How To Get Rid Of Mold – Some Easy Steps

If your family members keep getting sick you may have a mold problem in your house. You should investigate any place that may have had a water or moisture issue, a good place to start is the basement.  Look around for any substance that appears to be mold.  There are over 100 different species of mold that are toxic to humans and 15 of these can cause very severe health effects.

If you do not find any mold in your basement look in your attic and everywhere else in the house. Look for discoloration on drywall, it could be mold or signs of water damage.  One square foot of drywall can contain more than a 1/4 million mold spores.  Usually where there is water damage if it was not fixed timely there is likely a mold problem behind it.

During the summer months basement mold is quite common as humidity levels are usually high and ventilation in the basement is usually poor. This can be remedied by having a dehumidifier that is of decent quality and emptying the collection bucket frequently.

get rid of mold

Another great feeding surface for mold is a carpet that got moist, again usually in the basement or a house that is build on a concrete slap.

Once you find mold you can start putting together a plan on how to kill the mold depending on how large of a problem it is.

Once you find mold you should complete a test to ensure it is mold, a simple mold test kit can be bought online or at a local store and costs as little as $15.  Once you confirm it is infact mold you will want to kill the mold, this can be done with Borate or certain fungicides.  Bleach can kill mold but it does not work that well in a diluted form.  Mold spores usually penetrate into the surface it is growing on and the bleach will only clean the surface mold, which will likely allow the mold to grow back.

For small infestations of mold you can likely get rid of the mold yourself.  A small infestation is considered to be less than ten square feet and it is mostly aesthetic in nature.  I would recommend using a borate or borax solution or paste, this will kill mold in roughly 15 to 30 minutes.  Make sure you wear at minimum plastic gloves and a N95 or better rated mask. It is also recommended to wear old clothing that can be disposed of after getting rid of the mold.

For infestations that are larger that 10 square feet you should call in a professional to conduct a mold test, construct a remediation plan and if needed organize the mold cleanup tasks.

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