Mold is very common in buildings and homes. They grow in places with a lot of moisture, like around leaks in roofs, windows, pipes, or near flooded areas. Mold grows well on paper products, cardboard, ceiling tiles, and wood products. Mold can also grow in dust, paints, wallpaper, insulation, drywall, carpet, fabric, and upholstery. The most common indoor molds are Cladosporium, Penicillium, and Aspergillus.

You need to hire a professional for any mold classified as toxic or extensive mold problems. Here are all the various types of molds in your home and how to identify each one.

Acremonium

Frequently found in home humidifiers, HVAC cooling coils, drain and drip pans, and close to leaky windows. It’s often seen with Stachybotrys and requires removal by a professional.

Alternaria

Usually found in shower stalls, bathtubs, and near sinks. Its presence usually indicates water damage has occurred, and the mold will quickly spread. However, unless the colony has grown extremely large, you can safely extract it with proper cleaning.

Aspergillus

Often arises on wooden surfaces. Extensive infestation should be extracted by a professional.

Aureobasidium

Found in the dark, wet, water-damaged areas such as underneath carpets, behind wallpaper, and on wooden surfaces. Protective clothing, like eye protection and gloves, should be worn during the clean-up of small infestations.

Chaetomium

Chaetomium thrives in water-damaged drywall, wooden surfaces, wallpaper, and under wet carpet and roof shingles. However, it is often misconceived as black mold, professionals best handle removal.

Cladosporium

Typically found on carpet, upholstery, drapes, and under floorboards, small colonies can be cleaned by a homeowner, but larger ones require a professional.

Fusarium

Often found growing on food, it spreads quickly and can be discovered in carpet, wallpaper, and water-damaged materials. So treat any clean-up with caution.

Mucor

Found in highly wet spaces where condensation has formed, such as near air conditioners, HVAC ductwork, and leaky windows and doors. Classified as allergenic, small patches of Mucor can be cleaned by the homeowner. More extensive infections require a professional.

Penicillin

It is often located in HVAC ducts, wallpaper, mattresses, and carpet. The homeowner can clean small colonies with care. However, professionals should remove larger infestations.

Stachybotrys

Usually found in areas inside a home that have been exposed to excessive water and humidity for weeks, it develops behind walls and ceilings on wood. Professionals must do the removal and disposal of affected building materials.

Trichoderma

Can develop on wallpaper, carpet, fabrics, and surfaces exposed to extreme moisture. Normally non-pathogenic, Trichoderma can be cleaned by the homeowner using appropriate protective steps. However, it does produce an enzyme that attacks wood, textiles, paper and can cause damage to building foundations.

Ulocladium

Typically found in kitchens, bathrooms, and basements that have suffered water damage or zones that stay wet for long periods. Caught early, clean up can be done by a homeowner.

Step 1: Understand the role moisture plays in mold growth.

Assessing mold growth concerns looking at what’s visibly growing on the walls or in a corner. Unfortunately, mold can be an invisible intruder, growing behind and around what you first see. Such devious behavior requires inquisitive thinking. First, understand that a water or moisture problem is behind all mold growth. Second, become a master of moisture, know where moisture comes from and how it enters the home. The main goal of these two steps is for warranty representatives to determine a moisture source and use its location to help discover all mold growth, not just what’s immediately visible.

Step 2: Record the mold problem and create a mold remediation plan

Before starting mold removal, record the mold problem with writing, photos, and video. The warranty team supervisor will utilise the documentation to devise a remediation plan that answers queries such as when work is slated to begin and is planned to be completed. It also addresses who will perform the remediation, any testing that should be done, and whether homeowners will be temporarily resettled. In the longer term, the documentation can help address liability for your company or point to more significant trends in mold growth.

Step 3: Estimate the extent of contamination

Mold may not always grow in one area, so you need to determine how much contamination you’re looking at. Calculating the size of the contamination will impact how you approach mold removal and cleanup. Mold removal aims to clean up mold growing within the home and avoid exposing homeowners to large amounts of mold.

Step 4: Remediate mold contamination

Mold removal and remediation will always concern cleaning up existing mold while evading exposure to oneself and homeowners and stopping new growth by managing the moisture source. Based on your estimation of the contamination area, decide if you’re working in an area up to 30 sq. ft. If so, you’ll follow the guidelines for remediation levels 1 and 2. Level 1 remediation is used for remote, isolated regions of mold up to 10 square feet, and Level 2 remediation encircles square footage from 10 to 30 sq. feet.

Step 5: Decide if mold cleanup has been successful

Just because the mold is gone and there’s no dirt or dust doesn’t mean you’re done. Your last step is to decide if your cleanup efforts have been successful. While this final step is a judgment call, some possibilities and guidelines are to follow. Some of these guidelines include:

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