First of all, we’re assuming the reason you’re looking for mold is that you found some through sight, smell, or because there’s an over-abundance of moisture in your home.

Plumbing issues? Sudden extreme weather? Is your attic or crawl space in bad shape?

If you or other people in the home are experiencing potential negative reactions to mold, which led you to hunt it down, then skip to #2.

Otherwise, some things to keep in mind are:

• Mold isn’t always a huge issue or the harbinger of an expensive undertaking.

• Nearly ALL homes and businesses have some mold in them. Mold is as normal on earth as the grass, humans, or flowers – not unusual.

• There are Pathogenic Molds (these cause infections), Toxigenic Molds (they’re toxic), and Allergenic Molds (these cause mild to severe allergic reactions). Not all allergenic molds are a serious issue if no one in the home is actually allergic to them or dealing with a suppressed immune system. They still aren’t good to have around and must be dealt with.

• If the mold is confined to a small space — roughly less than 10-square-feet or so — and no one is experiencing any negative reactions, it MAY be safe to address with the help of a handyman. Unfortunately, this isn’t a common scenario. And guess what, the $5-$150 you could spend on DIY kits…won’t work!

The real issues at hand are:

1. a) The cause of this mold in the first place.
2. b) Whether THAT is something you can safely fix yourself after the mold has developed.
3. c) Whether the mold you can sense is a preview of a much worse infestation.

Note: Typically, it’s 3X to 4X as bad as what you can see with the naked eye.

So, you might see a small bit of mold in a corner and try to DIY it by ripping out the corner, cleaning with mold removal chemicals (non-spray!), and redoing it… only to find a huge mold farm developing behind a much larger section of the wall cavity.

Uh oh! Now you’re in over your head.

In the case of the common ‘mold in the corner of this room’ scenario, they’re most often caused by water coming through foundation walls, saturating the drywall, getting into the insulation, and then sitting there growing for weeks.

• Are your gutters dumping too much water too close to your house?
• Are you neglecting to regularly clean your gutters?
• Are the downspouts emptying way inside the ideal 10-foot range?
• Is the grading of your home positive?
• Is your basement draining system clogged at the bottom of the stairs? (So common!)

The point here is by the time you can SEE it you may have a real problem on your hands.

But again, that doesn’t mean you need to pack your emergency bags and head to a hotel just yet. Not unless the mold is pathogenic, toxigenic, or allergenic and people in the home are experiencing Signs of Mold Illness.