To Get Rid Of Mold, You Have To Think Long-Term
Finding mold in your basement can be a bit concerning. Upon discovering it, you may become worried not only about your house but also about your health. You might be tempted to just wipe it up with some bleach and water and call it a day, but effective mold remediation requires a longer-term approach. Here's why, and here's how!
Why mold remediation requires a long-term approach
Mold is not a very picky organism. In order to survive, it just needs moisture and a surface to grow on. The surface can be just about anything porous, from drywall to concrete. The moisture does not have to be that abundant. Some humidity in the air, a little water leaking from a cracked pipe, the moisture that seeps in through a basement crack after a storm — they're all enough for mold.
There are mold spores in the air all the time and in almost every home. Now that you've had an actual mold growth incident, you have even more mold spores in your home than normal. So after you clean up the mold with a bleach wipe, it's really likely to come back. As long as there's still moisture available, you can bet more spores will settle and start growing.
How to take a long-term approach
If you want mold to go away and stay away, there are two things you will need to do. You need to remove spores from the air (as much as possible) and you need to remove moisture. This can be a lot of work, especially without the right equipment, which is why most homeowners are better off hiring a mold remediation team. Here are some steps they'll take as a part of their long-term approach.
- Run a dehumidifier and fan: this will remove moisture from the air, which will help surfaces dry faster.
- Remove very wet materials: if a material can't be dried out fast enough, the remediation team will remove and replace it.
- Make repairs: the remediation team will find the source of the moisture, be it a wall crack or a damaged pipe, and work to repair it so the home does not stay wet.
- Run an air purifier: a good air purifier will remove mold spores from the air.
If you want to get rid of mold and keep it away, you need to think long-term. A basement mold remediation contractor will do the trick!
