Types Of Household Molds

Mold is a colony of a single-celled fungus that develops from spores, which in a preserved state are constantly present in the air in huge quantities. Molds grow on concrete, paint or stone. You can see them as spots or dots in black, brown, blue or green. Mold destroys building and decorating material almost to the ground, forcing more and more often to repair and sometimes rebuild buildings.

Black Mold

The color of this type of mold depends not only on its species, but also on the stage of development and the material on which it grows. As a rule, the following strains are black:

White Mold

White mold, unlike black mold, is much less disturbing to people. Most often it can be found on the ground, wood, plants, bread and cheese. In apartments, it is usually found in flower pots and quite rarely on walls. If white mold gets on the ground in a flower pot, some strains will die if watered regularly with dilute citric acid.

Bluetongue Fungus

The bluetongue fungus affects the fibers of the wood, and the surface of the wooden house is not at all a noble gray-blue color. The damage from bluetongue is not only aesthetic. It easily penetrates through the paint film. It creates pathways for water to enter, which in turn increases the moisture content of the wood. Then there is nothing to prevent the penetration and attachment in the neighborhood and mold. Pine is particularly susceptible to bluetongue.

How Mold Gets Into the House

Mold spores are everywhere, both indoors and outdoors, but they are not visible to the naked eye. Spores can get into homes:

• With the air: through open windows, doorways and ventilation systems.
• By attaching to objects and people: on clothing, shoes, and on the hair of pets.

But mold will only appear in the house if the spores get to the place where there are conditions for its growth. In particular, such as humidity and a supply of appropriate nutrients. If the environment doesn’t suit them, mold spores usually don’t develop.

Environments in which mold frequently appears include:

• Places where water leaks and flooding have occurred;
• Windows where condensation accumulates;
• Places where there is poor air circulation, such as behind a closet.

Conclusion

There are mold spores in all rooms, but they are dangerous to humans only under certain conditions. In particular, people with weakened immune systems have a higher risk of getting sick if mold and mold spores are present in their environment. This risk is especially high for those who also have problems with their respiratory system. Such, as well as allergic sensitized individuals, may feel allergic reactions. Keeping a room clean, dry, and well ventilated is the best way to prevent mold from developing. Anyone who is having problems with mold in their home, workplace, school or other facility should seek medical advice.

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Mold is a fungus that destroys different surfaces, in particular, corrodes the carpet fibers. It emits a stale odor, and it is usually bad for your health – especially if you have allergies, asthma, or immune system disorders.

Reasons for Mold in Carpet

Of course, high humidity can provoke fungus and mold. That is why it is easier to prevent it than to deal with the consequences later.

Most often, the carpet gets moldy in the following places:

• bathrooms and toilets;entrance hall (this is where rain and meltwater from the street often comes in);
• the first floors of multi-story buildings (due to dampness from the basement);
• corner rooms (especially not insulated and not waterproofed from the outside);
• places under furniture, in corners, and near walls, because the sun penetrates here worse and the air circulation is worse.

How to Fight Against Mold in the Carpet

The chemical industry produces a lot of liquids and powders for fungus control. Fungicide sprays are the most popular. They are easy to apply and can be used on any surface. In addition, they are affected by black, gray, green mold, and most types of rotten bacteria.

However, the store with fungicides is not always around, and not everyone wants to use chemicals in the house, especially when it comes to the carpet on which children play.

Of course, if the mold has spread deep on the surface of the carpet, the home methods can be ineffective. In this case, the help of Guru Restoration specialists will help, thanks to which the carpet dry cleaning at home will give the maximum effect. As a result, the product will be clean, fresh, and disinfected.

Precautionary Measures

• Protect yourself from healthy spores that you may come into contact with while cleaning the carpet: wear a mask, goggles, and gloves, if it is possible to get protective clothing, use it too.
• Then take the carpet outside, and if this is not possible: open the windows and close the doors to another room so that the spores do not spread.
• Take a hard brush and walk through the places with mold on the carpet, both on the inside and on the front side.
• Use an antifungal agent. Apply the product to the front and back of the carpet, waiting until the liquid penetrates deep into the structure of the product. Do not forget to clean the floor and all surfaces in the room (pedestals, shelves, tables, etc.), also clean the equipment that you used.
• After that, you should wash the carpet well on both sides and dry it. Make sure that the carpet has dried completely on all sides and there is no trace of mold.
• You will need to ventilate the room for a few more days.

