Mold & Mildew

Excess moisture could be the silent destroyer lurking in your home. Learn how to spot the signs of high humidity and put a stop to it.

TSP is an effective cleaning agent, but using it could be risky for your health and the environment. Learn when cleaning with trisodium phosphate is probably safe—and when you should have a Plan B.

Mold growth on insulation is a problem that’s best eliminated quickly, since it can affect more than just your health.

One of the most common living organisms in the world may have taken up residence in your home, and you may not even know it. Mold—the common name for thousands of different types of fungi—can grow wherever moisture and organic matter are present, and that’s not great news. Aside from being unsightly, mold can be downright dangerous. Indeed, according to the Centers for Disease Control, “Molds can cause nasal stuffiness, throat irritation, coughing or wheezing, eye irritation, or, in some cases, skin irritation.” Not only that, but people with allergies or certain types of respiratory illnesses are especially vulnerable to the ill effects of mold. Even worse, mold can grow just about anywhere there is moisture, even in places you can’t see or don’t typically even think about cleaning. Here are just a few hiding places where mold might be lurking in your home.

Free the dampest space in your home of mold and mildew with these straightforward steps.

Mold under hardwood floors can go unnoticed only for so long. Learn how to identify this problem and figure out what to do next.

Though these two potentially harmful household fungi are often talked about in the same breath, they each have unique traits that can help you tell them apart.

Mold and mildew are types of fungus that thrive in moist, warm areas both inside and outside your home. Although most of these annoying fungi aren’t directly harmful to humans, mold allergies are fairly common. Those afflicted tend to suffer with headaches, runny or stuffy nose, wheezing or coughing, itchy eyes, and even skin rashes when exposed to large colonies of mold. Some types of mold—black mold (Stachybotrys chartarum) in particular—can trigger asthma and serious lung conditions. But health consequences aside, mold and mildew are undesirable visitors to your home. They create discolored blotches on walls, floors, and ceilings, and can damage wallpaper, carpet, drywall, and insulation. And, of course, the musty smell of mold or mildew is far from the fresh, clean fragrance most people want in their homes. Because mold spores are almost everywhere in the environment and multiply very quickly when conditions suit them, it’s important to make your home as inhospitable as possible to these fungi. Unfortunately, many homeowners make simple mistakes that encourage mold to grow. Here are 12 ways you may be unwittingly promoting the growth of mold in and around your home.

Mold remediation costs typically range from $1,125 to $3,439 with an average cost of $2,254, but there are many factors that can affect the total cost.

Just switching on a humidifier isn’t enough to cure the season of dry air and respiratory illness—you have to clean it, too. Fortunately, this is one weekly routine that’s easy enough to keep.