How Does Mold Grow In My Lafayette Home, and Can SERVPRO Help?

5/22/2020 (Permalink)

Finding the right solution to the mold growth in your home is not a problem that you should put off any longer than necessary.

Mold Damage In Your Home

When you first discover mold growing in your Dayton home, you might find yourself a little surprised and unsure of how it got there. More often than not, homeowners are less and less aware of the ease with which mold can grow and colonize in their houses, which makes it more of a common occurrence for it to happen. The more that you can understand how these situations occur, the better prepared you are to stop it from happening.

It might not seem like mold damages  in your Lafayette home can be that big of a deal, but mold can cause many problems for your home and your family inside. For starters, mold colonies eat and erode organic building materials, weakening the structural integrity of your home more and more as the colony spreads. Secondly, there are potential health effects linked to exposure to these colonies. This fact puts your family's health at a risk when exposure occurs.

Mold spores require one thing more than any other to grow and colonize within your house, and that is persistent moisture. While often the damp areas of your home are the basement or cellar, mold growth is never just isolated to these low traffic areas. Even if the spores begin to colonize there, they can travel via air ducts and openings throughout your home and colonize in these new places as well. That is why remediation from our SERVPRO technicians needs to happen as promptly as possible.

Warmth is another condition that the mold spores often require to colonize in your home, but this is not as warm as you might believe. For most residential varieties of fungus, the temperature only needs to be in the vicinity of 70 degrees. At this temperature, spores can seat and thrive on organic materials throughout the affected area.

Heeding Early Warnings of Lafayette Mold Damage Could Save Big Money

Compared to the effects of fire and water damage, most cases of mold damage in Lafayette are often difficult to identify and notice. Mold begins as a tiny, imperceptible problem in the home, but silently spreads and grows until someone takes notice of it. By the time mold has become visible, it is often too late to prevent significant damage to the home. Identifying warning signs and indicators of mold damage could end up saving you thousands in remediation and restoration costs, so be sure to look out for these common symptoms in the future.

Foul or Musty Odors

The most common method by which residents identify mold damage in their Lafayette homes is through smell. Many types of mold emit a pungent and typically foul or musty odor. If your home has begun to exhibit unusual and inexplicable smells, either in a single location or across the building, this may be a key warning sign of significant mold damage. Keep in mind that many mold infestations occur behind walls, beneath floors, and above ceilings, so it is not uncommon to smell mold without seeing it.

Dampness or Water Damage

Many cases of water damage SERVPRO deals with also involve some amount of mold remediation - and vice versa. Mold and water damage often go hand-in-hand, and if you have found unusual dampness or moisture in your home, this could be a key sign that mold has taken root somewhere nearby. If you cannot locate the source of the moisture yourself, give SERVPRO a call, as our inspectors carry special thermal imaging tools to help identify the origin of the problem.

Discoloration

Mold often first shows itself through light discoloration. Long before it forms evident and textured colonies, it may spread lightly across a surface without causing significant damage. Look for spots of discoloration around your home, and be wary of all unusual colors that are not simple stains.

Finding the right solution to the mold growth in your home is not a problem that you should put off any longer than necessary. The longer that mold grows unabated in your home, the farther it spreads and the more damage that it ultimately causes. Give our SERVPRO of Lafayette mold remediation technicians a call today at (765) 420-0077.

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