What do you know about the mold? Probably not too much. But every homeowner knows that this kind of fungi is his enemy inside of his house and this is true. But outside of residential and commercial buildings mold plays an important role in natural balance. It helps to break down rotting wood, leaves, cut grass, and other organic material.
So it will be wise to find out more information about the mold and its spores to understand how it moves from place to place, chooses the right place to grow there, grows so fast, and so on.
Let’s Start with the Mold Spores
Releasing the spores is the way of reproducing for the mold. There are numerous different kinds of mold and, respectively, there is a difference between their periods of releasing spores, for example:
- Some types of molds release spores when the weather is windy and dry;
- Some of them – when the weather is foggy with a high level of humidity.
But most types of molds release the biggest number of spores after flooding or long heavy rain.
The size of an average such spore is really tiny, you can easily compare it with the diameter of your eyelash, the half of this diameter, to be precise. Such a small size helps them to easily move in the air and get into your house. It can happen in various ways, for example:
- Spores can get on your hat, jacket or boots somewhere outside of your home and you will bring them inside;
- Due to their tiny size, they can just get inside with the air from your heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, as well as through the open door or window.
Unfortunately for the homeowners, these spores are very resistant to the extreme conditions of the environment and the weather. It means that they can just travel in the air until they will found the right place to settle and grow. It means that if there is a perfect place for them in your house, which is wet and warm enough, spores will stay and establish a colony there.
Once spores find the place that meets their requirements for living and growth, they start a new cycle, namely taking the roots. But the roots’ role for mold colony played by hyphae. They also look like threads connecting a colony and can cover a significant area of a material.
The Kinds of Molds That Loves to Grow in Houses
As already mentioned above, there are numerous different kinds of molds. They differ in time and conditions of releasing their spores, also they differ in the source of food resources, and so on. That is why you can find different kinds of mold in different parts of your house. And here is a list of the most common of them with their favorite spots:
- Let’s start with the most common places, such as the bathroom. If you noticed mold in your bathtub, shower or sink most likely it is Alternaria;
- In case your house has been affected by flooding or another type of water damage and you noticed mold in your drywall after this, most likely it is Chaetomium;
- In case you noticed mold on your walls, no matter are they painted or wallpaper is pasted on them, most likely it is Aureobasidium. This kind of mold also can be found on pressboard and wooden wardrobes, chests of drawers and other types of furniture;
- In case the mold has been found somewhere on the upholstery, fabric or carpets, most likely it is Cladosporium. Like the previous one, this mold can also grow on wooden materials;
- In case you noticed mold in your bathroom’s carpets, as well as carpets from any other places with a high level of moisture, such as kitchen, laundry room, and others, most likely it is Fusarium;
- In case the mold has been found on furniture and carpets after flooding, most likely it is Penicillium;
- One of the last types of mold from this list is Aspergillus. it can be found almost on every material and in every part of your house, even on your sheets and pillowcases;
- And the most dangerous type of mold that you can face in your residential house is Stachybotrys Chartarum. It is mostly known as the black mold. This type of mold is very toxic and grows in places that are always wet, such as plumbing pipes and others.
How to Identify That Your House Affected by the Mold Growth?
Since you already know the base information about how mold can enter your house and what place can be chosen by different types of it, let’s speak about how can you notice the mold growth to fight it in the initial stages.
Here is a list of signs that helps you with it:
- Unpleasant musty smell. The person who at least once has faced the mold growth issue knows this odor. It smells like rotting wood or wet musty laundry.
- Colorful spots on the materials mentioned in the list of mold types above. Different types of mold have different colors, such as white, black and all colors of the rainbow.
- Issues with yours or one of your family member’s health. As you probably already know mold is dangerous for humans and pets. So if you noticed that you or one of your family members suffers from the following symptoms, it may be caused by mold:
- Cough that becomes frequent;
- Congestion of nasal or sinus;
- Eyes irritation;
- Difficulty in catching breath;
- Wheezing and other issues with upper respiratory;
- Also, there are other health issues that may be caused by the mold influence on the human’s health, such as weakness and fatigue and even mood swings and poor memory.
Those of your family members who have an allergy or suppressed immune system will feel the influence of mold on their health first. So if you noticed that your family member’s symptoms of allergy became worse than it was previously, or allergy symptoms started in an unusual period of the year, most likely it caused by the mold colonies in your house.
What Should You Do in Case You Noticed Mold in Your House?
In case the mold has been found in a place that frequently gets affected by a water leaking, the first thing that needs to be done to fight the mold growth is preventing further leaks.
But mostly mold choose the places to grow that are not visible, so you cannot easily notice a colony. In such cases, you need to use other signs from the list mentioned above. And if you identify any of them, you will need to contact and hire professionals in this sphere to handle such an issue.
Specialists from Signature Water and Fire Restoration have significant experience in successfully removing mold from residential and commercial buildings, as well as all the necessary equipment and cleaners to do it effective and fast.
Call us immediately when you noticed the mold issue in your home and our team will handle it. Here is our 24/7 phone number: 1-224-515-0100.