Unexpected Reasons for Mold Growth In Your Home

There are times when mold growth in your home can actually come from problems arising outdoors. While leaky faucets, damp rooms, and busted pipes can be causing mold issues inside, those are more obvious. At Mold Inspection Illinois, we try to keep our readers informed on all the ways they can protect themselves from mold damage to their building.

Here are some unexpected reasons for mold growth

Sprinkler systems

During the warm months of Illinois, those of you with gardens and yards want to keep them looking lively and full. Because of that, we tend to use sprinkler systems to maintain our yards. What you might not have realized is that this overuse of the sprinkler system can cause mold growth inside of your home or building.

Pay attention to these signs, as they can be the cause of mold in your home:

• Sprinkler head spraying water on your building walls
• If you have plants, trees, or grass growing against your walls
• Installing sprinklers that are too close to the building’s foundation
• Pay special attention to broken or leaking sprinkler pipes as they can not only overwater your yard but also cause water to seep into your foundation

Drainage system

How well your drainage system operates correlates directly to how well your home is protected from mold or water damage. Without a proper drainage system in place, or a drainage system in general, you’re leaving the structural integrity of your home at the hands of nature. As we’ve seen in our past experience, nature is not exactly friendly or caring when it comes to mold and water damage.

Here are a few things you should keep in mind when maintaining a well-run drainage system:

• Placing planter boxes next to the side of the building, as the moisture from watering the plants will inevitably soak into the ground
• Standing water or puddles caused by overwatering. In order for a drainage system to work correctly, you have to give it time to funnel the water
• Make sure the ground is sloping away from the building. Inward sloping foundation will create standing water to accumulate at the base of the building and cause mold growth to slowly penetrate your home
• Moss or algae growth near the exterior walls.

Rain gutters

Since you can’t see your rain gutters, it can be easy to forget about them. Another problem is that when people think about mold growth, they typically assume it’s in the basement. Without inspecting your gutters regularly, there’s a good chance that they start to accumulate debris and loose sediment. This can render the rain gutters ineffective in times of bad weather, leading to a buildup of water on your roof.

The water will then settle into the ceiling foundation of your home, leading to unexpected mold growth on the top of your building. Make sure you either clean your gutters yourself periodically or hire a professional to do this, as the potential damage it can cause is far worse than paying to have the gutters cleaned.