Fixing Storm Damage

Posted on: 23 September 2021

Mold removal is not something that homeowners should take lightly. Mold can grow rapidly in the right conditions and spread like wildfire in your home. When mold takes over your house or business premises, it can damage walls, ceilings, and furniture or cause serious health issues for everyone living there. Luckily, you can hire a mold removal specialist and have the destructive mold removed safely.

Why Should You Prioritize Mold Removal?

Though mold may not pose serious health problems at first, it can lead to troubling secondary effects if left unchecked. It needs to be removed completely from all building materials and any items or furniture that had contact with mold.

Here are two main reasons to prioritize mold removal and hire a mold removal specialist:

1. Mold Has Numerous Health Risks

Short-term mold exposure can lead to allergy symptoms, such as nasal stuffiness, sneezing, and a runny nose. Allergic reactions may increase in people who have asthma. In some cases, the itching of the eyes and skin or rashes may also be witnessed.

Additionally, mold can irritate the respiratory system, especially for people with chronic lung diseases, such as asthma. Some people with chronic respiratory conditions, like cystic fibrosis, may also experience severe symptoms if exposed to mold.

Exposure to toxic mold can lead to more severe reactions. Toxic effects are mainly due to mycotoxins produced by certain types of mold. These toxins may cause nausea and vomiting, and in some cases, affect the immune system, leading to fever or respiratory problems, such as pneumonia.

2. Damage to Building Materials

If you don't hire a mold removal specialist, mold will damage walls, ceilings, floors, woodwork, and other surfaces. It can also damage masonry and plaster and can contribute to corrosion of metals and decay of wood and wood products.

If left unchecked, mold may grow on structural beams, rafters, and hydrothermally-weakened concrete or steel, mainly in buildings with moisture problems, such as roof or plumbing leaks, damp basements, and crawlspaces. This can lead to costly structural damage.

When Do You Hire a Mold Removal Specialist?

You should hire a specialist when you notice signs of mold in your house or business premises. However, mold is usually not easy to see with the naked eye. There may be small, colored spots or it may appear as a surface "growth" that is fuzzy, slimy, or scaly.

Sometimes you can smell mold if it grows on materials with a high cellulose content, such as ceiling tiles made of gypsum board, paper products, and other building materials containing wood or sheetrock.

The Takeaway

Mold is a common household problem that many homeowners don't know how to deal with. If left unchecked, mold can cause property damage and cause adverse health effects for your family. But how do you know if the mold in your home needs to be removed? Contact a mold removal specialist for mold testing.