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It only takes 24-48 hours for mold to start growing. Therefore, when a leak in your roof exposes your home to moisture, it’s only a matter of time before mold starts growing. Once present, roof leak mold spreads and begins attacking other areas of your home.
To help you act swiftly, we’ve created a short guide that explains what to do if you have mold in your home. We’ll also explain the dangers of allowing mold growth to continue. So take a look, your health and your home are counting on you!
Your Quick Guide to Roof Leak Mold
⎆ 4 Steps to Deal with Roof Leak Mold
No matter what type of mold you’re dealing with, you’ll want to act swiftly to get it out of your house. Here’s a shortlist of steps to take if you have mold in your house:
- Fix the roof leak
- Use fungicide
- Dry out attic
- Treat mold stains
However, it is worth noting that if you don’t want to do the repairs and clean up yourself, you need to hire two different companies. First, you need a roofing company to repair the roof. Next, you need to hire mold professionals to treat your home.
⎆ Roof Leak Detection
When your roof has a leak that causes ceiling mold, the mold will usually be black. However, you should be aware that situations can cause black marks on your ceiling that’s not mold.
For instance, do you or anyone else in your household smoke cigarettes inside? If yes, the smoke from the cigarettes makes black streaks across the top of your ceiling.
However, as you look closer at the black marks, also look for mold identifying features. On top of being black, ceiling mold from a roof leak usually has a fungal structure.
Another situation that makes it appear as if you have a roof leak is when humidity and moisture levels are too high. If your house is getting too humid and moist during the day, mold might begin forming inside.
However, mold that comes from moisture and humidity will typically be worse towards the perimeter of the room’s floor, not the ceiling. When the mold is primarily forming on the ceiling, it’s likely from a leak in your roofing structure.
⎆ Mold on Ceiling from Roof Leak
Is a leak in your roof causing mold to form on your ceiling? Also, do you know that the way the mold behaves can help you determine what type of mold growth you have?
The fact is, a leak in your roof will cause one of two types of mold growth behavior. First, you may notice a systemic growth of mold. When a systemic growth takes place, the roof leak causes moisture to build in your attic.
Systemic mold growth will only impact a small area. However, the extreme dampness in the attic air causes condensation and mold risks throughout your house.
The second type of roof leak mold growth is limited growth. A roof that’s experiencing limited growth mold still has enough ventilation to remove the moisture in the air.
So while you have one area affected by the limited growth, you won’t have to worry about condensation in the air causing further growth. Instead, the limited growth typically only affects one small area.
⎆ Health Dangers of Roof Leak Mold
Not only is mold ugly, but it also jeopardizes the health of your entire household. The word mold is a nonscientific way to describe different types of fungi. Additionally, mold is different colors such as black, brown, or pink.
Certain molds smell bad, and other molds have a fuzzy texture. For mold to be active there has to be moisture to feed it. Even a small leak in your roof is enough to give mold the moisture it needs to thrive.
Once the mold is actively growing in your roof, your house is more likely to have the type of dust mites and bacteria found in a moldy environment. As a result, everyone in your household may start to experience mold-based sicknesses.
For instance, moldy environments can make it easier to develop respiratory problems. Otherwise, healthy household members could suddenly start to experience a shortness of breath, wheezing, or coughing.
Other health concerns include the heightened likelihood of infection that mold brings. Finally, if anyone in your house suffers from allergies or asthma, the presence of mold makes those conditions worse.
⎆ Roof Maintenance Mistakes That Cause Leaks
If you suspect there’s a leak in your roof, it could be the result of several roof maintenance mistakes. To begin with, you’ll want to check the condition of your roofing material.
If you have a roof with shingles, do the shingles look old and deteriorated? When shingles age they lose their ability to properly insulate your home and keep out water.
Simply replacing the old shingles with new ones could solve everything. If it’s not the entire roof that has bad shingles, and it’s only a few small spots, you can look into shingle repair.
When new shingles are giving you issues, it could be because the new shingles are laying on top of old shingles. Covering up old shingles with new ones can cause major problems such as roof leak mold, or other roofing issues.
To fix the problem, you’ll have to hire someone to completely strip all of the shingles off of your roof and lay down new ones. If your roofing material isn’t causing your leaks, your moisture protection might be to blame.
It’s possible that whoever worked on your roof last used low-quality moisture protection. By upgrading to high-quality moisture protection you help prevent leaks for the long term.
Moving on, another issue that causes roof mold is failing to have proper ventilation. When your home’s roof doesn’t have the proper ventilation, heat, and moisture build up and cause mold.
Finally, the location of the nails in your roof also affect the roof’s integrity. If a roofer put nails in the wrong areas, the nails will corrode and leave holes in your roof.
⎆ Protect Your House and Family
Now you know all about the dangers of living with roof leak mold. We hope our article will inspire you to take the right steps for having a mold-free home.
For more ways to protect your house and loved ones, check out the rest of this site.
Images Courtesy of Canva.
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About the Author: Ashley Edwards
