Mold damage can hide in plain sight if you don’t know what to look for. Sometimes, it can be a minor problem with an easy fix. But if mold is left untreated for an extended period, it can cause serious health issues. This is why it’s important to detect mold and treat it immediately before it becomes a serious problem.
To treat mold damage in your home, you need to know what you’re looking for. What is mold? What are the different kinds? How can they make you sick? That’s what we’re discussing in today’s blog.
Keep reading to learn about the signs of mold damage you should look for.
What Is Mold?
The first step to finding mold damage is knowing what mold is. As part of the fungi family, this organism thrives in outdoor environments and performs its job in the ecosystem, breaking down plant and animal matter.
When mold gets inside, it becomes problematic, making you sneeze, cough, and wonder if you’re coming down with a cold or have nasty allergies.
Mold gets inside through the spores through which it travels. Those spores can float through the air and attach to doors, windows, heating and A/C vents, clothes and shoes, and pets. In short, it’s very easy for mold to make its way inside!
Types of Mold
There are many different kinds of mold, but in this blog, we’re focusing on the types that grow indoors since we’re looking for signs of mold damage in your home. These are the most common kinds:
- Cladosporium is green, brown, or black and grows in warm and cool places, meaning you could find it in multiple environments. Check for it in your heating and cooling ducts and wood and carpeted flooring.
- Penicillium is blue, green, or yellow and is found underneath carpets, in basements, and insulation. Keep an eye out for this mold, especially if there’s been recent water damage.
- Aspergillus is green, white, or gray and has dark, powdery spots. Since it doesn’t need ventilation, it can grow just about anywhere. Think fabrics, walls, attics, basements, and, unfortunately, dry food.
- Alternaria is a fuzzy, white mold that has black spots. It grows on fabrics and wallpapers, near windows and A/C units, and in bathrooms and kitchens.
- Aureobasidium is a pink mold with black spots. Yes, as surprising as it might seem, mold can be pink! You’ll likely find it on wood, walls, caulking, and grout.
- Stachybotrys chartarum, also known as black mold, is greenish-black and contains tons of cellulose. It makes its home on paper, fiberboard, and drywall.
- Trichoderma is creamy white until it releases spores – then it turns green. Wood, windows, bathrooms, and kitchens are common places for Trichoderma to grow.
Symptoms of Mold
Before you panic, remember that exposure to mold damage doesn’t guarantee you’ll get sick. But it does invite the possibility, which we want to avoid! If you notice the following symptoms, you’ll want to look for mold damage in your home:
- Runny nose and congestion.
- Eye irritation.
- Sneezing.
- Coughing.
- Sore throat.
- Skin rash.
- Headache.
- Lung irritation.
- Wheezing.
Consistently experiencing these symptoms is a sign that it’s a good idea to go to the doctor for treatment. While treating your mold damage at home, let your doctor help you feel better quickly!
Signs of Mold in Your House
Now that we’ve examined what mold is, the common types of mold, and the symptoms you might be experiencing from mold exposure, let’s discuss finding mold in your home. Otherwise, you might stumble across it without knowing what it is.
You’ll notice (at least some) of the following signs around the area where a moldy spot is:
- An earthy, musty smell.
- Moisture without light.
- Warping, cracking, or peeling.
You can test a spot to see if it’s mold by putting a drop of bleach on it. Mold will respond by lightening in color. If it doesn’t lighten, it could still be mold, but it might not be. Another sign of mold damage is when the spot gets more prominent. What might appear as dirt or a stain could be mold if it’s growing — stains don’t grow!
Where Does Mold Grow?
Oh, the places you’ll – we mean mold – will grow. You can find mold in the following locations:
- Sinks.
- Bathtubs.
- Showers.
- Leaky pipes.
- Windows.
- Basements.
- Crawl spaces.
- Attics.
As you can see, mold will grow in difficult-to-reach places, some of which could require professional attention.
Mold can also start to grow by attaching itself to materials. So, even if the environment wasn’t naturally conducive to mold damage/growth, it could still grow. Mold will adhere itself to the following:
- Fabrics.
- Carpet.
- Paper.
- Wood.
- Ceiling tiles.
- Dust.
- Paint.
- Wallpaper.
- Insulation.
Regularly monitoring these areas is your best bet for preventing mold damage in your home.
Western Disaster Cleanup
It can be tough to immediately detect mold since it can blend in or not even look like what you’d imagine mold would look like. Do you suspect mold in your house? But are you unsure of whether it is mold? It’s time to call in the experts!
Western Disaster Cleanup has the expertise you need to keep mold out of your home and remediate any mold damage that may have already invaded your home. We take mold damage – along with water, fire, and smoke – seriously.
We take these things so seriously that we offer a 24/7 emergency hotline if you’ve discovered mold damage making you sick. Call us at 385.375.2963 if you have an emergency.
Whether it’s an emergency or not, Western Disaster Cleanup takes it seriously if you have mold damage in your home. We serve Utah, Juab, Wasatch Counties, and any location within one hour of Orem, Utah.
Contact us today to schedule an appointment! We look forward to serving you and removing mold damage from your home!
