Excess moisture in the home is a lot more common than you may think. I am not just talking about an excess of accidental spills! I mean moisture in the air of your home that you cannot detect properly. Often, you can tell that you have a problem if you see your windows fogging up or getting wet more than they should.
This is not a problem that you should just ignore. Excess moisture can be very bad indeed.
The problem with moisture
When you have a lot of moisture in the air of your home, it creates a lot of ‘damp’ around the building. This is precisely what it sounds like: areas on the wall and windowsill that get damp both internally and externally. Not only does this damage paint and plaster; it also creates a little area where pathogenic bacteria can breed and grow. Eventually, you will start to see black and green spots, and maybe even some fluffy stuff. That is right: mold.
When a home has a lot of excess moisture, mold is one of the most common side effects. It is also one of the most dangerous. It is not just gross green fluff that is unsightly! This stuff is sending harmful bacteria throughout your home, which can lead to you and your family getting ill. In fact, if left long enough, respiratory diseases can even develop.
Getting rid of the problem
That mold needs to go, and it needs to go now. It is not just a case of scraping it off and that being the end of it. Even if you scrape it off, you will notice that some staining has occurred. You will need to give the surface a good wash, and then you will need to paint over it. However, this may not result in you ridding yourself of the problem entirely; you will need to ensure that other parts of the building, such as the interior frame, have not also been damaged.
Because the mold has created a contamination, you will probably want to look at improving the air and temperature control in your home. Not only will this help you get rid of the contaminants by improving the ventilation, but also putting focus on improving your AC & heating will help keep the problem at bay in the future. Speaking of which…
Reducing the moisture in your home
It should be clear by now that excess moisture needs to be taken seriously. With this in mind, you should look into making sure this problem does not repeat itself. Improving your HVAC setup will definitely help, but there are a few bad habits that people engage in that exacerbate the problem.
When you cook, you are probably going to be producing a lot of steam. In addition, if you are just letting that dissipate into your home’s air, then you are going to run into problems eventually. Make sure that you always turn on the ventilation features on your oven when you are cooking. If you do not have any, you should probably consider cooking with the window open! Hanging clothes up to dry inside the house is also not recommended. Dry your clothing as close to a window as possible if you are unable to leave them outside.
