or basement? Don’t even think about it. And if you have it, get rid of it.
- Use an air-conditioner during the summer. We know it’s not cheap to run the A/C, but if it’s in the budget, even setting it to 80 degrees when it’s 90-plus outside, will help. Use fans to circulate A/C most effectively.
- Dust and clean furniture regularly, and vacuum carpets at least once a week (make sure your vacuum has a HEPA filter).
- Provide adequate ventilation in hot areas. The kitchen and bath are two of the highest-risk rooms for mold. Install exhaust fans in the kitchen and bathroom.
- When you’re shopping for house paint for big or small painting projects, ask the sales rep about mold inhibitors you can add before painting.
- Does your central air system have a fan from the Ford Pinto era? If so, replace it with a high-performance electrostatic air filter. Your local HVAC technician can help withy this.
- Don’t neglect areas underneath the house—have a professional drain and ventilate all sub-basement areas, especially crawl spaces.
Once you find the mold, remove it with a store-bought anti-fungal solution, or get rid of it with a weak bleach solution—1 cup bleach in 1 gallon of water. (If mold exists in an area over 2 square feet, call a professional to have it removed). But even more important than removing it is eliminating as many of its causes and sources as possible.
