You usually think of mold as those gross, fuzzy spots that you occasionally find on a piece of bread or some old leftovers in the fridge. However, mold likes more than just food. Anywhere there is moisture; mold can begin growing—behind walls, under carpet, even on your baseboards.
Unfortunately, mold isn’t something you can ignore or wish away.
Mold in your home can cause headaches, stuffy noses, irritate airways and a number of other allergic reactions. It can also cause structural damage to the material it lives on, weakening walls and causing saggy floor joists.
The worst part is that mold often grows out of sight, but no matter where it is or how small, it can still affect you. When mold reproduces it sends seed-like spores out into the air. As long as the temperature is above 40 degrees Fahrenheit, they can land, grow, and spread. Time magazine reports that there can be hundreds of thousands of mold spores in a single cubic meter of air indoors, and a single person inhales 10 or 12 cubic meters each day.
How Mold Can Grow in your Home
Mold likes damp and humid spaces, such as basements and crawl spaces, and if you have had any leaks or recent water in your basement, your home is in high risk for growing mold. Even if the mold is only in your basement, its spores can rise throughout the home due the “Stack Effect” carrying it upwards.
Mold remediation can eliminate mold in the short term, but unless the reason that it was there in the first place is eliminated, there’s nothing stopping house mold from returning.
Prevent Mold from Damaging your Home
The best way to combat mold is to block out any moisture from entering your home. Since water most commonly enters through the basement due to cracks in the foundation walls or the floor, basement waterproofing is very important to keep you protected!
Dry Basement® Foundation Repair offers a number of solutions to keep your basement dry and water-free. It starts with our patented No Water System®. The No Water System® takes the problem water from outside and inside your basement walls — as well as from below your basement floor — and leaves no water in your basement.
We also install WallShield® panels that complement our No Water System® for basement waterproofing. They are made from post-consumer plastic and are joined by connectors. The panels direct water into the No Water System®, keeping your basement clean, dry and livable. WallShield® forms a barrier that is completely watertight, mold resistant and even fire retardant — and also creates a radon barrier.
In addition, the humidity in your basement can also create an ideal home for mold. To keep basement air clean and fresh, Dry Basement® offers the SantaFe® Filtration System. This is a high-efficiency air filtration and dehumidifying system. It removes up to 400% more moisture than an average dehumidifier, without using any more energy.
Another area that often inhibits mold growth is your crawl space. Dry Basement® Foundation Repair offers a crawl space encapsulation system that covers the dirt floor and foundation walls in your crawl space. All of the seams are sealed, creating an impenetrable barrier against moisture.
To determine if you need crawl space encapsulation, you can find more information here.
To keep your home dry, safe and clean for everyone who lives there, contact Dry Basement® Foundation Repair today. We have locations in Des Moines, Kansas City, Wichita and Columbia. Our estimators, who have been certified by licensed Professional Engineers, can perform a home inspection to determine what you need to prevent mold from growing inside your home.