Black Mold – The Home Invader

What is it? 

Black mold is a genus of molds, also called Stachybotrys. Black Mold prefers to call cellulose-rich materials like fiberboard, gypsum board, paper, dust, and lint “home sweet home.” But what it can do to your home is anything but sweet.  Black mold wrecks havoc on your indoor air quality-often coming to life if fungus on water-damaged building materials goes unchecked.

 

What causes it? 

Mold spores only need certain basic conditions to reproduce and grow.  Give them water, food, and the right temperature range and they will thrive. Black  mold grows better in a dark environment with an organic, porous material to grow on.  Such materials are often the black mold’s very source of both food and water. Growth typically occurs when there is moisture from water damage, excessive humidity, water leaks, condensation, water infiltration, or flooding.  

 

What problems are associated with it? 

Black mold can cause problems for your health and your home.  Watch for the following symptoms if you suspect you have a black mold infestation:

• Itchy Throat
• Watery Eyes
• Headaches
• Memory Loss
• Irritated skin
• Excessive Coughing (even coughing up blood)
• Excess Mucus
• Bleeding in the lungs
• Mold in the bloodstream
• Possible mild strokes
• Fatigue

 

In your home, it can manifest in a number of ways.   If you have dry rot, you probably have black mold. Dry rot, a common condition in older homes, is a bacteria similar to mold and needs the same type of conditions for ideal growth-a damp, dark spot in your home.  Another indicator is if you notice tiny trees growing in your rain gutters.  It means they’re blocked-and potentially providing the perfect playground for black mold. 

 

 

Other sure signs that you may have black mold invading your home:

• You’ve recently had a basement flood, or you’ve got a serious basement leak.
• There are musty or mildew-like odors somewhere in your home.
• One or more of your walls is discolored, or the paint is cracked and peeling
• Your wooden floors are warped

 

How can it be treated?

If you have a small, isolated problem with black mold, the solution is quite simple.  In most cases mold can be removed by a thorough cleaning with bleach and water. If you have an extensive amount of mold and you do not think you can manage the cleanup on your own, you may want to contact a professional.  Call the professionals at Air Now, who have experience in cleaning black mold in buildings and homes.

 

If you prefer to be your own handyman, you can try the following on your own before calling in a professional:

 

Locate and fix all sources of mold-causing water intrusion such as recurring flooding, plumbing leaks, leaky roofs or siding, blocked air-conditioning condensation drain lines, and high indoor humidity.

 

Inspect and test inside, above, and below each water-damaged ceiling, wall, and floor with a fiber optics inspection device or at at-home mold test kits, which can be purchased at hardware or home improvement stores.  Cut off small one inch squares of core dry wall to sample. Remove the sample and look in the middle and back of each core for visible black mold growth.

 

Find and locate all toxic black mold infestations (visible and hidden) in the entire home or building.  Wherever you see visible black mold, you can simply use clear Scotch tape to lift a sample off of it, or scrape visible mold particles into a mold test kit.  Mold may be hidden in places such as the back side of dry wall, wallpaper, or paneling, the top side of ceiling tiles, the underside of carpets and pads, etc.   Black mold also likes to live around leaking pipes, wall surfaces behind furniture (where condensation forms), inside ductwork, and in roof materials above ceiling tiles.

Test the outward airflow from each heating/cooling duct for high levels of airborne black mold spores. Airborne mold spores from heating and cooling ducts will usually enter through them as well as the rest of the building.  If you have a problem, calling a place like Air Now and allowing professionals to remove it, can bring you peace of mind and a mold-free home.

 

Replace any mold-infested heating/cooling equipment and ducts .

If replacing everything is too expensive for you, do repeated mold fogging and mold spraying with a mold fogging machine or sprayer into the return air duct while the system is running.  The fan ventilation will distribute the fungicide to interior surfaces. Fogging is much more wide-reaching, and therefore more effective in killing black mold than spraying alone.

 

How Can Black Mold Be Prevented? 

• Keep humidity level in house below 50%.
• Use an air conditioner or a dehumidifier during humid months.
• Periodically wipe any growth from your HVAC cooling coils with disinfectant
• Clean/disinfect the drain pan (where the condensation from the cooling coils drip)
• Change HVAC filters regularly
• Remove potentially contaminated insulation lining the ductwork of your HVAC system, or it will spread mold spores throughout your house when it is running
• Be sure the home has adequate ventilation, including exhaust fans in kitchen and bathrooms
• Use mold inhibitors which can be added to paints
• Clean your bathroom with mold-killing products
• Do not carpet your bathrooms
• Remove and replace flooded carpets

 

Whether it is prevention or a cure you’re going after, calling Air Now and enlisting their professional help will go a long way towards preserving your health and your home.