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The Effects of Living in a Home with Mold

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How Mold Affects Your Home and Health

Let’s face it, there are few things scarier than coming across mold in your home. Mold’s unsightly appearance and musty odor can mean trouble for your home, especially if it’s gone unnoticed for some time. Mold is typically found in dark, damp and undisturbed areas, such as bathrooms, behind walls, in crawlspaces and underneath staircases.  In this article, we discuss the effects mold has on your health and your home, as well as provide some tips to remove and prevent mold growth in your home.

How Does Mold Get Into Your House? 

Although not visible to the naked eye, mold spores are everywhere. Once it’s found a proper location to grow and develop, mold will quickly disperse more spores that travel through the air to find other susceptible spots to grow and thrive. 

How are spores getting in? 

  • Through the air (windows, doorways, or ventilation systems).
  • Attaching themselves to objects or people (vehicles, clothing, shoes, and pets).

 Ultimately, spores will always find a way into your home. However, they will only thrive with proper conditions and a steady supply of suitable nutrients. If the environment is unsuitable for the spores — meaning there’s no moisture and good air flow — mold will be unable to develop.   Pro Tip: When mold grows inside the home, it usually produces a musty odor. So even if you can’t see mold, you should be able to smell it!

Effects Mold Has on Your Health

Mold can also pose severe health concerns for those who suffer from allergies, pre-existing respiratory issues, or weakened immune systems. Here are some of the most common health issues you may notice if mold is present in your home:

Breathing Issues 

As mold grows and matures, spores, cells, fragments and unstable organic compounds enter the air. These contaminants present issues such as allergens, irritants and mycotoxins, a toxic compound that is naturally produced by certain types of mold. Some of these can be harmful, especially to individuals who have a sensitivity to them.  Dampness also aids in the breakdown of materials, increasing the volume of particles and dust in the air which can irritate the lungs, nose and throat. For a person with breathing problems, such as asthma or chronic lung conditions, these symptoms can get inherently worse. Check your home regularly for damp areas to avoid these symptoms. 

Allergy Issues 

Someone with a sensitivity or allergy to any mold-related particles could have an allergic reaction as well. Allergic reactions to mold can produce very similar symptoms to other common allergies, such as hay fever or seasonal allergies.  Symptoms include: 

  • Runny or itchy nose
  • Itchy throat 
  • Sneezing 
  • Watery eyes 

Having a mold allergy, as well as asthma, means a higher chance of having an asthma attack when there is mold in the environment. 

Effects Mold Has on Your Home 

Mold can severely damage your home, too. When left untreated, mold slowly eats away at your home and continues to grow, causing severe damage to the structural integrity of your property.  The visible signs of this can include damaged hardwood floors, discoloration of the walls and ceilings, or condensation on the windows and walls. If you happen to come across surface molds (mold that appears on shower tiles or on the corners of the sink), it is possible to remove them using this formula. However, more serious types of mold will not go away on their own and may require professional remediation.  

Home Protection and Prevention

By now, we can all agree that no one wants to deal with mold. So how can you keep mold at bay and protect your home from its effects?  Controlling the amount of moisture within and beneath your home is the key to preventing mold. By keeping the humidity levels as low as you possibly can, you are creating an unsustainable environment for mold to grow.

Causes for high humidity levels in the home include:
  • Poor ventilation throughout the home 
  • Water used when washing and cooking 
  • The natural moisture in the air
  • Water leaks 
  • Tightly sealed windows preventing circulation
  • Rising damp 

The CDC recommends humidity levels be no higher than 50%. Use an air conditioner or dehumidifier to help you keep the humidity within this range. 

