How to clean mold from your home.

Mold in Buildings/homes:measures to Prevent/control/fight/eliminate it


Mold in Buildings/homes:measures to Prevent/control/fight/eliminate it

Mold in buildings in an enemy from the old times. These days mold issues are more current for at least three reasons.

a) There are more and more respiratory conditions: asthma, allergies etc.

 

b) There is more mold due to more condensation. Buildings are now more sealed, more tight: no gaps, no passive ventilation.

 

c) Lawsuits concerning mold issues are steadily increasing.

Molds are filamentous fungi: not animals, not plants.

 

Mold to multiply needs moderately high temperatures, still and stale air, darkness but most of all it needs two things:

- Moisture

 

- Organic matter to feed on (natural or synthetic)

Since we cannot get rid of organic matter we should focus our attention and efforts on moisture control. You control moisture=you prevent mold creation and spread.

 

Therefore: fighting against mold in buildings is fighting against excessive moisture.

And how to we fight moisture?

1) The first battle is against condensation. Factors that support and inflame surface or interstitial condensation phenomena are among else:

1.1 Excessive production of humidity from human activities

 

1.2 Increased occupancy rate

 

1.3 Very cold winters

 

1.4 Inadequate thermal insulation

 

1.5 Existence of thermal bridges

 

1.6 Inadequate natural and forced ventilation

 

1.7 Subheating due to economical reasons a.k.a. energy poverty

Most of these factors are influencable. Please check “THE 4 PILLARS OF CONDENSATION PREVENTION IN BUILDINGS”.

2) Secondly you should stop any moisture ingress both in liquid and gaseous form.

Check roofs, walls, basements, crawls spaces etc. Till now we have seen how to control/prevent mold in buildings. Now we will see how to eliminate/fight it.

 

 Gosh! Despite all the preventive measures the green-black nightmare found the way to make its presence home!Chris Strogilis 

 

I would very much like to say: “Don’t panic!”, but sorry, I cannot! You should!

 

Mold is nasty and very persistent. So what are the options?

 

Firstly reconsider your preventive measures. Are they adequate? Do you need to upgrade them?

 

Then you will have to clean up the mess. I would suggest that you should avoid bleach. I find bleach ineffective, corroding, dangerous for your health and many materials.

 

I prefer one of the specialized products for mold cleaning. Take care though: there are some toxic products out there!

Cleaning procedure

Mold in big concentrations should firstly be scrubbed. Take the necessary precautions: masks, goggles etc. Apply the cleaner on the infected area and wait according to the instructions. Then clean with a sponge and a mild detergent. Repeat if necessary but only once.

 

The mold is dead! What to do next?

 

Hereunder you can find some well proven options:

1) Insulation

- Reinforce the existing insulation or add some new.

 

- Eliminate thermal bridges.

 

- One good solution is to insulate internally with thin panels from extruded polystyrene. Panels are glued onto the substrate. They can raise surface temperature considerably above dewpoint.

 

Then you paint them or use wall coverings. All materials should be mold resistant.

2) Anticondensation paints

These paints also aim at increasing surface temperatures above dew-point. Most of them contain fungicides.

 

Their insulation capacity is attributed to the glass microbeads contained in the formula.

 

A minimal consumption of at least 0,5/lit m2 is essential for the paint to be effective.

3) Antimicrobial – Antifungal paints

These paints can be used either on their own or in combination with insulation products and anticondensation paints.

 

They contain powerful fungicides. For a time spam of up to 10 years they won’t permit mold manifestation. Every now and then one layer of paint will  refresh the antifungal efficiency of the substrates.

http://maconwaterproofing.blogspot.com

Civil engineer with postgraduate studies in MBA and Marketing


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