Weapons in your arsenal to stop mold

Mold is something that worries everyone. It can ruin your family’s health and make your home uninhabitable. But it’s not that hard to stop mold.

Bathrooms are an excellent breeding ground for this fungus, as mold likes places that are warm and humid, and not many other places are more humid and warm than a bathroom. Once you understand it and know why it grows where it does, you’ll be able to prevent mold from growing in your bathroom.

The best thing you can do in your fight against mold is to keep things dry. If your bathroom is dry, you are depriving mold of the nutrients it needs to grow. No nutrients means no mold.

One way to keep your bathroom dry is to have proper ventilation. You should have a fan that is vented to the outside, not just into your attic space. If it is vented into the attic space, you are simply moving a potential mold problem from your bathroom to your attic or basement, where it would be much more difficult to combat.

Make sure all seams on bathroom walls are sealed and grouted. This will keep water out behind the walls and help stop mold growth. Your most powerful weapon in the fight to stop mold is to do everything you can to keep your bathroom dry.

Another weapon in your fight to stop mold is actually your bathroom paint. There are paints made specifically for bathrooms that contain anti-mold products to combat mold and mildew. They are much more resistant to mold growth than ordinary paint.

If you choose not to use a special bathroom paint, you can have your paint store add an anti-mildew to your paint. It is not very easy to mix this ingredient evenly by hand, so it is recommended to add it at the same time you tint the paint.

If you suspect you have a problem, one way to test for mold is to pour some bleach on the spot. If the stain changes color in any way, it is most likely mold.

You can also get mold detection kits at any home improvement store. If you have mold, and it’s a small area (or no more than three small areas), then it’s something you can clean up yourself. However, there are commercial mildew detergents that you should use instead of bleach. They will do a better job. If there are more than three areas of mold, or if the affected area is larger than one square yard, you should seek professional help.