A Surprising List Of Diseases Caused By Mold

If you hear of an illness that ends in “mycosis”, it was probably caused by a mold. Those who are particularly at risk to contract this class of diseases are those with compromised immune systems and this often occurs in people who have a cancer of the blood, chemotherapy patients, those with HIV or AIDs, anyone with serious blood disorders. Even those these diseases are far more likely to affect those with compromised immune systems, they can develop after a person has surgery or any other invasive procedure. It can also be transmitted by contaminated surgical instruments.

Generally the first symptoms of these mycotic diseases are those that are similar to the flu, such as chills, coughing, pain in the muscles and the joints, and fever. Medications that are antifungal can cause some of these symptoms, as well, even though the fungal infection that it is intended to treat cause these exact same symptoms. These drugs can also cause kidney damage and end up affecting the eyes, skin, or liver and a doctor will probably ask for labwork often in order to catch some of these serious side effects before they become out of control.

Some of the diseases that can be caught from a mold are histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, coccidioidomycosis, candidiasis, blastomycosis, and aspergillosis. These are serious fungal diseases and should be treated as such.

Aspergillosis is caused by molds in the Aspergillus genus and tends to be found in many places including buildings, plants, food, water, and soil.

Blastomycosis is caused by Blastomyces and is found soils that are rich in nutrients and very moist. It has been known to affect both animals and humans.

Candidiasis is caused from the mold Candida and can cause mouth infections or genital yeast infections, but it is even more serious when it ends up invading the bloodstream. Candida is found in the intestines naturally, however.

Coccidioidomycosis is caused by the mold coccidioides and this is found most often in the dry soil in the southwestern United States, and central and South America. It starts as a flu-like disease, but can infect the lungs and infect the other organs in the body, including the brain.

Cryptococcosis is caused by Cryptococcus and associated the most with Eucalyptus trees and bird droppings. It typically begins in the lungs, but has no symptoms until it spreads to the rest of the body.

Histoplasmosis is caused by Histoplasma and tends to infect the lungs. Like other fungal infections, it includes flu-like symptoms and can spread to the rest of the body.

Desert Mold Causes Valley Fever

It might not be that obvious, but even in desert climates such as parts of Arizona, California, Nevada, and etcetera mold can be a real problem. One of the most deadly (and most difficult to pronounce) molds lives in the desert areas of the southwestern United States called Coccidioidomycosis immitis. It is also known by the common name of Valley Fever. This causes a skin disease that can be fatal if left untreated. While this mold is present in the Southwestern United States and Mexico, this mold is not present in the deserts of Asia and Africa.

Another reason that mold can be a big problem in desert areas is that people also tend to use what are called swamp coolers to cool their homes and businesses off during the hottest parts of the year. This drives indoor humidity sky high and along with it comes the mold growth that you really do not want inside your building. Leaks are also common occurrences in the water pipes that flow up to the rooftop coolers, which causes water to leak in the ceilings, attics, and walls.

A third reason is that the high heat of the desert can cause the deterioration of roofs and the siding to occur more quickly than in other environments. Water leaking into the house through holes in the roof or the siding on the side of the house will allow mold to begin growing. Do your best if you live in a desert climate to watch for these leaks, since your property is particularly at risk for this kind of damage.

Since water and air conditioning are so important in these areas, the possibility of plumbing and air conditioning condensation leaks is pretty high. The best thing that you can do to prevent air conditioning condensation is to wrap any pipes in insulation so the water does not collect.

Unfortunately, most people do not think that these climates have enough moisture for mold to be a problem, but as said, this is a fairly large misconception. The same techniques used in other environments to combat mold contamination of the home should also be used in desert climates. The majority of mold claims in desert areas are a result of water damage, but mold can also be caused by defects in the construction of a home and sometimes general maintenance issues of the property.

Bleach and Mold: What You Think You Know

Chlorine bleach isn’t the holy “purify all” that we once thought it was. Mothers and housekeepers all across the country the past century have tended to think that if it needs to be cleaned or disinfected, bleach will do the trick. Most people would think that chlorine bleach will kill mold, but new studies prove that this is not the case. It is not effective in killing mold on porous surfaces like walls of a household, ceiling tiles, and etcetera.

Unless the mold is on top of a counter or a sink, the bleach will do next to nothing to eliminate the mold. A recent study paid for by Clorox, the largest manufacturer in the world of chlorine bleach, says that attempting to kill mold with bleach is best done on hard surfaces only. This means that if you find mold growing on your wall, trying to clean it with chlorine bleach is not going to help because the mold is growing not only on the outside of the wall, but also deeper in the wall than the chemical can reach. Chlorine bleach is too diluted and not strong enough to get rid of mold unless it is on a non-porous surface like tile.

