Tips For Preventing Mold In Summer Humidity

The summer months are often the worst for mold growth inside our homes - the extra heat, humidity, and moisture can make preventing mold in the summer an unwelcome interruption to your summer plans or weekend at the cottage. Getting ahead of mold growth and understanding why the summer months might be encouraging its growth in the first place is your biggest weapon in preventing mold in the summer. At MoldTech, we have nearly a decade of experience dealing with mold growth all year round, and we’ve learned a thing or two about summer mold that might help you this summer season.

Why is Mold Growth Common in the Summer?

Preventing mold in the summer is so difficult in part because conditions are often just right for mold to arise. To effectively grow, mold needs a warm and humid environment and Toronto’s summer weather is happy to oblige. Warm air can hold more moisture than cold air does, so as the mercury rises the more moisture becomes airborne, and this moisture can become trapped inside of our homes.

Moisture in the form of plain old water is also more common: damp towels, bathing suits, sprinklers, rain storms, and then all the usual household water needs, like showering and cooking, can also introduce excess moisture in and around the home.

Heat also puts big appliances like the refrigerator or air conditioner through their paces - all that work can cause condensation to form and drip, so it’s worth it to check on them regularly.  The more cool and dry your home is, the less chance you have of mold starting to grow.

How Do I Prevent Mold From Growing?

There are a couple of things you can do to make preventing mold in the summer simple:

• Run your air conditioner on hot days to reduce air temperature and humidity inside your home.
• Close your windows and doors when it rains - not only is the rain bad but the accompanying humidity doesn’t help.
• Dry clothes, towels, and bathing suits outside in the sun - you’ll save electricity while keeping moisture outside.
• Use a dehumidifier in particularly troublesome areas, like the basement.
• Install fans in the kitchen and bathrooms to whisk humid air from cooking and bathing out of your house.
• Watch for condensation forming on surfaces like windows, pipes, and appliances. Air ducts are also susceptible to condensation in the summer months due to air conditioner use

As well as watching out for season-specific causes for mold growth, preventing mold in the summer is a year round effort.

What you do in October has as big of an effect as what you do in June, so make sure you:

• Repair or replace leaky pipes and appliances as soon as you spot them
• Monitor your roof for leaks, especially after a big storm
• Make sure your clothes dryer, kitchen or bathroom vents are route to the outdoors and not your attic
• Address any mold problems immediately, before they can spread

How To Remove Mold When It’s Too Late

Despite our best efforts at preventing mold in the summer, sometimes it still happens - so what next? The first thing to do is to make sure there’s no excess water in the area - drying it thoroughly will help prevent mold from spreading. The next thing is to call a professional - MoldTech offers free visual mold inspections to get you started, and comprehensive testing and remediation when needed. We never recommend removing mold on your own - hardware store treatments aren’t strong enough to kill the mold, and will damage your skin, eyes, lungs and home if used incorrectly. It’s also very easy to inadvertently spread mold from room to room, which can make the problem worse.

Prevent Mold This Summer    

Preventing mold in the summer is key to having a safe and healthy home all year round. If you have any questions about mold in your home, get in touch and we’d be happy to help you find solutions to mold and moisture problems in your home.