Smelling Something Musty but Don’t See any Mold? Could it be Hiding?

8/8/2018 (Permalink)

Here you can see the drip pattern in the mold.

Something could be spreading and growing in the walls and floors of your home without your knowledge. Cue tension creating music. It sounds like an intro to a cheesy horror film. But this is no movie, lots of families have gone through the struggle of dealing with a mold problem. It’s not cheesy or funny but if you can recognize the situation early, the damage will be less extensive and the remediation process can be shorter as well.

Let’s return to the situation we discussed last week. There was moisture left over from not completely cleaning up a water related incident. This water may now have created mold growth that is not visible upon initial inspection. Especially if a building smells musty, but there is no visible mold growth, this could be an indicator that mold is present but hidden. Mold can hide on the backside of drywall, wallpaper, or wall paneling. It could also be on the top of ceiling tiles, under carpet or other flooring, inside walls around pipes, or inside ductwork. These places are not easily visible for inspection. At least, I’m not usually checking out the underside of my carpet. But that doesn’t mean that this mold is any less dangerous or that these locations don’t need to be cleaned.

If you do suspect growth, don’t go peeling back wallpaper or ripping holes in the wall to check the pipes as possibly disturbing mold can be dangerous to your health. If you suspect that you are sharing your home with an unwelcome moldy visitor, it’s time to call in the professionals!