Chlorine bleach is also not a registered disinfectant with the EPA that works with killing mold. The EPA puts a registration number indicating that a product kills mold on any product that does, but you will not be able to find this on any chlorine bleach label.

Another thing that some people are unaware of is the dangerous properties that chlorine bleach can have if it is mixed with other cleaning products such as anything containing ammonia or anything that contains acid. The mixing of these products causes toxic gases to be released into the air in your home and this occurs most often when someone is trying to disinfect something in their home or get rid of disease-causing microorganisms like mold. Mold is serious business, but don’t risk your life by mixing household chemicals trying to find a cheap way to kill the mold that exists in your home.

In addition to being ineffective in killing mold, it also tends to damage and discolor some surfaces it is used on such as metal.

Home Moldy Home

If I was building a new home, the last thing that I would want to find out at the last minute is that it has been being built with moldy building materials. This happens a lot more often and is a lot more serious than you might think that it is. Mold is a big problem in homes these days, either due to not paying attention to the condition of your home while you are living in it, due to a natural disaster such as a hurricane, or perhaps the most avoidable reason, it was built into the home that you currently live in.

Mold gets built into brand new homes all the time and it is not only the contractor’s fault, but also the owner’s for not paying attention to the building materials being used at the time. For someone paying to have the home built, what they need to do to help prevent this is to pay attention to what is going on at the building site and to visit it often. The building should be completely covered with a tarp until the walls and roof are totally finished and there is no possibility for rain, snow, or any other kind of precipitation to get into the house.

Before building begins you should inspect all the building materials such as the lumber, sheetrock, insulation, and etcetera that are being used. Inspect them and if you see any signs of mold at all, have them tested with a home test kit and set them aside until you are sure that they are not contaminated.

Something just as important as the other things mentioned here is to make sure your contractor and his or her workers are not storing the building materials directly on the ground. This is just asking for mold to start growing on these and this is completely avoidable by just raising the materials up off the ground. They should come into contact with the soil as little as possible, if at all.

Mold testing during different stages of the home’s development should also take place. The testing should be in the beginning, near the middle, and after the home is completed.

As long as you pay attention to what is going on around the new site of your home while your contractor is working on it, you should be able to almost completely avoid mold being built into your home.

Stachybotrys Mold And You

We all know mold causes health damage, but one mold in particular called Stachybotrys chartarum can be extremely dangerous. Stachybotrys is the mold that most people think about when they think of “black mold” and for good reason.

Stachybotrys (sometimes called simply “stachy”) grows on water damaged wood and paper, but where it does not grow is plastic, the tiles in our kitchens and bathrooms, and concrete. Wood and water that has gotten wet and allowed to dry that way will become infected with the mold and it will spread to other areas in your house. It requires almost constant moisture in order to grow and thrive. Wet clothing tossed in the backs of closets and forgotten about is often found to have mold growing upon it. Stachy mold is usually a greenish-black, wet, and slimy when found and it requires cellulose products like paper, wood, and cotton in order to grow long term. Although the spores of wet mold do not easily enter the air, if the mold is allowed to dry out, it becomes more of a health hazard.

While stachy mold is not the only kind or even really the most common kind of mold found growing in these conditions, it is still one of the most dangerous kinds of mold to allow in your home or office because it kills brain cells and has similar symptoms to Alzheimer’s Disease. If you or anyone in your home are experiencing disorientation, memory loss, and the inability to think logically at times and are not at the age to be at risk for Alzheimer’s, a test for mold should be done to determine if this is the cause.

Common health complications due to exposure to this mold include asthma, pneumonitis, skin rashes, bloody noses, headaches, and other respiratory problems. Prolonged exposure can cause internal bleeding of the lungs, kidney failure, and liver failure. Pulmonary emphysema can also be caused by prolonged exposure to this and other black molds.

This mold is particularly likely to show up in homes or buildings that have been flooded or extensively water damaged and areas where constant leaks are present, such as water pipes and hot water heaters. Just touching this mold can cause skin rashes and because of the excessive health risks associated with it, it is often recommended that only trained mold removal specialists should be used to remove it from a home or building where it is present.

Do You Know These Tips To Keep Your Basement Dry

Most homeowners do not consider the basement a very important part of the house, but since the rest of your home’s structure is on top of this, you might want to rethink just how valuable of a room this is. Whether you use it for storage, a guest bedroom, laundry room, or anything else you can think of, it is important to make sure that this room of the house remains structurally sound.

While it is a common problem, wet basements are something that most homeowners do not have to deal with if they take some precautions and the time to make some adjustments on their own. Many wet basement issues can be fixed by the homeowner without having to hire any outside help.

You can fix any cracks in the concrete walls of your basement where water is leaking in by using a simple injection of concrete. Doing this used to require expensive and heavy equipment, but the size and expense of this has gone down so significantly that you can now do it with a normal caulking gun. Do not try do this with the silicone caulking that you would use in a bathroom or kitchen or attempt to fix it with cement, either. These two items will only become loose and fall out, no longer forming the water barrier that you need to have in place.

