HOW TO PREVENT & GET RID OF MOLD IN GARAGE
Mold in Garage: Treating and Preventing
Mold thrives in damp, dark environments and can grow anywhere, both outside and indoors. Mold finds its way in through open doors, windows and HVAC systems. Mold spores even stick to and enter the home on shoes, clothing, family pets, and kids’ backpacks. That’s why your garage is particularly vulnerable to mold, especially when it’s attached to the home and used as a main entrance. Mold in the garage is not uncommon. Fortunately, it can be removed, and you have the power to prevent it from developing in the future.
Why Does Mold Grow in the Garage?
Unlike the interior of your home, garages are fully exposed to the elements every time the garage door is opened and, sometimes, even when it’s closed. The garage door rarely has a tight seal between its edge and the floor, which makes it especially easy for water to get in. You may find pools of water inside your garage after a heavy rain or snow. Similarly, wet or snow-covered shoes and tires from bikes or cars left in the garage can add additional moisture. Do you wash your car in the garage? The average garage can see a lot of water. Think about the items you keep in your garage. Mold loves to grow on cardboard and other paper products as well as on wood, drywall, fabric, walls, ceiling tiles and even concrete, especially when painted. A garage with poor drainage, poor ventilation and little natural light is a haven for mold growth.
How to Get Rid of Mold in Garage Spaces
Mold needs to be scrubbed thoroughly, and spores need to be contained as you go. To keep mold spores from spreading while you clean, first spray the affected area with warm water. Next, spray the mold with bleach or a commercial cleaner designed to neutralize and lift mold spores. Distilled white vinegar or hydrogen peroxide are both options, but they should never be mixed together. Once you’ve applied the cleaner and briefly let it sit, scrub the area with a stiff-bristle brush. Rinse the area with water and repeat the process if any mold remains.
If tackling mold clean up on your own, it’s important to take certain safety precautions. When working with any type of chemical cleaning product, especially bleach, only work in a well-ventilated space and wear protective gear including gloves, glasses and a mask.
Who Can Help With Garage Mold Removal
If you see mold growing in your garage, consider calling a licensed mold tester to analyze the scope of the problem. The tester will fully inspect your mold situation and alert you to any mold in areas you can’t see easily, like the crawl space or other areas of the home. If mold is found beyond your garage, we recommend calling a professional team of mold remediation experts. Even if the mold is contained to your garage, a large amount may be better handled by professionals who can carefully and completely remove all traces of mold.
Mould – What it is and what to do about it
Mold has received considerable media attention recently, as though this were a new problem. While it’s true that mold in homes can be a problem, this is nothing new, and probably not news. However, since there is an increased level of awareness and concern, let’s look at the issue from a common sense perspective.
What is it?
Mold is a common term for a large family of fungi that have a cottony or woolly appearance. There are nearly a million species of mold. Mold is a naturally occurring organism that has been around far longer than us. Mold grows in buildings where there is moisture, air, a food source, and whenever the temperature is between 40 and 140 degrees F.
Mold plays a key role
We can’t eliminate mold, but this is a good thing because we need mold to break down animal and vegetable matter. Mold plays a key role in the food chain. When we say things are rotting or decaying, we are referring to mold at work. If there were no mold, there would be no rot – and we’d all be buried under all the leaves and trees that ever fell down but never decayed.
Mold spores are everywhere
People sometimes tell us that they don’t have mold in their home. We ask what happens if they leave bread in a drawer for a month or don’t take out the garbage for two weeks. This helps them understand that no matter how clean they keep their home, mold spores are always there ready to grow on any favorable host. There are always mold spores in the air and there is always some mold in buildings, so the objective of a “mold-free home” is not realistic.
How dangerous is mold?
Since it is normal for mold to be present in air and in buildings, its mere existence is not necessarily a reason for alarm. But if mold is present in indoor air at levels higher than would be found in outdoor air, or if a significant mold colony is growing on building surfaces, it could be a cause for concern.
Facts about Mold
You have certainly seen ugly mold patches in the corners of the basement. You have probably felt musty odor in the bathroom and found mold on the shower curtains. You may have heard that mold is harmful and can cause various health problems. You surely know that it thrives in humid environments and spreads very quickly and easily. But do you know that mold needs less than 48 hours to begin growing? Or that dead mold spores are just as harmful as live ones? Or that modern-day building practices actually promote mold growth?
Mold Requires Moisture and Organic Food to Grow
Mold is a kind of fungi that reproduces by making tiny spores which can survive extremely harsh weather conditions and spread easily over large areas. Mold spores exist everywhere in the outdoor environment and can get indoors thorough open doors, windows, air ducts, vents, etc. or even attached to clothes, shoes, and bags. Once the mold spores get into your home, they will wait for the right conditions to start developing.
