As Winter fades away and everyone puts away their heavy coats to prepare for Spring there is one negative that comes with the changing seasons- Mold. The warmth and wetness of Spring causes mold spores to spread and disperse through the air, causing health issues for many people. You’re not safe indoors though, as many molds find a place to live and breed inside a building, and without the help of the wind the concentration of mold spores indoors can be higher than outside.
Mold spores thrive and grow best in humidity and the dark, which means there is often a colony of mold hidden somewhere in a building that no one knows about. Typically, these areas are places such as a dark closet, basement, behind ceiling tiles or insulation, and even under drywall and paint. Another area that becomes the perfect breeding ground for mold during the spring is the ventilation system of a commercial building, which also serves to blow the mold spores throughout the facility.
‘Preparation is half the battle’ as the old quote goes, but how do you prepare to deal with an increase in mold spores? One way is to know when mold spores are high in your area so you can make sure to clean up areas they might have landed, and make sure filters are clean and working efficiently. An easy way to do this is to check the Mold Spore Map provided by the National Weather Service:
Another obvious way to prepare is to keep potential breeding grounds clean and dry so mold won’t even have a chance to live there. It’s also a good idea to have dirty areas cleaned, as the mold loves to grow in dirt and dust. This includes the ventilation ductwork running throughout a building, which collects a significant amount of dust and dirt through daily use. Removing both the habitat and food source for the mold will make any attempts at growth unsuccessful.
Of course, mold is such a successful organism because of its ability to grow in hostile areas and survive attempts at cleaning. If your commercial building has developed a mold spore problem despite your preparation, you need to call a professional mold remediator in to fix the problem.
Hughes Environmental technicians are up to date on the best mold remediation techniques, and we have Council-certified Indoor Environmentalists (CIE) and Council-certified Microbial Remediators (CMR) on staff. We can help you defeat your mold problem.
