After The Flood Comes The Mold - This Is What You Need To Know

After The Flood Comes The Mold – This Is What You Need To Know

Have damp problems in your Charleston home? Then you have mold problems, also. Mold – that’s the black stuff that grows on walls and ceilings, that you find in the garage on old clothes and that makes closets smell musty. It discolors wall paper and ruins soft furnishings. These molds have been around since before mankind and may even outlast us, they are a natural part of our environment but have found a niche in our homes. The word is a “catchall” for a number of bedfellows, but basically they are all bad – bad for the home and bad for your health …

Recent flooding events will soon change focus from drying out the water to stopping, or later treating, the inevitable mold that comes next. The South has a humid climate and Charleston SC is no exception to this. Humid climates promote the growth of mold, damp and warm climates promote it even further. We have that too, both in downtown Charleston and throughout the lowcountry.

Outside of our recent rare 1,000 year flood, the two biggest causes are:

Poor maintenance. Leaking gutters, poorly vented bath, washrooms and kitchens, moisture penetration around windows and walls – I think you will get the picture here.
Crawl spaces, especially ones where the ventilation has been blocked and/or there is no membrane laid under the house on grade. We have also seen gutters and drains allowed to leak into the crawl space providing copious amounts of water on top of natural seepage oftentime compounded by the ground below being graded to slope towards the home – instead of away!

There is a great general guide available on the internet discussing what “mold” is and how to deal with it – HERE is a link. As a downtown Charleston contractor, we see these problems all the time. It’s not a reason to panic but does need addressing quickly. Moreover, the cause of the mold needs addressing firstly and before anyone tries to remove the mold itself.

So if you have mold, first find out where the water is coming from. In certain parts of Charleston, it could come from flooding after a storm, so knowing what to do once the water subsides will help mitigate this issue up front. Call your contractor and discuss the options for preventing water penetration or reducing humidity levels throughout your home. Next, call a mold remediation company to get it treated professionally and have them apply fungicides to prevent future mold growth. There are some good ones in Charleston, your contractor can advise on ones they are familiar with.

Thought – Thinking of buying or selling a Charleston SC home? You will do well to get that mold removed and the area treated before the buyer’s home inspection! Also, we like to use lime plaster in jobs wherever possible as it is much less susceptible to mold than Sheetrock.