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Mold Prevention
"Help! When I look around my house, I find mold around my windows, behind furniture, and in my closets. Everything is fine until the rainy season comes, and then it all comes back!"
Sound familiar? We all know flooding and plumbing leaks can do a lot of water damage to our homes. However, the way your house is built and the way you live in can do a lot of moisture damage too! The fact we live in the San Francisco Bay Area really has nothing to do with it, other than it provides the weather. It's a Home Performance Issue. Moisture control is one leg of the Golden Triangle of home performance: energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and moisture management. All the house subsystems contribute to it, including structure, electrical, plumbing, fuel gas, mechanical, storm water drainage, and energy efficiency. When everything else is installed correctly, the mechanical system effectively manages indoor moisture levels: the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. When trying to control mold in a house, all the subsystems need to be considered together to stop it by managing moisture levels in the house. Areas of Moisture Management & Moisture Control There a three broad areas of moisture to control and manage: bulk water intrusion, evaporation, condensation. Bulk Water Intrusion. Uncontrolled water flow in and through the house is called bulk water intrusion. It's floods, leaks, spilled buckets, and the like. These get our attention fast, and we work quickly to recover from them. It's also draining water at our foundations. Evaporation & Condensation. Evaporation and condensation do a lot of damage too. We're aware of it, but we tend not think about. When we do, we don't do everything we can to manage it. We tend to believe in silver bullets--fix one thing and it will take care of everything else. NEWS FLASH! There are no silver bullets! Mold Prevention with Moisture ControlThe most practical to prevent mold growth is by effective moisture control and management. Three articles follow, covering the types of moisture we deal with, what residents can do, and what moisture control features a house should have.
Mold Assessments | Mold Pros | Mold Prevention | Mold Removal
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