Got Mold? Here’s How to Know If You Should Worry—And How to Prevent It
At the tail end of a long rainy season, the Pacific Northwest is rewarded with cherry blossoms, camellias and magnolias in bloom. It’s not all beautiful flowers, bright green grass and magical-looking moss, though. Rainy season also creates the perfect environment for mold—sometimes lots of it—to invade our homes.
Mold thrives in moist environments, such as bathrooms, kitchens and basements. And it’s more likely to come out during Seattle’s fall, winter and early spring months when it’s wet out and there is a more dramatic temperature difference between the indoors and outdoors, explains Brandon Kemperman, an occupational health and safety specialist for Environmental Health & Safety at the University of Washington. When it’s chilly and damp outside and toasty inside, condensation can form on surfaces in your home—especially if there isn’t adequate ventilation—that are ideal breeding grounds for mold.
Not only is mold less appealing to the eye than spring blooms, it also can destroy your belongings and may contribute to nagging allergy symptoms in some people.