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Mold in Florida: What you need to Know

Mold in Florida: What you need to Know
Southern Brothers Marketing Team
General news, Home safety

Mold in Florida: What you need to know

Mold is one of those elusive words that either brings eye rolls or sinking stomachs.  For some, the word mold carries a connotation of fear and anxiety due to past living experiences or damaged immune systems.  For others, the word just means that you’re in Florida and the bleach should be under the sink somewhere.  Let me explain….

Mold can travel through the air, undetected, or it can lie beneath the surface of your residential or commercial buildings walls, floors, ceilings, and even air ducts.  An indoor air quality inspection is the best way to determine if you have mold contamination or an indoor air quality that exceeds recommended thresholds.  Especially if you can’t see the mold.

 

There are typically two camps on the severity of what to do with a mold infestation or mold contamination, and both should be dealt with in light of the facts and with the appropriately licensed individuals (Licensed Florida Mold Assessors).  The common Florida homeowner will often provide you with everything you need to handle a mold problem – “Mix up some water and bleach, spray it on the mold that you see…problem solved!”  This type of ignorance will only result in further damage to your home and continue to compound your mold issue.  A bleach and water mixture or other cleaning products are excellent for dissolving dirt and grease, but do not effectively treat mold development on an organic material.  It actually feeds it!  And could even be like throwing gas on a fire.  Other Florida residents throw up their hands in surrender, and say “it’s everywhere, if I can’t see it…it won’t hurt me”.

The 3 Fundamental Elements of Mold: Organic Material, Moisture, and Temperature

Mold requires three fundamental elements (the fourth element of oxygen is beyond our control, so we’ll focus on the other three): an organic material to grow on (its “food” source), moisture, and temperature.  Therefore spraying water and bleach onto a thriving mold environment only allows the components of the mold you can’t see to thrive on the additional moisture you’ve just contributed to the mold formula.

Organic material for mold growth, for example, is wood, drywall, or cloth.  Mold will not grow on glass, plastic, or other non porous materials.  (If you see mold on these surfaces, it’s because you’re past due on cleaning and the mold has begun to grow on the surface dirt and grime.)
Moisture is everywhere, and believe it or not is even being transferred through the air.  The common Florida resident is well aware of the term humidity, which is the concentration of water vapor in the air.  So, even if you don’t have a water leak, roof leak, or moisture intrusion, mold can thrive in an environment where humidity levels are above 50%.  This is a huge blow to Florida property owners, since we hardly see a day in the year where humidity levels reach this low.  We are surrounded by moisture!
Temperature can be the microwave and final contributing factor to a mold infestation or mold contamination inside of your home or office.  Mold thrives in temperatures above 70 degrees.  Last time I checked Florida is known as the Sunshine State, and therefore we can bet on the temperature being above 70 degrees.  Most of us are happy if our homes and commercial buildings are conditioned to 72 degrees, which means we all live, work, and play in the ideal climate for mold growth.

Jacksonville, Florida and the North Florida region are prime climates for mold development, so what do we do about it?  Understanding these basic principles will hopefully provide some insight, but mold is not always on the surface, nor is mold always visible.  Mold can be and is proven to be elusive.

How do I Know if my Property is Mold Free?

The best way to know if your residential or commercial property in Jacksonville, Florida is safe from mold contamination or mold infestation is to utilize the services of a licensed mold assessor.  A licensed mold assessor is trained and experienced in the details of mold and biology sciences and the conditions that propitiate mold development.  Utilizing a licensed mold assessor to complete a mold inspection or mold assessment is the best way to obtain peace of mind in the realm of mold.  Having an indoor air quality test conducted on your residential or commercial property could provide you the much needed details on the air that you are breathing everyday.

 

 

Southern Brothers Inspections has a licensed mold assessor ready and able to assist you with any of your mold or environmental concerns. For more info about having a Mold Assessment done, click HERE. For more info on having Air Quality Testing, click HERE. Contact Southern Brothers Inspections today for your Mold Assessment, Mold Inspection, Indoor Air Quality Inspection, or Mold Testing needs! 904.747.0888

 

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