If water is forming in puddles around the foundation of your house, then you probably need to pile some more soil around the house so the water runs away from the house instead of leaking down into the basement. Installing a drainage system can also help with this. Making sure your rain gutters stay cleaned out is also another thing that you can do to try and keep water out of your basement. While they seem unrelated, gutters that are clogged let water merely fall off the roof and down to the base of the house.

You can also choose to install a dehumidifier and some energy efficient windows. You will know that you have a humidity problem in the room if condensation builds up on the window panes. Putting in an exhaust vent down there can also help reduce the humidity, especially if you use the area as a laundry room or an extra bathroom. This helps prevent the steam from being absorbed by the rafters or the drywall ceiling.

What You Need When Removing Mold

Nobody wants to have to remove the mold from their home, but if you live in an older house, then you may have to go through this eventually. Even newly built homes can have mold growing in them in certain areas if bad techniques were used or just poor quality materials. As long as the building codes in your area were followed by the contractor of your new house, there is nothing that you can do, even if the poor quality materials are the reason that mold exists. If the job was done “by the book”, then you cannot obtain any legal compensation. When having a home built for you, make sure you know that the contractor you hired to do it will do the job with good quality building materials and get references before even letting them start.

But, what do you do if you already have mold in the house? Well, you can probably clean up a lot of it yourself if you have a smaller mold problem. If you have experience in interior remodeling work, then you can tackle even a larger scale mold removal project on your own. Your insurance may even cover it, if it is due to another kind of damage that your homeowner’s insurance covers, like water leaks.

There is a certain amount of equipment that you will need if you are going to do this job on your own, though. Having a respirator is something that you will really need, especially if you are going to open up any walls. You can get a basic respirator from a hardware store, but if you are going to open up any walls, you will probably want a respirator that has a HEPA filter attached to it.

You will also want a few heavy duty trash bags to toss the debris in.

As far as some protective equipment that you can wear, heavy duty rubber gloves might also be helpful depending on what you are handling. If you are just scrubbing floors or walls, then you could probably get away with some lighter latex gloves. Some plastic disposable coveralls and covers for your shoes will help keep mold spores from getting on your clothes. Safety glasses might also be necessary.

As with your respirator, the cleanup job after all the debris is gone should be done with a vacuum that has a HEPA filter on it. This will release clean, filtered air back into your home instead of releasing the dust and mold spores like a normal vacuum would.

Water Loves Your Deck, Too

Barbequing and swimming in the pool in the backyard is a staple at many private homes across the country that are lucky enough to have both and anyone who has both those items is likely to want a hardwood deck built onto the back of the house for just this purpose. They look very nice and most homeowners will brag for weeks or even years about how much they love their deck and for good reason. Taking care of the deck either on the front of the house or the back is not too difficult, but if you neglect to do this, then you could be dealing with some serious damage later on down the road.

Waterproofing the deck attached to your home is very important if you do not want to have to replace parts of it later. Water does much more damage to wooden items left out in the elements than we might realize and it is important to make sure that as soon as possible after your deck is built (wait at least 30 days after construction), it gets waterproofed. You can do this or you can hire someone else to do it for you, depending on whether time or money is the most important factor. You may not have the time to do it or you may not have the money, but if you want to keep your deck looking good, you will have to sacrifice one or the other.

Applying a stain to the deck should be done before waterproofing, because the sealant that you put on it will not only repel rain, but also other liquids. Allow the stain to set the appropriate amount of time before applying the sealant.

Sealants for decks can be purchased at most hardware, home improvement, or department stores and applying them is a cinch. You do need to make sure that the whole deck gets cleaned first with a deck cleaner that you can also purchase at one of these places. This will be applied with a pump sprayer and allowed to foam up before you scrub it with a stiff bristled brush. Rinse it with a hose when you are done.

All furniture should be removed before you put the sealant on. For safety, you may want to sand down any sharp edges or splinters that may be sticking up, if you are doing this to an older deck that already shows signs of wear.

The sealant should be applied with a sprayer or a roller, depending on what the instructions call for. After you apply it to the deck, you need to wait at least a few days before walking on it so the seal is not damaged.

Taking Care of Your Water Pipes

Living in your first home can be an exhilarating experience, but when the winter gets to your area, you may forget about some things that you can do to keep your water pipes from bursting. In fact, you may not think of this at all, since you are probably not used to maintaining a home that belongs to you. Your home is an investment and you should take care of it as much as you can, since you may want to sell it later in exchange for another. Your parents probably insulated the pipes in your home when you were younger, but you probably did not really get the significance of this at the time.

