If you think that a bit of mold in the corner of a room is not such a big deal, think again. By the time mold becomes visible, it has had plenty of time to do a lot of damage to your home.
The harm goes well beyond cosmetic damage since mold can affect the structural integrity of a building. Left untreated, it can leave a building uninhabitable. Homeowners have lost their homes to mold, so experts advise that you address a mold problem as soon as you become aware of it. How does mold damage a home?
What does mold do?
Like every other organism, mold serves a purpose as part of an ecosystem. Its function is to break the wood from fallen trees down so that they return to the soil to fertilize it for new trees. Then the circle of life is complete.
As soon as mold spores latch onto a surface, they begin breaking it down as if it were a dead tree that needed to be decomposed. They thrive in dark, damp conditions, such as those in the undergrowth of a forest where fallen trees lie. Like any fungus, once mold finds a suitable breeding ground, it reproduces and spreads at an astounding rate.
How does this affect my house?
Mold treats your home like a fallen tree log. It finds damp, porous surfaces to grow on and begins to spread. Since mold favors dark conditions in addition to damp, it will not start growing on the surface of your house, preferring instead to start its invasion below the surface.
You will only become aware of it once it has spread so much that it has breached the surface. And by then, it is serious, according to Kansas City water damage restoration service, SERVPRO.
Since mold does not have a brain, it does not distinguish between the tree it should be breaking down and your home. Therefore, it does what it is intended to wherever it lands, be that on a fallen oak or parts of your home. It goes to work right away, destroying the surface until there is little or nothing left.
Mold tendrils
The spores released by mold are dangerous to your health, but the tendrils they use to attach themselves to a surface are equally harmful to your home, according to most mold remediation companies. While mold might be designed to attach to wood, it has, like most species, adapted. A brick or a plastered surface is porous, and mold can attach itself there too.
Mold needs food
All organisms need fuel, which they consume to continue their activities. What does mold eat, you might ask? The answer is anything in its path. Whether it is a fallen pine branch or the cornice of your ceiling, mold will eat it. As the mold consumes the substance, it breaks down, just like that tree log would.
When mold is finished consuming a log, it is left brittle and breaks under little pressure. The same applies to the materials in your home that mold has been munching away on, including walls, floors, and roof tiles.
The result
Mold will only stop spreading once it runs out of fuel to consume. Think about how much food your home has to offer. It is a haven for mold unless you eradicate it.
While a house will not collapse right away, the presence of mold can destroy it if left unchecked. With a crumbling structure and floors caving in, you will soon be forced to leave, and that is if the mold has not affected your health yet.