The Health Effects of Mold and Mildew
Mold and mildew growing inside a home is unfortunately very natural. It’s extremely common to see mold growing on the walls of your shower, but when mold begins to spread throughout your home, it can cause significant health effects, especially if you or someone you live with are immunocompromised, or have significant respiratory issues. Mold and mildew is often the aftereffect of too much moisture and humidity in the air, which makes basements and crawl spaces a perfect breeding ground for these irritants. When mold grows inside your crawl space or basement, it throws off spores that will circulate through the air in your house, irritating your lungs and causing allergy-like symptoms or even asthma attacks.
Don’t worry, Summit Waterproofing can help. Our team of experts offers basement waterproofing and crawl space encapsulation services to prevent mold and mildew, and we also offer mold remediation services. Contact our team to get started today with a FREE estimate at 703-291-1516!
What Causes Mold and Mildew?
Mold is part of the natural environment, as usually in the outdoors, mold helps break down dead leaves and trees. Indoors, mold needs moisture and humidity to grow. As mold grows, it reproduces by emitting microscopic spores into the air. These spores float through the air, and can begin growing when they land on a wet surface.
The most common area for mold growth in the home is the bathrooms, as the moisture and humid air from the shower creates the perfect environment for mold to proliferate. However, basements and crawl spaces are also at a high risk of becoming a mold hotspot, as these areas often face moisture issues due to a lack of waterproofing. Poor ventilation can also lead to a damp environment that causes mold and mildew growth. Mold needs to feed to survive, and it will develop on cotton, wool, silk, leather, wood, and paper. Not only can mold damage be unsightly, but it can permanently damage these materials, and it can exacerbate dry rot in wood.
Allergies Caused by Mold
When mold spores are breathed in, they can cause allergic reactions in people, ranging from mild to severe. Mold exposure can irritate the eyes, skin, nose, throat, and lungs. Some common allergy symptoms of mold exposure include:
- Sneezing
- Coughing
- Nasal congestion
- Postnasal drip
- Red/itchy eyes
In addition to allergy symptoms, mold and mildew growth can severely worsen asthma symptoms, often causing asthma attacks or worsening asthma symptoms like wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness.
How to Prevent Mold
It is near impossible to fully prevent mold spores from entering your home, as mold spores are found throughout the air, pretty much everywhere. You can bring mold spores inside on your clothing, on your pets, on packages, and anything else you bring inside. Mold spores can enter through doors and windows, and they can even cycle in through your HVAC system. While you can’t prevent mold spores, you CAN prevent mold growth. Mold needs moisture to grow, so improving ventilation and waterproofing high-risk areas like your basement and crawl space can help prevent mold growth.
Summit Waterproofing Solutions offers several different waterproofing solutions to reduce moisture in your home. If you have a crawl space, we offer full crawl space encapsulations, which involve sealing off the crawl space with a moisture-proof vapor barrier, and installation of dehumidifiers and sump pumps. Dehumidifiers help remove moisture from the air, and sump pumps remove groundwater from your home before it has a chance to flood your crawl space. For basements, we offer both interior and exterior drainage systems to reduce water flowing around your foundation, as well as sump pump and dehumidifier installation.
Mold Mitigation and Removal
Mold removal on bathroom surfaces is easy, as using disinfectant wipes can usually quickly remove this fungus. However, when dealing with large amounts of mold in your basement, crawl space, or anywhere else in your home, you might need professional mold mitigation. Summit Waterproofing Solutions can help, our team offers the best mold mitigation services in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Fredericksburg, and Stafford.
Waterproofing and Mold Prevention Near Me
Mold and mildew can cause adverse health effects when you breathe in their spores. Mold can aggravate your allergies, causing red, itchy and watery eyes, congestion, coughing, sneezing, and more. Even worse, if you have asthma, then mold can cause asthma attacks and worsen symptoms like wheezing or shortness of breath. While you can’t fully eliminate mold spores from your home, you can prevent them by reducing moisture in your home. Summit Waterproofing Solutions offers the best waterproofing services to prevent mold in the Northern Virginia area. Our crawl space encapsulation and basement waterproofing services can help protect the most vulnerable area of your home from flooding, water damage, and the growth of mold and mildew. Contact the team at Summit Waterproofing Solutions today to get started with a FREE estimate at 703-291-1516!
