Need help controlling humidity in your home?
A free energy analysis is the first step to take.
August 3, 2021
High indoor humidity can make your home an uncomfortable place to live, but that isn’t the only problem with indoor humidity—high humidity in a home can cause mold and mildew growth, too. Mold and mildew thrive in warm, wet places, and high humidity levels create the perfect conditions for them to grow.
Once mold and mildew have taken root in your home, they can cause an endless array of problems. In addition to eating away at building materials, mold spores can hurt your home’s indoor air quality and make your family feel sick with symptoms like:
Congestion
Coughing and sneezing
Red, itchy eyes and skin
Dizziness
Sore throat
Poor indoor air quality is especially harmful to people who have existing respiratory conditions like asthma and can make their symptoms much worse.
How to Prevent Mold in a Humid Climate
It can get pretty humid during the summer in Charlotte, North Carolina, and when that humidity gets inside your home and makes contact with cold surfaces, it will condense into water. Mold and mildew need a water source in order to grow, and preventing moisture accumulation is an important step in keeping mold and mildew out of your home. Here are three things you can do to keep your Charlotte home dry and mold-free:
Encapsulate Your Crawl Space
Have you noticed signs of mold in your crawl space? When there’s moisture in the crawl space under your house, mold and mildew are likely to grow. Crawl space encapsulation will help keep your crawl space dry and humidity-free, making it harder for mold and mildew to grow.
Seal Up Air Leaks
Very few homes are airtight—most are full of small gaps and cracks called air leaks. Humid outside air can infiltrate your home through these openings, bringing moisture into your home. Air sealing is the process of locating and filling in these openings to keep unwanted outside air and moisture out of your home. This helps prevent mold growth, and will also stop conditioned air from escaping your living spaces, leading to a more comfortable home overall.
Upgrade Your Insulation
When your insulation gets wet, mold is likely to grow inside it. If this has happened in your home, insulation removal will be necessary to stop mold from spreading. Having the right type and amount of insulation installed throughout your home will also help regulate interior temperatures and inhibit new mold growth.
Find Out What Services Your Home Needs With a Free Energy Analysis
If you’ve noticed high humidity levels or signs of mold in your home, but you’re not sure what’s causing them, reach out to Standard Insulating Company. We can conduct a free energy analysis to analyze your home and find out how moisture is getting in. Then, we can recommend the best solution to control humidity and inhibit mold growth. We’ve been helping homeowners throughout the Charlotte, NC area improve their home health and comfort for many years, and you can trust our friendly and knowledgeable team to get the job done right.