How To Identify And Cure Black Mold In Your Home

There are three different levels of symptoms of black mold exposure – common, advanced and severe.  Common symptoms can be experienced with brief exposure to the fungi, where advanced and severe symptoms are only seen after repeated and long-term contact.  Common symptoms consist of mostly topical issues such as a runny nose, red or itching eyes, red or irritated skin and a headache. With repeated exposure, advanced black mold symptoms include nose bleeds, diarrhea, sores on the skin and ear infections and pain.  After long-term exposure to a large number of mold spores, severe reactions can include blindness, brain damage and even death.

If you think you have a fungal outbreak in your home, the first thing that you need to do is to have an experienced home inspector come and find out how extensive the black mold damage is, how dangerous it is to your family and how difficult it will be to solve the problem.

Black Mold Removal And Common Symptoms

Black mold removal can be a simple, home fix, or it may require the services of a professional to do major work to your home. It is important to have a professional diagnose the problem and find the root of the mold.  Many times, people simply remove black mold on the surface and leave the underlying problem to continue to produce spores behind your walls, in your carpet or in the ceiling.  Severe infestations need to be dealt with by a professional and can become costly.  For that level of fungal outbreak, it is imperative to have a trained and licensed professional complete the remediation.

For less severe, topical problems, it is very simple for homeowners to remove the black mold and help prevent it from returning.  The most common place to find black mold in a home is in the bathroom.  This occurs because bathrooms are a constant source of moisture in the air and on the walls, and most bathrooms, especially in older homes, do not have proper ventilation systems to be able to dissipate all of the moisture.  When it accumulates on and in the walls it is a breeding ground for black mold.  This can be just from constant exposure to the moisture, or perhaps through cracks or gaps in the lining of your tub or shower.

For these mild buildups of black mold, fill an empty spray bottle with bleach and apply it topically to the affect areas.  Be sure to cover your face and also do everything possible to increase ventilation during treatment.  The bleach chemically breaks down the black mold and will get rid of any traces within a matter of just a few minutes.

Common Black Mold Symptoms And How To Cure Them

Once you have the mold re mediated, there are a few small tips which you can follow in order to prevent a future buildup.  The first is to ensure that all rooms in your home have proper ventilation.  This can be anything ranging from a ventilation fan in the bathroom, to good air-conditioning and filtering systems to simply opening the doors and windows occasionally.  Next you need to make sure that the house is structurally sound and free of places for outside rain and water to get in.  Make sure your roof is in good condition and that there are no holes for cables or wires in the walls that have space for water to enter – these small opening can become starting points of a black mold problem.  Lastly, make sure that you clean up all water spilled or sitting in the home.  This is most common in the bathroom or kitchen, but can also be applied to drinks being spilled on carpets.  All-in-all, it is must easier and less costly to prevent black mold rather than to try and cure it.

Areas to Target in Black Mold Removal

Contrary to the common believe that black mold occur only in the damp places and getting rid of moisture in your house will eliminate them; there several places that black mold thrives and which moisture can not be eliminated due to the use. To succeed in mold removal process you need to consider;

1. Have constant check ups for leaking pipes around you house. The leakages provide good conditions for the black mold to grow. Even if you do not notice the black mold on the pipes seal the leaks for the molds can thrive even inside the pipes thus directly contaminating the water flowing through. The black mold removal for colonies inside the pipes may prove difficult thus it’s better to stop it before it spreads.
2. Eliminate flooding of water anywhere in the house and around it. The flooding must not only come from the rains but also from water left behind while performing different cleaning chores. The flooded areas provide ideal conditions for the black molds to grow but drying them completely and keeping them as such kills their colonies and is an effective black mold removal procedure.
3. Keeping checking you walls for black stains especially in the moist areas such as the kitchen and the bathroom. If you spot some black different shaped stains on the walls initiate the black mold removal action immediately.
4. If you experience the mildew or a must smell in you house it means you have black mold around the areas that the smell lingers despite maybe not being visible. The most affected areas are; the closets and heating and cooling units in the house.

Steps in the Black Mold Removal

1. Eliminate moisture by pumping flooded water or using the dehumidifier to regulate you humidity level in the house
2. Eliminate dust and seal of negative pressure areas when you are performing the black mold removal to avoid the fungus spores from spreading to other unaffected areas.
3. Apply some moisture on the mold stains to prevent them being airborne and clean with soapy water.
4. Lastly, remove and discard the black mold and the mold infected cleaning equipment without passing them in other rooms.

How evaluate your black mold removal activity

1. Access whether you have completely removed the excess moisture from the house.
2. Check whether there are any visible misty or musty or mildew stains and odors after your procedure.
3. There should be no more visible evidence of additional water afterwards.
4. The house inhabitants should not exhibit any black mold infection symptoms after the black mold removal.