Mold: Your Property’s Nemesis

There’s a song my preschool teacher used to sing in when we were getting ready for a visit to the school library. It went like this: “As quiet as a mouse, as quiet as a mouse, we go visit the library as quiet as a mouse”. I might be forgetting some of the words… it’s been a while since preschool, but you get the idea. Sometimes I think that song should be the theme song for mold, an insidious and stubborn fungi.

It starts small and can go easily unnoticed, slowly creeping into the structure of your home causing significant harm to, or even destroying the actual structure and contents of your property. Living in a high humidity environment, like we do here in Florida, in-home mold is a problem that should be kept under control from the start.

Here are a few tips for reducing the chance of mold entering your property:

• Dry any leaks or spilled within 24-48 hours after it occurs. This includes any condensation you might find collected on windows walls or pipes.
• Keep your gutters clean
• Keep air conditioning drip pans clean
• Keep drain lines unobstructed to allow for water to drain properly
• Keep indoor humidity low (you can purchase a humidity meter for a relatively low cost at most hardware stores)
• Make sure that the appliances that produce moisture, such as clothes dryers, kerosene heaters and stoves, have proper ventilation systems
• Turn on your bathroom fan or open the bathroom window when showering
• Use exhaust fans or open windows whenever you are cooking or washing dishes
• Insulate cold surfaces, such as cold water pipes
• If you do find mold build up in your home there are different methods you can use to combat it, from natural home remedies to hiring a professional mold removal company.

Under most property insurance policies you are entitled to recover financial loss due to mold. Take a look at your policy and find out what you’re entitled to

You can read more about how LMR Public Adjusters can help you receive the settlement you deserve when it comes to this stubborn, not so fun, fungi here.