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Most people
think mold is not a problem in Utah because we live in a
predominately dry climate. Unfortunately, that is not
true. Every home or building has the potential for
growing mold at an alarming rate and many people have
allergies to mold and don’t even know it.
Today's extremely "tight" energy
efficient homes hold moisture inside more so than older homes and when
walls and carpeted floors get wet, they dry out very slowly—allowing
mold contamination to get a firm grip and spread. Today's homes do not
"breathe"—to the contrary they hold contaminants and moisture inside.
So, new building materials and
tight buildings have given rise to a new group of molds growing indoors
and staying trapped indoors at much higher concentrations than in years
past.
Most Utah homes have basements
and every basement either has or will flood at one time or another and
roofs have or will leak. If the home doesn’t have a basement, it has a
crawl space and the same principle applies. This will happen as a result
of leaking pipes, overflowing toilets, leaking water heaters, water
seepage through foundation walls, flooding window wells, etc.
Many people shy away from a home
with a mildewy or musty smell due to the unpleasant odor and real estate
agents typically install air fresheners in vacant homes or have sellers
do the same to hide the smell. However, that only masks the odors and
doesn’t do anything to remediate the mold causing the smell. Eventually
the odors will come back and you will end up dealing with an unhappy
home buyer. This doesn’t have to happen when it can, most likely, be
easily fixed.
In fact, when I inspect a home
that has an obvious air freshener smell, I immediately begin looking for
the reason why—is it pets, smoke or mold!
Basements, crawl spaces and even
attics have the greatest potential for mold production due to their
cool, damp and dark environment. Additionally, most basements, crawl
spaces and some attics have poor ventilation which contributes to mold
growth.
Okay, so how do you know if a
home has a mold problem? Well, other than visual signs, there is only
one sure way, and that is a culture test. A-Pro always does a visual
check during each home inspection. And, if we see or suspect mold, we
look for the source and cause. However, keep in mind that a visual check
and the lack of visual mold are not conclusive. Therefore, the best and
most irrefutable check is a culture test, especially for airborne mold
spores.
If mold is found, what should be
done next? First you have to find the primary source of the mold and
what is causing it. Mold may be in one area of the home, yet disperse
airborne spores to other areas. Once the source and cause are found, you
need to remove the cause and then treat the source. Even if mold is dry,
it has the potential to become active again.
Bottom line—be mindful of the
needs and health of your clients. Don’t avoid the mold issue when
listing or selling a home. Older homes, in particular, don’t smell musty
just because they are old—it’s mold. Mold is a real threat to our health
and can be dealt with in a precise and swift manner at a reasonable /
affordable cost.
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