How to Prevent Mold Growth in Your Home

Mold is very common, but it can be a serious issue when it is present in a home.

Florida is a very humid place with average RH (relative humidity) of 74%. Our high humidity levels make mold growth prevention a very difficult task. 

Here are some precautionary measures you can take to prevent mold growth in your home:

• Ensure your home has good air circulation. Allow your home to breathe. You can do this by opening your widows occasionally, running your bathroom exhaust fan, keeping your ceiling fans on, etc.
• Keep your air ducts clean. Dead skin cells, dirt and mold love our insulated ducting. We can help keep them sanitized with our HVAC service.
• Keep your air ducts in good condition. Unlicensed duct cleaning, critter in the attic, or deterioration over time can compromise your ducting. This allows hot/humid attic air to intrude in to your home. Bringing mold with it.
• Keep your home’s temperature less than 76º and it relative humidity less than 50%.
• Keep your property in good repair and water tight. Frequently inspect your roof, foundation, stucco, plumbing fixtures (fridge water lines, faucets, p-traps), seals around windows, window, HVAC system, etc. Water intrusions should be taken seriously, because mold needs water to grow.
• Reseal the tile grout in you shower. Water will frequently get behind tile shower walls and cause damage. Sadly, when this happens it is not covered by your homeowners insurance, because they consider it deferred maintenance.
• Inspecting your property at regular intervals (and especially after major storms, torrential rains, high winds, etc.).
• When you do find mold, do not use bleach to clean it up. Bleaching mold will do what it says. Bleach it. It also softens the protein shell on the mold spore and causes it to shoot off a million little babies. Instead, clean it up with a rag dampened with plain, white vinegar. Let it dry, and then paint over the staining with a mold inhibiting primer like Killz or Zinsser.
• Change your furnace filters monthly. Also, buy a MERV 8 to MERV 13 filter. They may be a little bit more expensive than you’d like, but they will save you a lot of grief in the long run! I really like FilterBuy.com. They ship your filters to you monthly, so you don’t have to remember when the last time you replaced your filter.

The long and short of it is, if you keep your home cool, moisture-free and properly ventilated, you control the mold levels in your home.

If you do by chance discover mold in your home, call us at one of our offices (Central Florida: 813-606-6668, South Florida: 239-961-9995, North Florida: 904-397-4030). Alternatively, you can fill out our convenient online contact form and one of our experts will be in touch with you shortly.A water event or finding mold growth in your home can be overwhelming. We are mold than happy to walk you through all the resources you need to make it through as stress free as possible.