​How Dangerous is Mold in Your Home?

Everyone wants the safest, healthiest home environment for their families. You would do anything to protect your loved ones from exposure to any substance that could cause them harm.
 
One of those feared substances is “mold” and with what you have seen in the news in recent years, exposure to harmful or “toxic” mold has affected the health of countless people — folks just like you.
 
This brings up the all-important question: Just exactly how dangerous is mold in homes?
 
That’s a tricky question, because there are many types of mold and mold is virtually everywhere. There is probably a little bit in your basement right now. Your shoes when you came home yesterday no doubt brought in a few mold spores. Mold spores can be in breathable space and travel in the air.
 
When you step outside, you are surrounded by mold. There’s nothing you can do about that. The main concern is usually what’s in the home, not outside, although if you are sensitive to mold you should avoid all damp areas that could promote mold growth, inside and out.
 
Some people are affected by even the smallest amounts of mold. They may have nasal issues, watery eyes, coughing and other physical reactions. A smaller segment of the population are very sensitive to exposure to mold, having severe reactions that can be life threatening. Others aren’t affected at all, and can be around and/or exposure to all types of molds with no apparent sensitivities.
 
The CDC has plenty of information for those concerned with mold in homes. One of the issues they raise is keeping moisture out of homes. “Mold will grow in places with a lot of moisture, such as around leaks in roofs, windows, or pipes, or where there has been flooding,” according to the CDC government website.
 
The issue is twofold if mold is growing in your home. You must clean it up or have it cleaned up, and you must fix the moisture problem. You can do your research on how to fix the problem, but the best solution is, no doubt, getting expert advice from your professional water damage restoration contractor or mold removal or remediation company. Keep your family safe. Call the experts. 205-252-9506 Mold & Mildew Solutions 

HOW TO DETECT BLACK MOLD SMELL EARLY IN YOUR HOME
Black molds love hiding in dark places, away from natural light. This may also be a preservative habit because, not only do they thrive in dark places, they thrive especially more because they are hidden from us. If we can’t see them, can we at least smell them?
Yes, we can!
The first thing to note about the smell is its musty and somewhat earthy tone. It can be a bit choking, as you will feel a level of tightening in your nose when you move near it and accidentally inhale the smell. Sometimes, it may lead to difficulty in breathing, especially when you are exposed to it for a long period of time.
To describe this smell better, it is the smell that greets you when you enter a building that has been waterlogged for a long while. It is also the odor you perceive when you enter an old building that has been long exposed to the rain.
Taking it back into your home, it will be the dank smell you get when furniture upholstery has been wet for a while. It is an indication that mold may have started growing from the inside, feeding on the moldy material. It is anything but fresh.
Speaking about freshness, do you remember the experience you have when you inhale that somewhat earthy smell when you opened your grandma’s old trunk suddenly?
One more example would be the smell you inhale when some food have been left uneaten for a while, exposed to the elements. When you see it, you’ll see mold already growing on it. All these are pointers to the growth of mold in your home.
Because of how black mold loves to grow in dark and hidden places, it can be hard to the pinpoint where exactly in the house the black mold is, just by looking around. A lot of people therefore try following their nose wherever it leads them.
This can be really dangerous, though. When you try searching for the areas where black mold has affected in your home, you are exposing yourself to the risk of breathing too much of it, or worse, even inhaling the dangerous mold spores that are airborne, since they are too small to be seen by just the naked eyes.
Beyond inhaling the mold spores, you also risk getting irritations of the eyes and skin as you scout for the black mold smell. This is due largely to the fact that, since you can smell it, it is because there are a good amount of the mold spores in the air. The longer you expose yourself to them, the more the effect you experience.
It gets worse if you are asthmatic or have a high sensitivity to allergies like this. The safest thing to do is to leave the detection to the professionals who can bring in their equipment to conduct a thorough scanning, which will help you find out the cause of the mold growth, fix it, and prevent it from returning.
At Mold and Mildew Solutions LLC, we believe we are in part what we inhale. That is why we are dedicated to keeping your home safe from black mold and its spores. We will love to work with you in keeping your home mold-free.
 
Contact us today at:
 
Mold and Mildew Solutions LLC
205-252-9506
www.alabamamold.com