Every year, mold slowly destroys more wood based structures than fires and termites ever could. While you may not be able to initially see the effects, mold could be infiltrating your home. Common spaces for mold spores to hang out are often where they can go least detected— such as your crawl space.
If you’re worried about mold in your crawl space or other areas of your home, or you want to look into ways to prevent mold spores, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve compiled a list of the most common causes of mold and what you should be aware of when it comes to mold in your home.
The Crawlspace Doctor can help with your crawl space mold removal needs fast. Let’s dive into the top reasons why you don’t want mold in your crawl space:
- Should You be Concerned About Crawl Space Mold?
- What Should You Look Out For?
- How to Identify Mold
- Preventing Mold in Your Crawl Space
Should You be Concerned About Crawl Space Mold?
Did you know that one of the biggest factors that increases mold growth is moisture? This is why we can commonly find mold spores growing in our bathroom spaces. However, this also includes the rooms and home spaces we don’t see as frequently— like your crawl space.
Typically, mold can result in a negative impact on your health such as eye irritation, coughing, wheezing, nasal stuffiness, throat irritation, and in extreme cases, lung disease. What makes crawl space mold a lot more dangerous is the fact that the spores infiltrate the air in your home. Since heat rises, the warmer air in your home rises up from the crawl space bringing along various mold spore particles and negatively impacting your health.
Visit Crawlspace Doctor to learn more about crawl space maintenance!
What Should You Look Out For?
When it comes to mold in your home or crawl space, there are a couple key things to look out for. Mold flourishes in dark, wet places and the spores can easily enter through open vents. So how does moisture enter your crawl space?
Penetrating vs. Rising Damp
Do you have a closed or encapsulated crawl space? If so, your home could be susceptible to penetrating damp. Penetrating damp is moisture that has made its way into your crawl space from an entirely different source. This can include walls, plumbing leaks, or even HVAC or mechanical failures above or within the space.
Conversely, rising damp refers to moisture that travels upwards from the ground. This can cause major problems for crawl spaces that have not been properly protected with a vapor barrier. Continuous wetness in your crawl space encourages mold and wood-decaying fungus.
Condensation
Sometimes, crawl spaces can be ventilated in order to make use of outside air as a major source for controlling moisture. However, this type of ventilation can sometimes end up making mold problems a lot worse. Because outside air can be much warmer than the air in the crawl space, warmer air continually flowing into the ventilated crawl space can create condensation.
This happens when cool air and warm moist air come in contact and releases moisture in the form of condensation. Moisture and the wooden structures of your home are all mold spores need in order to flourish and grow.
Moldy spaces often also attract rodents and pests such as rats, termites and cockroaches, which can be tricky to permanently remove.
How to Identify Mold
In order to know that you need crawl space mold removal services, you’ll want to be able to detect different types of mold spores within your home. This is what you should look out for when pinpointing if you have a mold problem:
- Green/pink/black spots or water stains around baseboards
- Constant ailments such as respiratory illnesses, persistent coughs, runny or itchy eyes, pneumonia or asthma
- A consistent moldy, damp smell
Preventing Mold in Your Crawl Space
When dealing with mold in your home or crawl space, one of the best ways to tackle this pesky fungus is to prevent it before it takes root! Prevention is often even better than a cure, so why not protect the health of your family and home by working to prevent mold spores. Provided there is enough moisture in a space, mold can grow almost anywhere. So how do you mitigate the moisture problem?
One of the most effective moisture containing methods is the encapsulation of your crawl space. Encapsulating your crawl space includes adding a heavy-duty polyethylene barrier to cover the floors, foundation walls, and ceiling to prevent moisture and moisture leaks. If you have a well encapsulated crawl space, you can rest assured that your home will be protected against moisture intrusion long-term.
Proper maintenance and upkeep is important to ensure your crawl space remains healthy. A well-functioning drainage system in your crawl space will help control humidity levels to reduce mold and wood rot growth, as well as preserve the quality of air that inevitably makes its way into your home.
Crawlspace Doctor provides a variety of services to help keep your crawl space in top condition. Are you in need of crawl space help in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, or Indiana? Contact Crawlspace Doctor today!