Given recent revelations about the possible health effects of poor indoor air quality, mold is a hot topic among many homeowners. How can you tell if there is mold in your Chicago home? John Turner of RESTORECO, Inc. in South Holland, Illinois explains that mold isn’t always visible to the naked eye. Turner, whose company handles mold remediation and a variety of other types of home damage restoration in Chicago, says that professional testing is the only way to determine whether mold is present in your home.
What Causes Mold?
Mold, a type of fungus that grows on plants and fibers, is an important part of our ecosystem. Outside, molds are found in soil and on decaying matter, where they play a key role in breaking down dead leaves, wood and other organic materials. When mold occurs inside a home, Turner says, an overly damp environment is usually to blame.
Mold relies on spores in order to reproduce. Both indoors and outdoors, these spores travel through the air until they come to rest on some kind of surface. In order to grow, the mold requires two things - moisture and food. Surfaces that act as good food sources for mold include cloth, carpet, drywall, wood and insulation. If moisture is also present when spores land on one of these surfaces, growth is likely to occur. For this reason, mold is commonly found in bathrooms, kitchens, basements and other particularly damp areas.
Signs of Mold
According to Turner, sometimes the first sign of mold in your home is an obvious one. “If you see mold growth on a wall or on your carpet,” he says, “you know you have a problem.” Mold comes in all colors, he explains, and can appear fuzzy, flat or slimy. In fact, there are over a million species of mold. “If you see something in your home that shouldn’t be there,” Turner says, “the best course of action is to have a professional come to your house and evaluate it.”
Although some types of mold can be seen growing on household surfaces, others may be lurking out of sight. Occasionally, a musty or earthy odor may be a tip-off that mold is present somewhere in a home. However, other times, there may be no clearly discernable signs. Instead, Turner says, a family may become concerned about mold because one or more person is experiencing certain health problems.
Health problems associated with mold include breathing difficulty, sore or scratchy throat, runny nose, itchy eyes, and wheezing or coughing. These problems may appear more pronounced in family members with allergies or asthma.
Getting Answers
Turner says that air quality testing is the best way to determine once and for all whether mold is present in a structure. “When someone hires RESTORECO for mold testing,” he says, “we take a sample of the air inside the home and then send that sample to a lab, where it will be evaluated for the presence of mold spores. We also look for a correlation between outside and indoor air quality.” While some mold spores can be expected in any sample, large quantities of spores indicate a problem.
Remediation
If it’s determined that mold is present in your home, Turner says, remediation efforts will be necessary. To ensure that mold is removed completely, he says, you will want to consult a professional mold remediation service. “Contrary to popular belief,” he explains, “effectively ridding your home of harmful mold requires more than just a thorough cleaning with bleach. Special techniques and cleaning agents must be used to ensure that the problem is completely resolved. Why risk your health on a DIY clean-up job? Consulting a professional is the only way to be absolutely sure your indoor air is safe for everyone in the family.”
