Ten Surprising Places in Your Home to Check for Mold
While mold isn’t as dangerous as some people would have you believe (especially mold remediation companies), it can still make you very sick , plus it looks unsightly, smells bad, and can cause a lot of expensive damage to your home. . If you notice mold growing somewhere in your home, you’ll deal with it immediately— cleaning up where you can, replacing mold-infested items like drywall, and finding out where the damp mold is coming from.
But being proactive when you see mold only works if you see the mold yourself. Mold is like any other living thing: it’s tough and finds a way to survive and thrive when you don’t pay attention to it. In other words, mold doesn’t just grow on walls and ceilings in big, ugly patches that are impossible to miss (and deal with). It also grows in some unexpected places, places in your home that you wouldn’t normally look closely at or spend time looking at. If you want to make sure there’s no mold lurking in your home, check these ten places.
Floors
You could walk on mold every day and not even know it. Mold can grow on wood floors (including laminate floors ), causing discoloration, staining and visible mold blooms, and it can also grow under the floor, on top of the subfloor it was installed on, in which case you, probably won’t see any visible signs until things really get out of hand.
You’ll also need to check everything under rugs and rugs because mold can thrive there for a long time before you notice it. Moving and cleaning under rugs is easy enough, but you probably won’t be lifting the rug every few weeks, so check for visual and olfactory signs of mold growing in or under the rug. Dealing with mold on your floor will likely require hiring a professional because fixing the problem can be very involved, including removing the floor and cleaning the subfloor, and if you don’t do it right, the mold will simply grow back.
Water pipes
Mold needs several things to survive: oxygen, food and water. Sure, there’s a lot of water in your home’s plumbing, but there’s usually no air there, so mold can’t easily grow there. But mold can enter your home’s water supply through a well or city water supply; it can grow inside water softening or filtration systems; and it can grow inside the ends of pipes and faucets where there is access to oxygen.
If you think you smell musty when you turn on the faucet , you probably do. And if you periodically have mold around your faucets, showerheads and toilets, it could be an indication that mold is coming through your plumbing. You can remove mold from inside faucets and drains using vinegar and baking soda (make sure the vinegar won’t damage your finish, though), and if the filter or softener is to blame, replacing them will likely solve the problem.
Vents and Ducts
Your HVAC ducts can become a breeding ground for mold, and it can grow there for a long time before becoming noticeable. The same can be said for vents leading to the outside of your home: exposure to humidity and rain from outside can eventually lead to mold growth, and if the hood above your range isn’t vented to the outside, it could be blowing moisture. , warm air hits your kitchen cabinets, causing mold to grow.
The good news is that mold in your air ducts makes itself known by its odor: Every time the air conditioner or heater turns on, you smell mold. The other good news is that these surfaces are fairly easy to clean: cleaning the vents is as simple as removing them, wiping them down, and replacing them, and the ducts can be disinfected with bleach and a vacuum cleaner equipped with a HEPA filter.
Chimneys and fireplaces
Mold can easily grow in your fireplace or chimney, especially if your chimney’s waterproofing has failed (or was installed incorrectly to begin with). Even a small leak in your chimney creates the ideal conditions for mold to grow—humidity, warmth, and darkness.
Unless you have your chimney inspected regularly (which you probably should), the first sign of mold in your chimney or fireplace will be an odor. If you find mold there, you will likely need a professional chimney sweep to clean it out, and you should also have your chimney inspected and possibly repaired . If a leak occurs, the mold will simply return and your chimney may eventually fail altogether.
Books
If your home has high humidity ( over 60% ), everything inside it is at risk of mold, including your books . Books are an ideal food source for mold, and unless you visit your library every day, they tend to sit quietly on shelves for long periods of time—periods when mold can happily grow in peace. If you notice fuzzy growths, stains, or white stringy particles on your books, it’s probably mold.
If your books become moldy, you will have a hard time preserving them . You can remove the mold with a brush or vacuum and then gently wipe the lids with denatured alcohol. You can also wipe down the pages by placing a sheet of wax paper between them – just be very careful. This is tedious work, with a high probability of ruining the books even more.
Wallpaper
The moment you smell mold in your home, your first targets will be the ceilings and walls. The investigation often reveals the location of the water damage that led to the mold, which then begins the double pleasure of finding the water leak and getting rid of the mold.
Sometimes mold hides behind wallpaper . Mold can grow between your walls and wallpaper safely and unnoticed. If you smell mold but can’t find it, you can look for subtle signs that it’s hiding behind the wallpaper:
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Bleaching. If areas of the wallpaper are discolored or stained, this may indicate mold.
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Wet areas. Does your wallpaper have slippery or greasy spots? This may be the result of mild exposure to mold.
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Peeling. Peeling of wallpaper may not be due to age, but to mold corroding the adhesive.
If you find mold behind the wallpaper, you will have to remove it, treat the walls, and then replace it with new wallpaper or other wall covering.
Wardrobes
If your closet is full of clothes, chances are you don’t see all your outfits on a regular basis. If you smell mold, it’s time for a thorough inspection because a damp toilet is an ideal place for mold to grow . If it’s on the walls or ceiling of your closet, chances are it’s also found its way onto your clothes, bags, and shoes.
You can effectively remove mold from your clothes by going outside and brushing away any visible mildew, then either dry cleaning them (be sure to let your dry cleaner know) or washing them in hot water with bleach or disinfectant. Once that’s done, it’s time to figure out why your closet is so humid.
Houseplants
Your houseplants are another unexpected target for mold, but it makes sense. They tend to be damp, especially if you overwater or the pots have poor drainage and have a lot of organic matter that feeds mold. However, dealing with moldy houseplants is easy: scrape them off (or replace the soil entirely) and address drainage or moisture problems.
Washing machines and dishwashers
Every time you combine water and heat, mold appears. So it’s no surprise that washers, dryers and dishwashers can often turn into little self-contained mold farms, with the added bonus of filling all your clothes and utensils with that amazing mold scent.
In addition to the smell, you may be looking for visible signs of mold inside your washer, dryer, or dishwasher, especially behind the rubber gasket that covers the door. Mold growing there again can be very difficult to see unless you dig around and check. Cleaning mold is relatively simple: Clean all visible mold with bleach and hot water, then run a cycle on the hottest water. Let it dry and you’ll be fine.
Insulation
We rarely see insulation in our homes – it’s hidden inside the walls, under the floors and in the attic. Mold can grow well on many different types of insulation in your home, making it very difficult to detect. It’s best to check all unseen areas in your home at least once a year and keep an eye on the insulation as often as possible. Of course, you probably don’t want to open up walls just to check the insulation, but you can usually visually check attic, basement, and basement insulation fairly easily.
If you find mold, you will have to remove all insulation, deep clean any surfaces where mold has taken root, replace the insulation, and find a way to control moisture levels or fix water leaks.