When homeowners think of home maintenance, the garage, both the interior and exterior, is usually overlooked and left unattended. The only time garage care becomes a priority is when the garage becomes affected and menaced by a flood.
Unfortunately, once mold begins to grow, there is very little that can be salvaged. The best course of action is to prevent mold from growing in the first place.
Before that, it is important to establish knowledge about the problem being dealt with.
Mold is a form of fungus that displays a discolored and fuzzy appearance. Inside one’s garage, it can grow on anything, from the garage walls, ceiling, and items inside the garage.
Moisture and mold problems are harmful in many ways.
Beginning with how it harms your house and lot, mold growing inside your home not only
distorts the overall aesthetic of your home interior, it also damages the quality if left unattended for a long time.
Additionally, mold harms the home’s inhabitants by excreting mold spores that are invisibly
floating through the air. Too much spores in the air can lead to allergic attacks, asthma attacks, and other respiratory problems.
Point being, mold is problematic and must be addressed the moment they begin to show up. Even better, a homeowner must take the necessary precautions as early as possible to prevent them from developing in the first place.
Below is a list of precautions to take which are ways to prevent mold for garage care.
Preliminary Inspection
Whether after a flood or you think your garage is mold-free, you must observe the condition of the garage with close detail. This is the first step on how to prevent mold growth in your garage,
For example, even the smallest cracks and crevices on the roof cause small puddles in your garage which, if not addressed, can become one of the mold causes.
Damages to the physical structure of the garage calls for renovations to be made, before the overall condition of the garage worsens.
Aside from the garage roof, it is important to check gutters and pipes frequently to ensure that they are in good enough condition to avoid leaks.
Reduce the humidity
Sometimes, all mold needs to grow is moisture. Hence, the fluctuations in temperature and liquid found around the garage can lead to moisture, then eventually, mold growth.
Moisture build-up can specifically occur the moment you drive your car inside the garage.
Since you just have turned off your engine, the car is still hot. Couple this with the fluids dripping from inside your car to the floor of your garage. This environment is sufficient to grow molds.
To add to this, cold air is usually dry. Dryness can cause irritation to the skin, nose, and throat. To counter this, people would use humidifiers because they are effective in treating the dryness caused by the cold air. Moreover, they can ease flu-like symptoms like a common cold.
Unfortunately, the risk of using a humidifier is over-humidifying. Over-humidifying can lead to
a moist interior leading to mold growth. Just like the above mentioned respiratory problems of mold around the house, over-humidifying on its own can cause respiratory problems itself.
To avoid this, keep the doors to allow the moist air to go out and replace it with the cool wind from outside. Never forget to do this once you arrive home and park your car in the garage.
Lastly, if you plan on using a humidifier, regulate the humidity around the garage. Keep it at 60 percent or below. This way, condensation will not occur, effectively eliminating the threat of growing mold around your house and lot. This should become your standard garage care.
Build and organize
From the beginning, you can already prevent mold growth depending on the materials you use to build your garage.
In lieu of paper and wood, use mold-proof materials like metal. Of course, metal costs more than paper or wood, but if you want to know how to prevent mold growth, sometimes, all it takes is paying a bit extra. This is a better alternative to paying a hefty price tag for professional mold care.
For garage walls, use pre-coated aluminum or a vinyl siding to ensure your walls will not soak in water, which, of course, will lead to mold growth.
Once your garage is built, keeping it organize will guarantee a mold-free garage.
If you are using your garage as storage, as much as possible, your goal is to keep things away from water as a lot of things can serve as a source of food for mold, in combination with the fluctuating temperatures of garages.
Do not dump things on the floor. Instead, install shelves, with all your vehicle items organized to make them easier to access, nicer to look at, and less susceptible to molds.
But, more importantly, garage flooding during heavy rainfall becomes unavoidable. In such cases, you will avoid moldy problems with your belongings only if they stay dry.
Essential oils
The mistake people make when employing the use of essential oils is thinking that it is a quick solution to killing mold. Not only does using essential oils against mold take time, it also does not kill mold. Hence, if mold has already grown around your house, it will take time to remove it using essential oils.
Different molds come in different colors which mean an essential oil used for a one color of
mold will not work on a different color of mold. Going back to fighting mold, there are cases where using essential oils are ineffective. Essential oils must only be used against visible mold. They cannot permeate through walls and floors nor are useful against invisible mold. Lastly, if it has not been stressed enough yet, essential oils cannot kill molds.
On the other hand, essential oils work best as a prevention measure—used to prevent mold from growing in the first place. Essential oils like cinnamon, thyme, clove, and oregano are considered the best at removing some current molds and mold growth prevention.
Many stores sell these oils in a small spray bottle. When you drive your car into the garage, it should be followed up with spraying the garage with essential oils. One might resort to using chemicals by default but sometimes, going natural might be a better course of action when dealing with moisture and mold problems.
Prevention over repair
The statements mentioned above show how to prevent mold growth in your garage,
especially during cold weather months when the cool and dry air mixes with the air around your house that lead to moist and humid air, a recipe for mold growth. However, in certain situations, the mold problems get out of hand and they still end up growing.
In this case, the first thing to do is try and see how much mold you can remove currently. After this, it is best to call professionals to assist in killing the main mold source completely to impede the mold growth. If there are damages such us discolored walls or a leak in your garage, have them renovated immediately as they are detrimental to your health and may cause new mold to grow, respectively.
But, by doing all of that, it takes more effort and money compared to doing prevention measures as early as now. By controlling your garage’s humidity you are making sure that mold does not grow in the first place, maintaining the quality of your garage and keeping your entire house and lot in excellent shape.
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