How to Get Rid of Mold in Your House

On a recent episode of ABC's Extreme Makeover - Home Edition, Ty Pennington and his crew built a new home for a mother of six young children who had recently been widowed. What had taken the life of her husband? Mold.

It is now fairly common knowledge that certain types of mold can cause illness in susceptible individuals. With symptoms ranging from headaches and body aches, nausea, fatigue, severe rhinitis and difficulty breathing to even death; mold can present a clear and present danger. So what can we do? How can we protect ourselves and our families from this insidious yet common household threat?

1) Have your home tested. Whether you are buying a new home or simply suspect that mold may be a problem in your current residence, you can have your home tested. While it is not an automatic or standard inspection in a new home transaction, your Realtor should be able to refer you to a reputable laboratory in your area that can do the test or you can find one yourself in the phone book or on the internet.

There are two fundamental problems with mold testing at this juncture: First of all, mold tests can be prohibitively expensive, commonly ranging from $500 - $1,500 for a simple airborne spore test. The second problem is that these tests may almost always come back positive. Mold is, in fact, everywhere, with literally hundreds of innocuous varieties floating in the air around us all the time, posing no threat to anyone, except, on some occasions, the most sensitive among us. These factors can make accurate identification of dangerous molds in your home very difficult.

2) Know the conditions to look for in your home yourself. When purchasing a new home, you will have opportunity to inspect the property and to have professional inspectors look it over as well. Although the typical inspections ordered during a home purchase transaction do not include a mold inspection (see Item #1), other findings in the reports may serve as clues to potential mold infiltration areas.