Tips for lowering moisture in the home:
  • Respond quickly to leaks or spills 
  • Use a dehumidifier to reduce indoor humidity
  • Leave windows open to improve airflow 
  • Use extractor fans to remove moisture while cooking 
  • Clean surfaces regularly to prevent moisture accumulation 
  • Avoid placing carpet in bathrooms and basements 

As soon as you notice any signs of mold in your home, be sure to check your home thoroughly, especially in the unknown places mold may be hiding. If you determine it’s worse than you thought, it may be time to call in the professionals.  For over 26 years, the Killingsworth Environmental team has been tackling even the moldiest of homes. If your home requires remediation, we’re up to the task. Schedule a service with us today!

The Effects of Living in a Home with Mold

Bedbug inspection

How to Know if Your Hotel Has Bedbugs

Upon entering a hotel room, do you typically reach for the tiny toiletries, take a leap onto the bed, or perhaps start by inspecting for bed bugs? Knowing what to look for is essential. Anticimex Carolinas Service Manager Christian Tweed has shared valuable insights on identifying bed bugs in your hotel room and preventing them from hitching a ride back home with you. And if bed bugs do become an unexpected part of your vacation, remember that Clark’s Pest Control is here to assist!



Q&A with a Pest Professional


How do bed bugs get inside hotels?


Bed bugs are primarily hitchhiking insects as opposed to foraging ones, meaning that they get carried around on people’s clothes and belongings. Someone with an active infestation in their home can easily bring bed bugs to their hotel, but they can also be picked up during travel (airplanes, taxis, and rideshare services) and brought to a hotel room.


What do people misunderstand about bed bugs in hotels?


From a probability standpoint, all hotels will deal with bed bugs at some point in time. If you think about a bed bug’s method of travel, there’s literally nothing a hotel can do to stop them from being carried in. What I have realized is that luxury hotels are more likely to have an aggressive response to dealing with a bed bug case once it’s identified as they tend to have a higher quality of service and a reputation to protect. While this isn’t always the case, it has been my experience more often than not.

Got bedbugs? Call Clark’s at 866-781-4991 today!

What do you recommend travelers do when they get to their room to check for bed bugs?


Most hotel headboards hang directly on the wall. I start my inspection here before even looking at the bed itself. I have found bed bugs, their exoskeletons, and the telltale black stains they leave behind around the edges of or in the crevices of headboards. If the headboard looks clean, move on to looking over the pillowcases and comforter for any signs or stains. You can dig into the bedding as deep as you want here, but I encourage people to look over the top layer of things at the very least.


What are some lesser-known signs of bed bugs in your hotel room?


The specifics of the black stains they leave behind, which as gross as it sounds, are just digested blood as that’s all that bed bugs feed on. If the stains are on a hard surface, they will be small dots as if left behind by an ink pen and will smear into a brownish gray when moisture is applied. If they’re on fabric, they will usually bleed along the fibers making a small diamond, square or X shape.


If there are bed bugs in your hotel room, can they travel home with you?


They absolutely can, however this is easy to prevent. While staying in a hotel, keep as much of your clothing and luggage off the beds as possible. Storing suitcases in the bathroom might sound odd, but it’s an effective method of prevention.

Don’t tackle bedbugs yourself, call Clark’s at 866-781-4991!

What should you do with your suitcase if you suspect your hotel has bed bugs?


When arriving home from a trip, leave your luggage in the garage or on a porch and bring your clothes in one load of laundry at a time. If the clothes are dirty, wash them like you normally would, if they’re clean then run them through the dryer for at least forty-five minutes. Once your suitcase is empty, vacuum over it meticulously (don’t forget to empty the vacuum when you’re done), or if you’re in the right climate, expose it to heat for a few days by placing it in your vehicle (parked in the sun) or for a few weeks in your attic.


The Clark’s Solution


If you brought bed bugs back to you home, Clark’s is here to help. Our Bedbug Control service is designed to eliminate bedbugs and create a safe, comfortable environment.


A Clark’s Pest Professional will do an inspection and recommend a plan of attack to get rid of bed bugs now and prevent them from hatching in the future. Call Clark’s at 866-781-4991 today for more information.



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