Are you greeted by a musty smell every time you enter your home, or in a certain room of the home such as the basement? If so, then do not take the matter lightly. A musty smell, while an unpleasant experience for the nose, is also indicative of an underlying danger that may have not made itself apparent to you just yet. This article will tell you about the reason that can cause a musty smell in the house as well as how you can remove it.
What Causes a Musty Smell in Homes?
Many homeowners misunderstand a musty and earthy smell in their homes for a lack of ventilation and air flow. While a like a lack of ventilation and high moisture levels can make a musty smell more prominent, these factors are usually are not to blame for the smell itself.
Musty smells are often indicators of the presence of microorganisms called mold and mildew. They are a type of fungi that have a stale and unpleasant odor, comparable to that of decaying wood. Usually, the smell is found to manifest in places where mold spores can proliferate without being disturbed, such as attics, closets, and basements, or in spaces where there is a high humidity level, such as bathrooms.
Mold and mildew may thrive in almost any environment and can plague even your modern apartment or home. To grow, all mold requires is mold spores, moisture, a surface to grow on, air, and warmth, all of which can be found in a home.
How Do I Get the Musty Moldy Smell Out of My House?
What Not To Do
One of the most common misconceptions people have is that home products will eliminate the mold from your home. It may temporarily remove the nasty odor from your home if you wipe each surface in your home with an aggressive cleaning solution such as bleach, however, all you are doing is “deactivating” the mold, removing the smell temporarily, but making it airborne much more easily. The first time it encounters good growth conditions, it will be back.
Other Home Remedies
There are several at-home ingredients, probably stored in your kitchen, that are possibly capable of eliminating mold and mildew from your home, but the risks are pretty high. For instance, a mixture of baking soda and vinegar may be a weak substitute for some of the substances professionals use, but deactivating mold is not the same as removing mold.
At Service Team of Professionals, once removing porous, effected surfaces such as drywall, we use professional grade products that literally pull the mold from studwork and concrete. It is then trapped inside a HEPA grade vacuum and all of this work is done behind sealed containment to prevent mold from escaping to anywhere else in the home. This process is, unfortunately, the only way to truly get rid of your mold problem.
Hire a Professional
Hands down the best way to eliminate musty odor from houses is to let a professional handle the problem. Having the knowledge, experience, and the right tools for the job, a professional will be able to completely eliminate mold and mildew growth from your home and the musty odor as well.
Need Help?
STOP Restoration of Spokane is a professional home restoration company with years of field experience. Our team of professionals are trained and qualified to remove musty smells from your home, terminate any mold and mildew growth, and repair structural damages caused by their presence in your home. To get rid of the musty smell in the house, call us now on (509) 818-7744.
