Rooms at Risk for Mold

There are a number of different rooms in your home that can harbor mold, but a good way to guess where it might be is to look at the rooms of your house that are naturally moist. This is any area in your home that water comes out of the plumbing system and these are usually only the bathroom, kitchen, laundry room, and basement. Bedrooms and common areas can also be at risk for mold growth, but nowhere nearly as much as the other rooms in your home.

One thing you do not want to have in either the bathroom, kitchen, or laundry room, is carpet. This is just not a practical choice, since these rooms usually have large amounts of water going through them at least once a day. If the dishwasher or clothes washer malfunctions and spills water all over the floor, it will be much more difficult to clean up than if it was spilled onto a tile or linoleum floor. Mold starts to grow after about 48 hours and if you do not completely clean up the water, this is most likely to happen.

If you have a large appliance such as a dishwasher or clothes washer (and if you run a full household with spouse and kids, you should), and it malfunctions, you really need to get it replaced as soon as possible. The cost of repairing the water damage done to the floor by both over time will probably outweigh the cost of a new appliance. Cut back on some spending in other areas and purchase a new one as soon as you can.

Your bathroom is another important area to take care of. If your bathtub or toilet overflows, the damage to the floor can be substantial if it is not waterproofed. This means that there should be no missing areas of grout, no cracked tiles, and no missing or loose caulking around the base of the toilet or bath tub.

Something that you should purchase for all the moist rooms of your home is an exhaust fan. Most building codes require that there be an exhaust fan or a window in the bathroom, but you should really have both, since leaving a window open for the steam to escape is not always practical. It could be too cold, too hot, or raining outside, so having the exhaust fan helps with this inconvenience. The reason for the fan is to keep the steam from being soaked up by the ceiling and causing it to become discolored. If it soaks up enough water over time, it could start to sag and even collapse on you.