Tips On How To Prevent Mold In Your Basement
A lot of homeowners are guilty of forgetting to maintain their basements at home. And for the lack of time to maintain your basement or the lack of knowledge of how to properly organize your items downstairs, it could cause a damp and musty odor that could only mean that mold has developed in your basement.
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Having mold develop at home can cause a lot of harmful side effects to you and your family’s health as it has the tendency to spread to different areas of the house if you don’t do preventive action immediately. It could trigger an asthma or allergy attack, a runny nose, rashes, hives, and wheezing. So what are some of the actions you could do to prevent the development of mold spores at home? Clean Up And Organize Begin by re-arranging items in the basement by deciding which items to keep and which ones to throw out. Get rid of any organic materials dumped in your basement like newspapers, wood, old clothes, and the like. Purchase plastic crates with lids to store the items you want to keep to prevent manifestation of any mold spores. Kill All Existing Mold Using ingredients you can find at home, you can begin scrubbing off the dirt mold dines upon around all possible surfaces with a solution of TSP and water. Afterwards, you can use a garden sprayer filled with a 50-50 vinegar solution to fortify your scrubbing and killing already existing mold. For further prevention, make sure to let your vinegar solution stay for 5-10 minutes longer to ensure the eradication of any existing mold. Make it an effort to rinse and reapply the vinegar solution regularly too for prevention. Regulate Water and Moisture Mold mixed with 70% humidity causes mold spores at home. In order to make your efforts of scrubbing and organizing your basement valuable, we must first make sure that there are no leaks in the roof, your wall, or flooring. Prevent water infiltration by having contractors level out your floors and checking your gutters or downspouts yourself. If you think it needs extenders, take the time to install those when you can. Seal Basement Surfaces After a day session of organizing and scrubbing off surfaces, that would be the best time to re-paint basement surfaces as paint seals off water vapor and makes it easier to scrub and clean off after. Begin by applying primer and then apply a semi-gloss latex top coat on the walls, while epoxy or floor enamel for the floor. Other Tips
- Use or install exhaust vents in the kitchen, bathroom, and other areas of the house susceptible to water infiltration. Exhausts can help eliminate chances of growing mold from areas in the house where water infiltration is high.
- Make it a point to fix leaking pipes regardless of how minor a leak it is.
- Properly insulate pipes, ducts, and cool surface areas where water can condense.
- Run humidifies when necessary and make sure to clean it regularly.
- Seal cracks in the basement.
- Regularly scrub surfaces at home and clean it with vinegar solution as a preventive method for mold.