When it gets colder than 20 degrees outside, the water pipes that are exposed to these temperatures are likely to freeze and burst. If you are not home at the time, like off on vacation for Christmas or another holiday, this can wreak havoc on your water bill if you do not get home and fix the problem soon and it can also cause a significant amount of water damage to your home in the process.

Any pipes that will be exposed to this weather that you can get to should be insulated in some way. You can do this by wrapping them in cloth or preferably a construction grade of insulation. A good amount of cloth will help in a pinch, though.

Inside your home, the pipes underneath the different sinks in the house can be kept warm by opening the cabinets so the heat in the house can get to them. Keeping a space heater near exposed pipes in your basement could also be a good idea, but use extreme caution when using space heaters, since they can catch on fire. You can use an extension cord with a space heater, but it needs to be a pretty heavy duty one and most homes do not keep extension cords as heavy duty as the kind needed around often. Place space heaters in your home very carefully and if possible, do not use them on carpeted surfaces.

You can also leave a trickle of water running out of the faucets when the temperatures outside get this low. It might add a little bit to the water bill, but it is only necessary to do this when the temperature gets below freezing, especially at night.

Taking Care of Your Sewage Damaged Home

One of the nastiest things you may ever have to do to your home is clean up the sewage left behind by a flood. You can have a professional cleaning service do this for you, but you should really be able to do this on your own unless for some reason you are physically unable or you get sick very easily. The money that you will save by doing it yourself will be substantial and this is money that you can use to purchase new clothing, furniture, or anything else you may need in the days, weeks, and months following the flood. Having the right information to help you with this is crucial, though.

The worst thing about this is that flood waters are usually contaminated with bacteria, viruses, hazardous chemicals, and sometimes even decaying bodies. Wearing protective equipment while you are in this process is essential to keep yourself from getting sick, so purchase whatever you need to. Latex gloves, disposable coveralls, and disposable foot covers are necessary. You do not want to wear porous clothing while you are doing this, because it will soak right through to your skin. A roll of duct tape should also be bought to seal up the gaps around your ankles and wrists.

Depending on whether you have someone else helping you take care of the other sewage damaged areas of the house, you will need two or more buckets. You need to keep this at an even number, because one will be used as a rinse bucket and the other will have the cleaning solution in it.

Unfortunately, you will probably not be able to save most of the upholstered furniture in your home because the padding will soak up so much of the soil, sewage, and bacteria. You can save items with small amounts of padding that can be replaced, like dining room chairs, and even take this as an opportunity to put a new pattern of fabric on them. Carpets will also probably need to be thrown away and the padding underneath them certainly will be.

Once the padding and carpet has been taken up if it was necessary in the area you are in, you should have a mop or some other cleaning utensil to use. Dip it into the cleaning solution and begin scrubbing the floor with it. Rinse it in the other bucket thoroughly before putting it back into the cleaning bucket. Do not contaminate your bucket filled with cleaner. After you get done scrubbing the whole room, you should go back over it with a disinfectant for a little extra assurance.

Cleaning Up The Sewage From Your Home

Cleaning up the sewage in your home after it has been flooded is a pretty ugly experience, but unfortunately for some homeowners that live in parts of the United States where floods are common, it can be something that they have to go through at least once. While you can have a professional service clean up after the flood for you, you can save a substantial amount of money by doing a lot of it yourself. You can use this saved money to purchase new furniture, clothing, food, or anything else that you could need after the flood is over.

Flood waters can contain all kinds of things that can be hazardous to your health. This can include chemicals, sewage, soil, bacteria, viruses, and etcetera. These are things that you do not want to have in your home and doing your best to get them cleaned up, even if it means hiring a professional, is something you need to do. You need to purchase the protective equipment necessary to keep yourself from getting sick due to all the different things left behind by the water, but this will not be very much. You will need some latex gloves, a pair of plastic booties to cover your shoes, a roll of duct tape, and some disposable plastic coveralls. The duct tape will be used to cover the gaps between the gloves, the boots, and the suit so there is no way that the sewage can get to your skin.

There is not much that you can do to save all the furniture in your home after the flood is over. This is mainly upholstered furniture that has a lot of padding, though, so your wooden furniture should be fine. Padding in upholstered furniture will soak up the flood waters and everything that it contains, including soil, bacteria, and everything else. You can reupholster some items that have little padding and take this as an opportunity to replace fabrics that you do not care for any longer.

For the cleanup process, you will require at least two buckets, depending on whether you have someone help you clean up the rest of the house or not. Try to keep this at an even number, since you will need to work with the buckets in sets of two.

Take a mop and dip it into the bucket with the cleaning chemicals in it and begin scrubbing the floor. Scrub it thoroughly and dip the mop into the rinsing water. Do not put the mop back into the bucket with the cleaners until you rinse it first. You do not want to introduce sewage into the clean water.