What to do when you find mold in your house?

When you first discover mold growing in your home, it can be pretty shocking and downright scary.  If you are like most people you immediately start thinking of guys in hazmat suits and thousands of dollars in damages. Even though those circumstances do sometimes occur, most times it is not the case.  Everyone knows that the time to act is when you first see signs of mold.  So the question remains, what do you do when you find mold growing in your house?  The answer depends on how much mold you find, what kind of mold it is, and where the mold is located.  

With that being said, the first thing anyone should do when they discover mold in their home is to stop what they are doing and locate safety equipment. Before further exploring what you are dealing with, put on a face mask, and/or a respirator for large amounts of mold, or at least tie a shirt around your face for small amounts. Gloves and goggles are also recommended.

After going back in, if you discover a large amount of mold covering 10 feet or more, you will need to put off doing anything else and contact a professional right away. If you are not properly trained in remedying this kind of mold damage and try to take care of things yourself, you could be putting yourself and your family in danger.  If you feel like a large amount of mold particles have been released into the air, because you were perhaps demolishing a wall, you will want to leave the space immediately and close it off from the rest of your home as much as possible until professionals are able to come in.

If you find a small amount of mold and can easily identify its origin, you need to make plans to fix it ASAP! The number one cause of mild mold damage in residential properties is something leaking. It could be rain coming in from an old window or a broken pipe under your sink, whatever you find, the worst thing you can do is ignore it or put off repairs! If the project is clearly beyond your scope, call your local Better Business Bureau’s Mr. Fix-It who has experience in mold remediation, and get a quote. Until that time, you need to clean up as much as you can yourself and try to stop any further water from coming in.

Here is what to do:

• If there is visible mold that looks like it had the potential to be airborne, spray the affected area with soapy water and wipe clean.  If you are prepared to tackle the project yourself, you can continue to wet the affected area prior to digging out the rest of the rot all the way to its origin.
• Find and stop the source of the moisture or water. This is sometimes easier said than done and might require some exploratory deconstruction. There is no two ways about it, if there’s mold there is moisture, so if you don’t remedy the leak your problem will only continue to grow!  This is why even small leaks should be repaired by a licensed contractor/plumber or mold specialist who will guarantee their services.
• If you cannot get to the mold easily, try to tape off the area so that spores are blocked from entering the air.
• If you cannot fix the leak right away, try to slow or catch whatever water you can until help arrives!