How Air Quality Testing Guides Mold Inspections in Homes with Basements and Crawl Spaces
Posted in Air Quality, on September 09, 2024
One of the best ways to detect mold in your home is through air quality testing in Toronto. The SafeAir team has over a decade of experience helping homeowners find the hidden or invisible causes of poor air quality in their homes. Mold inspection in Toronto is a science-led way to discover mold colonies and identify problem areas in your home, especially in basements, where air quality can suffer for several common reasons.
Why Do Basements Have Mold?
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Next to the attic, basements and crawlspaces are some of the rooms most frequently affected by mold growth. Several reasons underpin this observation — not in the least our experience at SafeAir of many, many basement mold removals!
Two main elements cause mold to grow in the basement:
- Water
- Airflow
When these two elements become misaligned, or there is an excess of water, mold can start growing on its favourite food source: organic materials.
What Mold Eats
Mold is a living fungus related to the mushrooms we have in our fridges. Because it’s alive, it needs to eat, and mold eats organic materials like:
- Wood
- Paper
- Textiles
- Dust
- Dirt and debris
- Leather
- Starches
- Adhesives
If you think about what you use and store in your basement, you’ll quickly find that the average basement is full of materials that mold eats. Couches, furniture, carpets, boxes, drywall, wallpaper, and flooring are just some of the things that are susceptible to mold growth in the basement or crawlspace.
Signs of Basement Mold
The best way to discover mold in your basement or crawlspace is through air quality testing. Mold produces airborne spores that are easily detected through SafeAir’s testing protocol. The type and concentration of these spores can help us determine where the colony is and how it can best be eradicated.
Mold inspection in Toronto is important because not all mold infestations are easy to spot. Mold may be growing in between floor joists, behind walls, or underneath carpets, which makes it invisible. Relying on other physical senses may be a bit easier: mold produces a distinct musty odour that is hard to forget. Other signs you may have basement or crawlspace mold include:
- High humidity
- Spongey walls or floors
- Mysterious discolouration or staining
- Sneezing, coughing, or itchy eyes
- Headaches
- Increase in asthma attacks
- Damp spots
How to Reduce Basement Mold
The top two suggestions our team gives for reducing basement mold are to eliminate excess moisture and increase airflow.
Basements tend to hold onto moisture for several reasons. Often, our laundry rooms, piping, and water intake are located down there, and these can all develop leaks over time. Floods or other extreme water events generally also affect basements first — water, after all, always flows down.
Once that water is in your basement, airflow is the next challenge it encounters. To dry up moisture, you need air movement, and many Toronto-area basements have reduced or restricted air movement. Small or blocked windows, a steady temperature, and trapped moisture all collide to create ideal mold growth conditions.
At SafeAir, we almost always recommend that homeowners start by using a dehumidifier in the basement. A small and inexpensive monitor from the hardware store can help you track temperature and humidity changes and alert you to seasonal spikes or times when the humidifier needs to turn on.
HEPA filters or air movers are also great tools for helping promote airflow downstairs while filtering out dust, particles, and other common air pollutants in the basement.
Have SafeAir Assess Your Basement
Air quality testing in Toronto is the best way to discover mold growth in your home, but if you have specific concerns about your basement or crawlspace, the SafeAir team can do a thorough inspection and evaluation for mold, radon, asbestos, or other invisible air quality concerns. It’s easy to know when a lightbulb has burnt out, or the fridge has stopped working, but mold growth is difficult to sense and can hide in areas the eyes can’t reach. Don’t spend time wondering if that strange odour is mold — let the SafeAir team give you a definitive answer. To learn more about the benefits of air quality testing and mold testing, read through our blog archive or call our team to talk to a technician today.