to finding and dealing with mold

By Jerica P ender

The Washington Post

Mold spores float through the air and settle on surfaces, even in the cleanest homes. They get tracked inside on our shoes, pets and bodies, as well as through gusts of air. Once spores meet moisture and find a food source - whether it’s dirt, dust, wallpaper glue or the paper on drywall - they can grow in as few as 24 hours, causing health issues and damaging structures.

Nancy Bernard, a public health adviser and program manager for Washington State Department of Health’s Indoor Air Quality program, says mold’s job is to decompose whatever it’s growing on. That’s fine, she says, as long as it’s “decomposing outdoors where it belongs.”

Indoor mold growth typically indicates a water problem. All it takes is one persistent drip over time for mold to take root and destroy a large part of a home, says Brian Fish, a Navy veteran who operates North Sound Mold Solutions in Mount Vernon, Wash.

The best ways to prevent mold growth in your home in- clude keeping humidity levels in check (the Environmental Protection Agency recommends a level of 30 to 50 percent) and dusting regularly with a damp cloth. Performing regular visual inspections of each room can also help you spot and squash issues before they require costly professional remediation. Here’s how to check each room in your home for mold and what to do if you spot signs of moisture.

1. Living room and bedrooms

Growth happens when mold spores land on wet surfaces, so it’s important to check window frames frequently for condensation. “The mold isn’t growing on the vinyl, it’s growing on the dirt and oils” that settle on it, says Bernard. If you can’t reduce condensation, wipe the window daily with a dry cloth.

Thick window treatments, especially if they’re little-used, can be another prime hiding spot for mold and moisture. Fish recommends hanging them an inch or two above the top of the window to better allow air to circulate.

Mold also likes to hide behind furniture. Bernard says to put big, bulky pieces on interior walls, which tend to have less condensation than exterior ones. If that’s not possible, leave at least a few inches between the furniture and the walls to allow air to circulate. Or, Fish says, regularly pull furniture away from the wall and look behind it.

If you find mold on your mattress or furniture, you can try to clean and dry it, but if it still has a musty smell when you’re done, Bernard says the mold is still there. Putting it outside in the hot sun might help.

For porous materials such as carpet, take a preventive approach.