5 Easy Maintenance Items to Prevent Mold this Spring
Let us help you with ways to prevent mold. With spring comes so many preparations and maintenance items. We wanted to give you a few tips on the top items to address to prevent mold from the heavy rains and humid conditions we have here in the Kansas City metro area.
1. Monitor Your Basement Conditions Through Spring Rains
Out of all of the advice on how to prevent basement mold, there is only one tip that stands above the rest! “Check for moisture and check it often”! It is that simple. Go down to your basement once per week and look for moisture, especially after hard rainfalls. Invest in an inexpensive humidistat with an alarm to alert you to elevated humidity levels. So for those of you that desire to hear more from the “Mold Master”, we invite you to listen to the below video for stories and tips.
2. Check for Proper Operation of Sump Pump
Left unchecked, a sump pump failure can lead to thousands of dollars in flood & water damage. Therefore, sump pumps should be checked regularly and the good news is that you don’t need a plumber to do it! The test is very simple as outlined below:
How to Check if a Sump Pump is Working:
- Locate and remove any cover over the sump pump device
- Check for any debris or build up in the sump pump that needs to be removed
- Find the little float arm on the side of the pump
- Lift up the arm briefly. If you hear the pump running, it’s working.
- If the pump doesn’t run, it’s not working and needs to be serviced by a plumber
- It’s recommended to check monthly to prevent sump pump failure
3. Add Backup Power to Sump Pump
Many times insurance policies will cover water damage from a sump pump’s mechanical failure but not from power failure. Adding a backup battery is recommended, preferably a water-powered backup over a battery-powered backup, when possible. A water-powered backup is driven your homes current water system by connecting to the main water line coming into your house. The pressure of that water coming into the house is what powers the pump. So, as long as you have running water your backup pump will have the power to it.
4. Address Poor Drainage in Crawl Spaces
Faulty drainage is a common cause of moisture in a crawl space. When there is drainage, the water gets collected and may become stagnant thereby hosting a lot of issues. The stagnant water creates humidity and makes the most favorable environment for mold. The moisture that evaporates from the ground is also the reason for excess moisture. Furthermore, the home’s air ducts also pass through the crawl space; therefore, mold present there are equally perilous to mold problems inside your home.
5. Address Basic Exterior Maintenance Items
There are three leading causes of mold problems due to exterior maintenance issues. First, grading around your foundation is vitally important. Making sure that the earth is sloped AWAY from your foundation with a minimum of a two-percent grade. Slope, cracks, and settled concrete of driveways, porches, or walkways should also be looked at closely. You can also hire a Charlotte concrete company, if that is where you live, to repair the cracks and gaps in concrete driveways and give the flooring a smooth finish.
Settlement of concrete is common here in the Midwest. The settlement allows for water to collect, causing a deterioration of the concrete and the erosion of the soil under the concrete. Don’t let this problem overwhelm you. It can be easily solved through a simple procedure called mud-jacking. Gutters are another very important maintenance item on the exterior of your home. We see multiple water damage issues stem from gutters being clogged, improperly sloped, leaking, not properly extended or an inadequate size. Gutters are an inexpensive item to repair and are vital to the overall function of moving water from the foundation of a property.