Mold FAQs from Homeowners
No one likes mold! Most people know that it can be bad for your health and bad for your home, but not everyone knows how mold grows, why it can be detrimental to your health, or how to get rid of it.
If you live in the Nashville area and think you have a mold problem, we hope you’ll count on the professionals at Choice Property Restoration to handle mold remediation for you, as this is one of our specialties. We would like to provide you with some of the questions we hear most frequently from our customers and our answers to those questions:
Why is mold dangerous?
Not all mold is bad for your health; in fact, mold can be found in some places without much concern. Furthermore, not all people are sensitive to mold. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), some types of mold can not only contribute to hay-fever like allergies, eye or skin irritation, and wheezing, but there’s actually a toxic black mold called Stachybotrys that may be especially harmful.
I see mold on my walls, floors, or in my basement. Where does it come from?
Mold is usually the result of excess humidity or water damage. Water and moisture can get into your house in any number of ways, but we most frequently see water damage come from burst pipes, sewage malfunction, dam breaches, an overflowing washing machine, or flooding from excessive rainfall—something Nashville residents know about all too well.
How do I know if my house has mold or where it’s located?
There are certain places in a damp home where mold will naturally grow. Floors and carpets, basements and crawlspaces are prime targets. Basically, the lower an area is, the more likely it is to grow mold; this is why we often hear Nashville homeowners complain of mold on their carpet, tile or grout, and laminate and wood flooring. Walls, however, can also be feeding grounds for bacteria and mold, especially if the leak has originated from the roof.
Though mold is sometimes visible to the naked eye—or apparent to the nose, thanks to its strong musty smell—it just as often is completely hidden from a homeowner’s view, though he or she may see signs of it. If our team determines that the origin of a leak is especially mysterious, we will actually use thermal imaging to locate the source, as our thermal imaging cameras can find mold even behind your walls. We may also use digital hygrometers to test the humidity in your air.
Only a professional will be able to truly determine if you have a mold problem and suggest the best way for you to solve it. Call Choice Property Restoration, located in Nashville, Tennessee, at 615-866-7989 to solve your mold problem.