You don’t want mold to form inside your home as it can cause a lot of problems, so it’s better to stop it from spreading as soon as possible. We’re going to look at a couple of ways you can prevent it from getting to the stage where you need to be concerned.
Stopping leaks is first on the agenda
Mold thrives in dampness and darkness, so it makes sense to fix any leaks in your home before you do anything else. You need to look behind all your appliances to make sure there is no water sitting at the back of them. Also go around checking all your taps because if they’re leaking you won’t know where the water is sneaking off to. Once you’ve made sure there aren’t any obvious leaks you just need to keep an eye on everything going forwards and fix anything as soon as you see that something is wrong.
No more holes in your roof
I wanted to add this to the last paragraph, but since it’s important we’ll talk about it on its own. If water is finding its way inside your attic there is a good chance mold will start to grow in the future. Even if you go into your attic and you can’t see any light shining through it doesn’t mean rain won’t be able to find its way inside. The only way to know you’re 100% safe is to feel the wooden beams and plasterboard running along your attic and also checking to see if there is any dampness on the floor.
Extractor fan malfunction
If you have extractor fans in your bathroom you want to put them to good use and that won’t happen if you don’t look after them properly. You should be checking them at regular intervals to make sure they’re doing their job correctly. Shower curtains and bathroom corners are great places for mold to hide and if you think your extractor fan is working you might be a little lax when it comes to making sure everything is dry. Once you know it’s serviceable you won’t have to worry about leftover water when you jump out the shower.
Install a water alarm
Anyone can accidentally leave the tap running in the bathroom, but if the plug is in the hole you will obviously run into a lot of problems when the water starts turning your room into a lake. The only way to get around this is to install a water alarm because you can’t count on your memory kicking in before it’s too late. Once the water starts to spill over the side of your bath or sink an alarm will sound as soon as it reaches a certain level and you can rush to rectify the problem.
Clean it up immediately
You can’t keep your eye on every single area inside your home 24hrs per day and some of those areas might eventually get damp. Mold will start to form, but if you can get rid of it immediately you won’t have anything to worry about. We’ve talked about some of the places mold usually forms, but one area we’ve not touched on is the grout lines in between tiles. Just take a little bleach and mix it with 90% water then scrub the affected area until the mold removal process is complete.
