Say NO to Mold!

Summer humidity and the dampness can create an ideal situation for certain types of mold. Mold can attack your home’s structure as well as its contents (not to mention your health), and it can lead to the need for seriously expensive repairs. Mold usually grows in damp basements, though it can appear anywhere if the conditions are right.

Here’s how to help keep your home mold-free:

Be Spartan. Clothing, paper and furniture are the three biggest moisture magnets.

Run a dehumidifier.

In the summer months, if it’s not too humid, open the basement windows.

Avoid air-drying wet clothes in an already damp basement. Instead dry them on a clothesline.

Store firewood in a shed or garage, or neatly stacked outside under a tarp, not in the house.

Don’t carpet the basement floor.

Keep an eye on any water you have coming into your basement.

To absorb musty odors left by previous mold outbreaks, set out a few small bowls of vinegar, or place a lump of dry charcoal in an open metal container.

If you have a bathroom in your basement make sure there are no leaks to cause water to collect under the sink or toilet. If you have a stall shower  make sure there is an adequate fan so that mold doesn’t start to grown.

Mold is not something you want in your home.

We have a carpeted basement but it is very dry, even so we run a dehumidifier full time during the summer months. This keeps our basement comfortable and dry. What precautions do you take to ward off mold?

In case you were wondering that is NOT our moldy shower or our wet basement wall!!