Prevention of Mold in Carpets and Indoors

To avoid unpleasant consequences, it is necessary first of all:

• make sure that there are no leaks or pipe breaks;
• to ensure a good circulation of warm air, if necessary, it is worth using an air dehumidifier;
• put flowerpots at a safe distance;
• bath mats to dry daily after taking all the procedures, for disinfection is worth several times a month to wash them with vinegar.

In conclusion, it may be noted that the emergence of mold in carpets and rugs – an unpleasant event in every home and if it happened, it is necessary to get rid of it as soon as possible. To prevent the emergence of mold, watch for moisture in your home, periodically conduct a thorough cleaning of all rooms and their disinfection to avoid the appearance of fungus, and in case of serious soaking of the carpet, as soon as possible, take care of its drying (until the complete drying of all products, including the base).

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If you or one of your family members have asthma or allergies, identifying the mold in your home helps to maintain health and, in some cases, even save someone’s life.

Signs That Mold Has Appeared In Your House

Experienced specialists can confirm or deny mold presence indoors or outdoors. If necessary, they will examine the air inside the apartment or house, and check the walls and other surfaces for mold growth. Mold that is out of sight, as a rule, is the most serious health threat. 

How health is affected by living in a room where mold is growing:

• the increase in respiratory diseases;
• skin inflammations;
• permanent irritation of mucous membranes;
• tiredness, nausea, general malaise;
• mental disorders;
• immune suppression;
• allergic reactions;
• headache, dizziness, and coordination disorders;
• memory impairment and ability to concentrate;
• feverish states;
• autoimmune disorders;
• irritability, anxiety, and depression.

Causes Of Mold On Walls

The causes of mold on the walls are the following very serious malfunctions in the functioning of your home.

How To Detect Mold In The Walls Of Your Home

To identify mold, there are a number of measures that you can take yourself to identify unwanted elements in your home:

• visual mold inspection;
• physical mold examination;
• internal mold inspection.

Visual mold inspection

Visual inspection is usually the easiest and best way to find out if there is mold in your walls. First of all, check out the utility rooms, bathrooms, and kitchens.

Check for wet areas and watermarks

Examine the entire wall for cracks or peeling, bulges, discoloration, or strange stains. Usually, the mold looks like blurred stains, and on walls and furniture, it may look like distinct stains, black-green, brown, or white. These are the usual places near the bottom of the walls (due to gravity). 

Check the areas of the walls near the sanitary ware, as these places are usually leaks.

If you have a leaking roof, then carefully inspect the joints between the ceiling and the walls in all rooms. If the wallpaper is behind in these places, check also behind the wallpaper.

Room smell

If you smell mildew and must, this is an indicator of mold growth. The stronger the smell, the higher the growth rate. Sometimes it may be the only indicator of mold. If the odor is only present when the air conditioner or oven is on, the mold may be in the ducts or in the installations themselves.

Physical mold examination

Physical examination will require you to move your hands along the wall. You can press a little if you see wet areas or watermarks.

Try to find any moisture by walking your hand along the wall. Mildew needs moisture for growth, so if moisture accumulates in the wall, but no discoloration is visible, it can only mean that the mildew is formed inside the wall. However, after a while, the mold on the inside of the wall will try to break through to the outside.

Internal mold inspection

The last step to discover the mold inside your walls is to look inside. To avoid damaging the wall, I recommend using existing holes in the wall (e.g. a socket) or making a small test cut that will allow you to use the boring.

If you are using an opening from a socket, take precautions not to electrocute yourself.

You can also use a boroscope. You can also use a boroscope to check the space between walls. Drill a small hole in the wall where it was wet recently, gently insert the end of the fiber optic cable into the hole. The monitor will show a picture of the space between the walls, slip the cable into the hole, and see if there are any signs of mold.

But, as mentioned earlier, it is mold professionals who will be able to identify it accurately. 

Our professionals are equipped with a number of special devices, which you do not have access to, to accurately identify the affected areas, as well as to recognize a particular type of mold (white mold or black mold).

In conclusion, I would like to note that monitoring the occurrence of mold inside and outside your walls is not a complicated process, but it works for the long term and will help to avoid problems with your home and the health of your family in the future.

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