There are over 10,000 species of mold but only 5 of them are commonly found indoors
Most household molds belong to one of the following five types:
Alternaria mold is usually found in buildings that have suffered some kind of water damage. It can appear black, grey, or dark brown and has a wooly or down-like texture.
Aspergillus is the most common type of household mold, especially in warmer climates. It can be grey, brown, yellow, green, white, or black in color. Aspergillus mold causes not only allergic reactions, but also respiratory infections and inflammation of the lungs in people with weak immune systems;
Cladosporium can grow in lower temperatures than other kinds of mold. It has a characteristic black or olive-green color and may trigger hay fever and asthma symptoms;
Penicillium is usually found on carpeting, wallpaper, and insulation. It looks blue or green and produces strong musty odor;
Stachybotrys chartarum, also known as “black mold”, produces toxic compounds called mycotoxins that can cause severe health problems, such as respiratory problems, asthma attacks, chronic sinus infections, fatigue, and depression. The toxic black mold has a characteristic musty odor and appears only on surfaces that have been in prolonged contact with water.
Mold develops very quickly but often remains hidden for a long time
When all the right conditions are present – moisture, ample food, and a temperature of 41 degrees to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, mold will begin growing within 24 to 48 hours. However, it can often remain hidden until the spores have already affected large areas of your property and caused considerable structural damage. This is so because mold usually starts growing in very inconspicuous areas of the house – inside walls, behind leaky appliances, within insulation, throughout the HVAC system, in crawl spaces, and in other damp, dark places (mold doesn’t need light to grow, which is why it is often found in poorly lit areas of the home).
Mold growth is a sign of water damage
Unless you have experienced a recent flood or sewer backup, you may have no reason to suspect water damage to your home. The presence of mold, however, should alert you of a hidden problem (as already mentioned, mold spores cannot develop unless there is some source of excessive moisture). Therefore, if you detect a musty smell in the basement or attic, or see mold patches on the ceilings or walls of your home, you need to carefully inspect your property and find the source of the moisture – it may be a leaky pipe, or a leaky roof, or a malfunctioning appliance, or even poor insulation that results in too much condensation. In the best case scenario mold may be caused by inadequate air exchange and high indoor humidity levels resulting from water evaporating from home plants or drying clothes, or steam from the kitchen or bathroom.
Mold Remediation
Mold Detection and Removal Services
One of the worst contaminants known is the silent but dangerous growth of mold. Mold can grow indoors on wet or damp surfaces, such as wallpaper, ceiling tiles, carpets, insulation material, wood and drywall. It can start to grow within 48 hours and if left unchecked, can have serious impacts on both your quality of life and your home’s physical structure. If you see signs of mold or suspect that it has infected your home, we’re here to help remediate the problem and prevent long-term damage.
Molds require an organic food source. One common source is cellulose, which is found in building materials such as drywall.
Molds require oxygen, so they do not grow under water.
Molds require a constant supply of water. To prevent mold, buildings must be kept dry.
Molds are spread by tiny particles called “spores.” A spore can be compared to a seed.
Don’t let your health and home be ruined by mold
Mold is present everywhere in nature, but when it finds its way into your home, it can be a major problem. use infrared technology as part of the mold detection process and special chemicals to help remediate the mold and protect your home
Where does mold come from?
Molds thrive in moist environments created by a flood, slow leak, broken pipe or just high humidity. Without water mold, cannot grow. Mold also needs a food source, oxygen and a temperature between 40 degrees and 100 degrees F.
How does mold spread?
For molds to grow and reproduce, they only need an organic food source, such as cellulose, which is found in building materials such as wood and drywall.
Understanding the dangers of mold
From The Ordinary
Fungi and mold naturally occur in our environment, and they produce some very useful results. For example, yeast is a type of fungi used in preparing breads and other food products. Blue cheese’s unique flavor is attributed to mold, and life-saving penicillin is a product of mold.
To The Unhealthy
Even though some forms of mold can add value to our lives, other forms can be harmful. Excessive amounts of mold, different types of mold and extended exposure to molds may present healthy concerns for one people.
Any water intrusion into your office or your home can result in mold growth. This intrusion of water can result from storm damage, plumbing or equipment filters, long-standing leaks, and poor humidity control. When these issues are not addressed, the resulting damage can present increased risk of harmful mold growth.
Some amount of mold spores are normally present in most environments, but if the humidity and moisture levels in water-damaged environment are not promptly returned to normal, mold spores may grow and multiple to a harmful level.
Organic materials found inside a building, such as wood, paper, drywall and insulation, provide food sources for mold to flourish. Excessive mold growth can lead to indoor environmental conditions that may pose a health threat