How To Prevent & Remove Mould In Your Basement
By: 911 Water Damage Experts
If you’re looking for how to remove mould in your basement you’ve come to the right spot.
Everybody knows that one of the most common places where mould can infect the home is in the basement.
So today we share useful tips and tricks on how you can prevent and remove mould for a clean and healthy home.
Let’s get right into it.
Mould Removal Tip 1: Water Might Be The Issue
First things first, make sure to check the water in your house.
And by checking the water, you can easily find the mould in your basement, since water is the primary cause of it.
If there are any leaks around the house, they need to be repaired immediately.
If you fail to remove mould as soon as possible, then there’s the issue of mould returning, which can happen in a matter of days, depending on the severity of the issue.
So if you want to remove mould permanently, start with waterproofing your entire foundation, and move on to leaky pipes and clogged drains.
Mould Removal Tip 2: Materials That Are Damaged Must Go
Whenever you are inspecting your basement, one of the things you need to focus on is accessing the damage.
That means you need to identify how many things have been infested with mould.
The next step is to remove mould contaminated items completely.
Get rid of all the materials that have been covered in mould and avoid trying to salvage any of them.
This will just take up a lot of your time and energy, without any particular success.
Also, pack the damaged things in big plastic bags so you can avoid spreading the mold all around the house while you are disposing of them.
Mould Removal Tip 3: Clean Your Basement Dry
This is probably a very normal thing to do right after you get rid of all the mould-infested items in your basement.
After you have thoroughly cleaned your basement, the next step would be to thoroughly dry it.
As you know and as we have already mentioned, water makes up for an excellent breeding ground for mould.
If you are keen on completely removing the mould from your home and want to never see it again, dry out the basement.
If you have difficulties approaching this step, then we can recommend some drying dehumidifiers or very powerful fans – they can be of much use in the process of drying out the basement.
You can also call a professional water damage and mould removal company who have the appropriate equipment and guarantee mould removal.
Mould Removal Tip 4: Disinfectant As A Final Touch
After you have cleaned out and dried out the basement, the final step would be to disinfect the entire space, top to bottom.
This is a very relevant step in the process of cleaning out your basement because you are making sure that you remove the final bits of mould that have not been removed so far.
If you are thinking about a DIY approach to this challenge, some warm water and a cup of bleach may do just the trick!
But again there are no guarantees with DIY as there are mould particles that can remain unseen with the normal eye.
Remember, if you are using bleach, the smell can be a bit more than you can handle, so use gloves, a mask, and safety glasses.
So now your basement is clean and you have taken all the necessary steps to clear out every little bit of mould that you can find, but you are hesitant about whether the mould will appear again.
Thankfully, we got you covered!
Here are some mould prevention tips for you to try out:
Mould Prevention Tip 1: Be Specific When Checking For Water Leaks
To prevent any future leaks and mould in your basement, make sure to thoroughly check for any water leaks around the house.
Check under and behind any appliances and check your pipes for leaks every couple of months.
Look around your air conditioning system, your washing machine, furnace, hot water tank, and all the places that can be considered “hot spots” for water leaks.
Mould Prevention Tip 2: If You Find Issues, Fix Them Immediately
So once you have started inspecting your entire house and in the process stumble upon a bit of mould or a spongy place, the one thing you need to remember is to get rid of it immediately.
Whether this is caused by the high humidity levels or constant water leaks, the issue is something you need to fix as soon as possible.
Remember to never leave a pool of water unattended and to clean up after any spills that may happen.
The longer you wait the more damage you’ll likely report and that’ll increase your overall expenses.
Mould Prevention Tip 3: A Proper Storage Is The Way To Go
Two things that need to be mentioned here:
i) The first thing is that you need to move on from the carton boxes to plastic containers when it comes to storage.
This will prevent any soaking up of the water that may leak, thus preventing the mold from ever forming.
ii) The second bit is that you need to keep your storage container off the floor.
This is important, especially in those cases where you do not want to use plastic containers to store your things.
Keeping the boxes up on a shelf is an excellent way to prevent any mould from forming on them (and destroying your things along the way).
Mould Prevention Tip 4: Waterproofing Is Key
Last but not least, if the home is prone to water leaks and has cracked walls and stains all over, then the absolute best approach is to waterproof the entire foundation.
This is a certain way to prevent any leaks from happening in the future.
There are two options for you, interior and exterior waterproofing.
Go into details for both of them and see which option would suit your needs best.
Remember that after all, you are the one that knows your home best, so it’ll be easy to inspect it for mould every now and then.
You know all the secret little places where it can grow, so use this to your advantage when trying to prevent or remove mould from the home.
If you have any questions about mould inspection or how to remove mould feel free to call us at 1-833-WE-DRY-IT any time 24/7/365 all the time or chat with us on our Facebook fan page. We’re there when you need us!
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