Home Removal Services Blog

So, you’ve been in your new house for a few months already and are nearing the last of the boxes to unpack. You open the door to your cupboard to view the remaining boxes but are taken a back by an unpleasant odour coming from somewhere. After subsequent looking around you discover mould.

There are tons of different types of mold but all of them will thrive in damp moist enviroments that may be moist due to damp surrounding materials, seeping walls, damp fabrics and such like. The area that you stay in is a big factor in your houses humidity level especially in particular seasons or extreme climates. Air dehumidifiers can help in all these cases

Mould may cause allergic reactions for some people and possibly set off lung irritability even in people who are not normally susceptible to this type of thing. It can damage anything it is fixed to and create a bad smell which can be ongoing and hard to banish. It could be a symptom of a drainage problem inside your house or even an air moisture problem.

To combat mould first arm yourself with a mask and eye shield so that you can remove as much as you can physically without getting to heavy a dose of the spores whilst doing so. After removing as much as possible wash to area several times with first soap and water and then either a commercial mildew remover/cleaner and/or one gallon of water mixed with ¼ of a cup of chlorine bleach.

Clearly damaged parts will have to be replaced or repaired and will need to be so again unless you fix the root cause of the moisture problem.

It may be worth checking your humidity level by purchasing a humidity meter (), if it gives you a measurement og over 50 then you really should get a dehumidifier. There are an extremely wide range of dehumidifers on the market that are produced for home use ranging upwards from the 0 mark. Here are a few pointers to remember when selecting a dehumidifier: If you require a dehumidifier in more than one room then consider buying a whole house dehumidifier rather than a single room dehumidifier. It will do the job more efficiently and last longer than running several smaller dehumidifiers continuously which will incur more maintenance costs.

Also don’t forget that if you will be running your home dehumidifier in particularly cold places that it has an auto-switch off when it starts to freeze. If it doesn’t have one then it will become damaged if you run it and it starts to freeze. Itis a good idea to check that the noise level is uncomfortably high before you make a purchase.

Further more it may well be worth getting a trusted builder/contractor to take a look at the area to check for possible causes and remedies of the moisture problem. Also having a word with your family doctor about any allergic symptoms and further dangers it may pose should also be done in order to consider how seriously you need to take into account the mold problem.

Despite the cost of doing the above in the long run the value of your house and the health of your family should be your priority and taking a few simple steps such as buying a home dehumidifier (Comfort Aire dehumidifiers are particulary highly recommended) would be well worthwhile in the long run.

Musty odor is clearly not a desirable quality for a house, it tends to give the impression of a dirty place and whilst it might actually not be noticeable to the owners it will almost certainly be so to visitors creating entirely the wrong sort of impression. Furthermore musty odors are often the first sign of mould which is can also be associated with allergic reactions.

Musty odors can come and go dependent upon the time of year and the weather. For example, you may well leave the air conditioning unit on all the time during the hotter times of the year and the odor may go unnoticed but when the weather turns bad in the colder seasons the air-con will be off and the odor may comeback. Home dehumidifiers can definetely help here.

High humidity is a likely cause of musty odors that may well stem from a basement that has cracks in its walls which allows moisture to seep in ot it may come simply from condensation. If you want to stop musty odor you really need to put a stop to the cause of the smell but there may well be more than one cause. The following will enable you to track down the cause of the problem most quickly:

To prevent condensation on water pipes which can be a source of moisture particularly in winter months is to cover the water pipes with an insulated pipe wrap, these are relatively cheap and are an easy w3ay to prevent moisture dripping of the pipes and onto the floor.

Sometimes an entire house can be affected by an odor that has risen from the basement and into the entire house but was originally caused by a lack of air flow and high humidity in the basement. Installation of a basement dehumidifier can prevent this problem from occurring and remove excess moisture, just make sure you have a drain available in order to take away the excess water gathered by the air dehumidifier otherwise you may have to purchase an air dehumidifier with a hose pipe and pump.

Double check to make sure that water thought to be from condensation is not really from tiny holes in water pipes. This problem can be prevented easily by making use of a pipe leak clamp, if the hole is tiny a small epoxy compound may well be able to fix the problem, get in touch with your local builders merchant for this.

A more serious problem is that of weeping walls where moisture simply seeps through from the outside. The following process should help eliminate moisture coming from weeping walls:
Make sure the weather is going to be clear.
Run home dehumidifiers and fans to dry the walls.
Using a brush with strong stiff bristles scrub the weeping areas with trisodium phosphate, which can be found at most regular home improvement stores and will clean the surface for you, allow the scrubbed walls to dry again completely.
Following the manufacturers instructins use latex concrete sealer to fully seal the walls.
This method alone will normally stop future weeping, if not then it is time to call the professionals.

Wall cracks can also be the cause of moisture entering a house, this is possible in new houses too. The cracks are likely to be classed as active and may widen further or they could be inactive and be unlikely to expand more. Most cracks in walls are not difficult to repair with ready mixed concrete and a knife.

By following the above suggestions, focusing on your specific problems and with addition of a dehumidifier it is likely that you will be able to solve even the most persistent of household musty smells. Remember that home dehumidifiers and an air portable dehumidifier can help considerably