Mold can be found growing anywhere; from walls, on the floor, on carpets, furniture, fabric, ceiling, to food. Moisture encourages its growth, which is the reason why damper places will have more of mold that’s visibly growing. Mold reproduces through spores, making it fast-spreading, and its total elimination almost impossible.
The spores produced by mold present a health risk; they irritate the respiratory system and cause allergic reactions. Preventing mold-growth in the first place remains the most viable way to check its occurrence and spread. So, how do you do it? Here are five tips on how to prevent mold.

1. Dry Out Moist Places and Items
Mold thrives in moisture-laden environments. Water in the basement after a downpour, a leaking ceiling, a wet carpet after a spill or cleanup, a wet wall or wet laundry are all mold attractions. Ensure you dry any moisture from them immediately you notice it. Mold can grow fast, even within 24 hours. Remember mold spores are always floating in the air waiting for a damp place to grow from. Drying wet areas and items denies the spores a growing environment and saves you the trouble of having to remove it manually.

2. Ventilate Your House
Ventilation helps to dry out moisture. Ensuring there’s enough ventilation ensures no conditions favoring the growth of mold occur. Places that are likely to harbor moisture such as kitchens and bathrooms need more of the ventilation. And if ventilating doesn’t seem to do much in preventing the buildup of moisture, you can run the AC unit in your house to dry the air a bit.

3. Prevent Rainwater From Reaching Your House
Rainwater is a major cause of dampness that brings about mold growth. It can happen when it leaks into the basement of your house, or when it seeps in through the ceiling. The best way to prevent this from happening is to seal all the ways rain could reach your house; by digging trenches to direct rainwater away, and by repairing faulty roofs. Leaking pipes and gutters can also cause dampness in your house. Repair them as soon as they break so that mold doesn’t get a chance to grow.

4. Use Mold-resistant Materials
Make the walls of your house with materials that don’t allow mold to grow, like fiberglass. Such walls don’t absorb moisture, so they are ever dry. Or you can use paint containing substances that discourage the growth of mold. Bathroom and kitchen walls would greatly benefit from such mold-resistant materials because they’re ever so damp.

5. Use a Moisture Meter
A moisture mete helps you to measure the level of humidity in your house so you can take early action to prevent moisture buildup. If the humidity is high, increase ventilation. Or you can turn on the AC system to balance the amount of moisture in the air circulating in the house.

Preventing the growth of mold saves you the trouble of having to remove mold that’s already growing and spreading fast. Removing mold is not only hard work but can cost you, especially if the menace is too much for you to handle and you have to contract a cleaning company. Using the above tips, you can easily keep away mold and live in a house free from the health complications mold can bring.

 

For more information, contact vinny’s Jersey Plumbing, located in Wayne, New Jersey.  We also service other towns in New Jersey, such as Parsippany, Paramus and Livingston.