Mold Cleaning Tips

Here are some good places to start checking for mold in your home. Make sure to utilize your nose as well, since mold often brings a strong, musty odor. For moldy areas less than 10 square feet in area (roughly 3 feet x 3 feet), you can probably handle the job yourself (or call Mr. Handyman to do it for you). To limit contact with mold spores, the EPA recommends you wear an N-95 respirator, non-porous plastic gloves, and goggles. Use detergent and water, a 10% chlorine bleach solution, or a commercial mold treatment solution.

Do not treat mold in carpeting, inside wallboard, and insulation, instead remove them completely from the home.

• The bathroom

This room can be a breeding ground for mold because of the moisture from the shower. Since most bathrooms aren’t perfectly ventilated, water tends to stick around to facilitate mold growth. Keep a close eye on the tub area and any surrounding area that might get wet often. Also be sure to keep an eye out for signs of mold when doing drywall repair anywhere in the bathroom, and especially around pipes.

• The basement

When checking out the basement for mold, start where there’s a history of water leaks, such as around old pipes, under the bathroom, and so on. Also, check out the bottoms of the walls. If there are signs of mold across, contact a professional to help clean it.

• The attic

It only takes a little bit of moisture to cause mold in the attic, and it can often go unnoticed for long periods of time there. If mold starts making a home in your attic, it can spread easily to precious items you have stored there as well as the surrounding walls.

TO AVOID FUTURE MOLD ISSUES

Because mold will likely come back even after it is cleaned, if the conditions that fostered it remain, it's important to improve ventilation in rooms prone to mold, fix the source of any water leaks, and keep humidity levels in your home and basement below 50%. This can be done by using air conditioning and de-humidifiers.

For more tips on preventing, finding, and treating mold, visit the Mr. Handyman blog and follow us on Twitter!

MOLD CLEANING AND REPAIR SERVICES

Mr. Handyman can clean small areas of mold for you, set up dehumidifiers, and replace drywall that was removed during larger remediation cleanups.